A to Z Challenge 2015 - Emotions & Reactions - X is for eXuberance (writing discussion & fiction)

This year for the A to Z Challenge, I'm investigating emotions and reactions and their use to in writing. So, I'll be talking about my first thoughts as a writer when I think about the words we use to describe emotions and my experience of their use in literature and film/TV.

eXuberance

exuberance: the quality of being full of energy, excitement, and cheerfulness; ebullience.

Yes, I know you saw what I did there, I cheated, but then x-words are few and far between, so I went with phonetics ;).

Now, I've already mentioned the Mr Men once in my exploration of emotions in 'literature', and you might think if I am doing it again I'd associate Mr Happy with this quality. However, you'd be wrong. The Mr Man I associate with exuberance is Mr Chatterbox. And, the reason for that is, although exuberance is associated with cheerfulness, for me, it's the energy, the (over) excitement of this reaction that hits me first.

Mr Chatterbox is friendly, happy, engaging, but he won't let you get a word in edgeways, and that is the thing about exuberance, it's an all-encompassing reaction, it takes over the character experiencing it, and it can lead to them dominating the situation which they are in, either to the betterment, or detriment of the other characters.

An exuberant character can sweep others along with them, lifting the mood, winning friends, and this happens a lot in musicals. I expect most of us know the song, 'How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?' from The Sound of Music.

How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find the word that means Maria?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!

Without Maria's infectious enthusiasm, her exuberance at the wonders of life, none of the story would happen.

Yet, there are times when exuberance can exclude. When someone is rushing along, excited, focused on something, they can stop considering how others are feeling about something, leaving them behind. Have you ever sat down with a group of friends, all who are into a new fandom, except you? They're all chattering away, excited, sharing anecdotes, ideas, crushes and you're sitting there, either unintentionally, or intentionally clueless and feeling pretty flat about it all. Now this is a trivial example, but it can be extrapolated onto other more serious situations: a discussion about battle tactics; a murder investigation, etc. And in these situations it can lead to the isolation of one, or a small group of characters, or even the exuberant character from all the others if they are so excited they don't notice everyone else's negative reactions.

So, positive, or negative, the energy of exuberance can pull a plot along, but it can also create interesting dynamics in its wake.

QUESTION: Do you ever get over excited? :)

~

For more information about Sophie's books, sign up for The Wittegen Press Newsletter:

We'll send you details of book releases, competitions and other news from our authors, BUT we WON'T spam you, or pass your details on to anyone else.

We will also give you 2 FREE ebooks just for signing up.

Assassin's Blood
Natasha Duncan-Drake

Curse of a Banshee
Sophie Duncan

* indicates required

Email Address *

First Name

Last Name