The Secret to Emotional Prose

Posted on May 19, 2026 by knlistman

Black Beauty is one of my favorite books because of the emotional nature of the story. As I read it in third grade I cared for that noble horse as his life became a series of downward trends. That was the Anna Sewell intent—for people to have pity on the horses that worked long hours to provide transportation in her time. These animals were often not well cared for and then stuck in dirty, crowded stalls in the huge city of London. However, as a person who suffered from an injury to her ankles early in life, Sewell was dependent on the horses that provided her with a freedom to move.

As a child this deftly drawn story drew me in. As an adult I picked it up again and read a few chapters and still found a lump forming in my throat. Why do some fictional stories affect emotions more than others? Perhaps the question should be why do some people prefer the emotional draw of fictional stories? The answer is not just based on the content of the book. It also depends on the need for the person to feel safe with their deep feelings so they invest them in some other person’s reality.

If you’re looking for the secret to creating emotional stories that will affect everyone, there is none. The idea of a catharsis has been around since storytelling began. Some people feel free to mourn, cry, or swoon about a play or movie without rejection by others. They don’t have to hold in the grief of events that did not happen to them. It may be too painful for them to release their emotions concerning real life tragedies. But, prior life events similar to what they are reading will allow the book to provide a catharsis.

Just as there is no set way to express emotion in writing. There is no one recipe for writing in a style that appeals to all readers. I heard a high school teacher praising a certain student’s style as she read a polished paragraph and pointed out how every word was perfect—at least for her. I prefer imagery that’s a little off-kilter or a connection between an image and an item that I haven’t heard before. I like encountering terms used in a slightly incorrect manner that adds extra depth to the interpretation. I try to avoid repeating the same words frequently. But, the repetition of certain words creates a rhythm that may be exactly what I need.

Aiming for the perfect balance in prose often requires a slew of rewriting and rereading out loud. On occasions as rare as seeing the aurora borealis in Oklahoma, the words simply flow. There’s no need to retouch them at all. If that always occurred, I would not treasure the experience as much. Just as I treasure the rare story that I cannot reread without a lump in my throat.

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Boosting Your Creativity the Hard Way

Posted on April 26, 2026 by knlistman

Are we becoming less creative? In a joint study by Harvard and University of Washington (Davis and Weinstein, 2013) the researchers compared  creative writing by teenagers to determine if creativity was increasing or decreasing. Their conclusion was a decline existed in writing, which became simpler and more mundane. Davis concluded that ” markers of creativity—like complexity and risk-taking and breaking away from the standard mold—that appear to have changed.”[1]

The creative writer combines originality, complexity, independence of judgment, and aesthetic sensitivity according to the research of Frank Barron. Who is this man and why is he telling us what constitutes creativity? Barron was an American psychologist with a PhD from U.C. Berkeley. He spent about thirty years studying creative people and documenting their nature and habits. I find these works, written from the 1960s through 1990s, surprisingly direct for someone who is considered a philosopher and an academic. (If that doesn’t interest you, Barron also did research on the use of psychedelic drugs.) [2]

Barron is considered a pioneer in the psychology of creativity and in the study of human personality, who was known for his in-depth studies of the creative mind. His subjects often took extremely complex elements to produce a final product that was elegant and deceptively simple. He found that creative people could hold two opposite views at the same time and yet see no contraction. Basically, they could be both naïve and knowledgeable, emotional and logical, or disciplined and free spirited.

Such dichotomies tend to become better integrated as people grow older. For creative adults in their twenties, this lack of integration may appear as moodiness or fickle thinking. They are trying to balance ideas at opposite poles and they may push the envelope when it comes to being different from the previous generation, but not from their peers. In fact this age group exhibits more conformity to peers than many others.

Comparing your work to others is second nature. But, originality is determined by how an idea differs from those of one’s peers. So, a writer who wants to stand out from the crowd still has to do their research and find out what other authors are doing. Yet to rise above the bar set by the rest, you must take the risk of not imitating but differentiating yourself. This is particularly true when dealing with other famous authors. There are enough people trying to imitate them. If you do the same your chances of being noticed by the public only decrease. Generating ideas that are different from others is where your value as an author is found. 

[1] Kelley, P. A decline in creativity? It depends on how you look, University of Washington News and Information, November 14, 2013

[2] Barron, Frank and Harrington, David M., Creativity, Intelligence, and Personality by Frank Barron. Annual Review of Psychology, 32 (1981): 439–476

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What Do You See in a Character?

Posted on April 6, 2026 by knlistman

How many times have you read posts in which people argue about the merits of fictional characters? I’ve read enough of these to assume many readers prefer imaginary people to real ones. Fictional characters are often created to be braver, more beautiful, more talented and often more ingenious than real people. They can solve desperate problems within a few chapters. But the real advantage is that created characters don’t talk back. I realize that some authors follow the trend of claiming their characters are so real that they refuse to behave. Instead they ignore the author’s plan and even argue about what they are going to do in the story. I don’t see these authors shaking in their boots in fear. They are still in control of their characters. Asserting that they are not just makes an interesting tale.

My characters live in my head for an amount of time, often experiencing a very ordinary life until a possible conflict arises. Then, I quickly take them down that path to see where it will lead me. The difficult part is capturing the life of these characters in words. But this is the only way to get them out of my head and into those of readers.

What is the best way for me to help readers become acquainted with my characters? The easy way is to tell them that the main character is tall, muscular, drives a BMW with reckless abandon, is frequently impatient, speaks four different languages, has a preference for champaign, and a severe allergy to peanuts. Then, there is the better way, which is to write the narrative in a manner so the reader can observe this character. They follow his reckless drives, see how he reacts when he serves into a ditch to avoid hitting bison. The reader can hear what he says about others, listen to his thoughts to reveal his true feelings. They can even feel his pain when a sumptuous almond cake also contains peanut oil and the burning sensation in his throat begins.

But other less important characters also get their time on the page, because I’m not writing a new version of Robinson Caruso. I will not create them all with the same detailed development reserved for the main character because I don’t want to drive readers up a wall. Each minor character who is seen repeatedly will have a bit of individuality, like a quirk in behavior or a physical trait to make them distinguishable from the others.

So here are some usable shortcuts to creating characters:

Archetypes are the embodiment of a collective set of characteristics. They include the mentor–a wise old man or woman willing to share their wisdom with the hero, or the trickster–a  lively character whose loyalty is always suspect.  Archetypes must be fleshed out with details to make them unique and different.

The foil is pretty much the opposite of the protagonist or another important character. For example, a short, weak man with boundless patience who hates driving cars would make my protagonist more dramatic by comparison.

The doppleganger is a character who has striking similarities to the main character. Often the most noticeable one is appearance. This “twin” can be an empathetic companion or a cunning advisory. Their traits don’t have the boundaries of other archetypes.

Semi-Round characters are partially developed with a specific combination of traits to keep them from being flat, such as an actor with stage fright.

Creating complex characters for the protagonist, the sidekicks and the antagonist(s) is both more difficult and more satisfying for the writer and the reader. Flat characters who follow basic tropes are predictable and do not require as much thought when writing. It is appealing to use formulaic characters to make writing easier. But, you have to decide who you are writing for and if you can live with your decision.

Illustration by J.W. Listman

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The Love-Hate Relationship with Creativity

Posted on March 10, 2026 by knlistman

Despite current praise of novelists, playwrights, artists, musicians and other kinds of creative people, the behavior that leads to these careers is often discouraged during childhood, adolescence and beyond. This is not just a matter of people trying to protect their loved ones from a career that won’t pay the bill. Acceptance of authority–being obedient, respectful and polite, following rules, and showing more respect to those in power–is often indicative of a conformist. Creative people make judgments and evaluate situations for themselves, which means that they often do not do what they are told. Their actions are based on their own internal beliefs and desires. A number of them are often non-conformist who really do not care if they fit the standards that society expects.

This often begins during the years spent in school. Researchers in creativity have found that the creative characteristic, inquisitiveness, can be exhibited by talking a lot or demanding responses, especially by younger students.[1] How else can they find out about new things? On one hand educators praise intrinsic motivation, while dreading some students that are intrinsically motivated. If one of these students actually becomes famous, the teachers will often “forget” how difficult they were.

Both creative adolescents and adults are open to new ideas and critical of other’s ideas. This is less of an inherent conflict for creative students than it is for adults. The creative person tends to have fewer friends because many view criticism as a sign of rejection.[2] As a person who is inventive in writing, art, music and other fields becomes older, they will not remain the same. They often prefer to work alone not because they desire solitude, but because they sense others are wary of their non-comforming behavior. Their remoteness, a form of self-protection, is often viewed as snobbishness.

The love-hate relationship with creativity and the creative person is not limited to education. In most aspects of life people desire the product of creativity, while avoiding the producer of the creative. This is complicated by the fact that artists, writers and musicians can become enemies of their creative cohorts in the competition to achieve. Some that would like to gain fame in creative fields, don’t shy away because of the problem with earning a living as much as the fear of rejection for being different and difficult.

[1]  Torrence, E.P. & Khatena, J. (1970) What Kind of Person Are You? A brief screening device for identifying creatively gifted adolescents and adults. Gifted Child Quarterly, 14, 71-75
[2]  Khatena, J. & Torrence, E.P. (1998). Khatena-Torrance Creative Perception Inventory – Instruction Manual. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service, Inc.

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Social Learning and Creative Writing

Posted on February 23, 2026 by knlistman

There is a trend to use existing social media (Facebook, Discord, Reddit, Quora, Instagram) to create a social learning group in which members collaborate and share knowledge with each other. So, I’ve visited some of these groups that might interest me in instructional design, classic literature, and writing fiction. Initially the posts share new information and current hot topics in the field, then they either turn to arguments or AI generated inquiries that make me wonder about how useful machine learning actually is when it comes to writing.

As a writer I am not looking for a list of literary techniques used to create tension in romance and mystery novels. (I believe the better term for these is tropes.) I am looking for more complex and nuanced information. When I search social media related to creative writing I want to uncover the changes that are occurring, individual’s experiences, and even the threats to this field. I also appreciate post about the history of fiction. Accounts of former authors, if these are realistic and true, bring me back to earth. Writing plays, poetry, short fiction or novels has often been a precarious and exhausting career.

Despite the number of people that merge using social media and learning this is not the same as social learning. According to Albert Bandura social learning happens when people observe others and model their behavior on what they see and hear. While much of social learning research concerns observing live people and imitating their actions, social learning also occurs from what one hears about others or sees on media. Bandura proposed that in order for someone to model their behavior on others, there had to be a payoff – something that the others gained – such as acceptance into a group. Also, social learning did not necessarily have to result in change of behavior. For example, even if I didn’t want to behave like people in a specific Facebook group I might still want to observe what they have to say.

So what does this have to do with learning on social media. First, people certainly imitate the type of content posted. I first created a Facebook page assuming it could be used to communicate with other professionals in education and creative circles. If someone voiced a concern or grievance there was a lot of sympathy, but no solutions. Many posts were copied and occasionally something was new. The personal posts that I saw on Facebook were a reflection of what people wanted their lives to be. By observing others, we start comparing ourselves. If our lives are boring, we use it to create drama. We would all like to have the kind of creativity and fame as authors in which others follow the minutia of our lives, but we don’t.

Photo by K.N. Listman

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Writing with Kennings

Posted on January 20, 2026 by knlistman

Creating imagery can be confusing. Ancient literature is difficult not just because of archaic words, but also figures of speech that are strange to our ears. These ancient authors were attempting to help the reader see the action. For example, if you translate an early English text, such as Beowulf into completely modern words, students would still stumble over old idioms such as whale road, sail road and swan road. All of these describe the sea. Huge whales and sailing ships travel the ocean, and I suppose the occasional brave swan could be found floating on waves not far from shore. Are our highways, freeways, and interstates any less confusing than whale roads, sail roads and swan roads? For us these types of roads may conjure up distinct images, but in reality they overlap. 

Beowulf also has a person called the breaker of rings, I could see somebody hacking gold rings apart. Could this be a thief preparing his latest heist to be melted? Actually he is a leader, such a minor king or chieftain. Chances are that he obtained these gold rings by legitimate trading more often than he did by attacking villages and stealing their goods. The breaker of rings doesn’t have to be a sneaky thief. Leaders are also called givers of rings as well as breakers of rings. I suppose a more successful king could have obtained enough gold to give his followers entire rings rather than breaking them into parts to have enough for everyone.

Those figures of speech called kennings make it difficult to read words written thousands of years ago. But can you imagine someone from the eighth century reading ordinary writing today? Even if we never mentioned modern inventions such as airplanes, automobiles, computers and TVs, we are constantly using idiomatic phrases. “Hit the road” means to travel and “hit the sack”” means to go to bed, but it sounds like we are slamming our fists into the pavement or the mattress.

Older languages are often more complex than the simplified grammar of our day. Many people fail to realize that the difference between thee and ye is the number of people indicated by these pronouns. Thee refers to one “you” and ye is used when referring to multiple people. Ye is like the southern idiom “y’all” or the northern version “you guys.” However, some of those giver of rings thought that they were big stuff and insisted on being called by the plural ye. If you think of thee as a polite term, you are wrong. It is the familiar and equalitarian version of you.

Learning to understand figures of speech from another time and place is one of the steps to understanding diverse worlds. Our own kennings fill our conversations and writing with phrases that we find familiar. It is hard to see these as not ordinary. So, you can improve the otherworld feeling of histories, fantasies and science fiction stories by developing your own kennings.

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No! I’m Not Insane

Posted on January 4, 2026 by knlistman

Have you ever seen Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs inverted so it is upside down? If you are a writer or any kind of creative person, you should familiarize yourself with this. It is balanced on the tiny point of self-actualization at the bottom and everything else extends and spreads out from this tiny fulcrum point. It is also called the “Artist’s hierarchy of needs” because creating is more important to them than eating or sleeping. Despite Maslow’s theory that fulfillment of physical and psychological needs lead to self-actualization writers and other creatives seem driven by something else that often causes them to ignore basic needs.  So it’s time to look at some competing ideas about what drives people to do this.

Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychotherapy, saw creativity as a socially acceptable defense mechanism for expressing socially unacceptable urges.  In other words being creative was the way to sublimate that pesky improper sex drive. He felt the creative process was driven by the unhappy suffering of unfulfilled fantasies. Basically being creative was akin to being neurotic.[1]

Sarnoff Mednick came up with the associative theory. Creativity is a response to stimulus (sort of like drooling when you smell fresh hot cinnamon rolls). When a stimulus hits the senses, a creative response would be to think of an extremely remotely related idea. This was tested using words, with the theory that the more remote the idea was from the original word, the more creative the person was. Mednick is most famous for his research that associates psychosocial disorders (i.e. acting like a criminal) with genes that you inherit from your parents.[2]

Carl Rogers saw creativity in a similar light to Abraham Maslow. He thought creativity was the result of healthy psychological growth, and the highest form of self-actualization.  He saw creative people as being wonderfully balanced, open to new experiences, with internally based control.[3] I’m sure most creative people would like to view themselves this way. However, many are honest and admit to deep insecurities. And of course, most of us have run into a few of the difficult, smug, prima donna types.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi does not see creativity as strictly residing within a person, rather it is an interaction between a person and society. Social systems and cultures determine what is creative and what is not. To be considered creative, an individual must strike a balance between coming up with a novel idea and relating to accepted conventions. Otherwise their work will not be viewed as creative. He also has the idea that when creative people are working they become so fulfilled in their involvement that they forget about other things – like food and sleep.[4]

Finally we come full circle to Albert Rothenburg who proposes that creative people use a certain kind of thinking that allows them to consider two opposite concepts at the same time – sort of like two objects occupying the same space resulting in something new. His research shows that creative thought processes are not logical and actually resemble those of the mentally ill. However, creative people are aware that they are indulging in ‘crazy’ thinking while they are doing this – at least most of the time.[5]

[1] Rothenburg, A. &  Hausman. C., (1976). The creativity question.  Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
[2] Mednick. S. (1962) The associative basis of the creative process. Psychological Review. 69, 220-232.
[3] Rogers, C. (1962). Toward a theory of creativity. In Parnes, S. Harding, H. (Eds.) A source book for creative thinking. New York: Scribners.
[4] Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1988). Society, culture, and person: A systems view of creativity. In Sternberg, R. (Ed.), The nature of creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[5] Rothenburg, A. &  Hausman. C., (1976). The creativity question.  Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
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Is “Show Don’t Tell” Good Advice?

Posted on December 22, 2025 by knlistman

When running out of advice to help a struggling author improve their novel, a more seasoned author may point out the benefits of showing rather than telling. What exactly does that mean? Unless you are producing a picture book, it will be composed mostly, if not entirely, of words. Words tell us about characters and events. Pictures and movies show.

So what kind of word-filled book shows the story? Have you ever heard of Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce ? You experience everything including the barely comprehensible conversations in Irish brogue. But, there’s little help from the author in determining what’s driving this story. Instead you must deduce events from passages bombarding you with descriptions.

If you do nothing but show your work might resemble La Jalousie by Alain Robbe-Grillet in which scenes record the slits of light through the blinds, the sweet, acrid scent of the lilacs, and the indolent movements of his wife outside. Each one is painted in extensive detail, but the reader must figure out what the wife is really doing and what the unnamed husband is imagining as he spies on her.

If you always show when writing you have a good chance of boring the reader. People unable to deal with this multitude of sights, sounds, smells, textures and inner dialog will simply stop reading. For example, you could write “The muscles in his neck contracted so his face shifted from the people towards the blank plastered wall as the stinging saline fluid collecting in the edges of his eyes begin to drip down across his cheeks.” Or, you could tell your audience, “He turned away so no one could see the tears.” This decision to determine the style that expresses content in the most convincing manner is one the writer makes multiple times.

Sometimes the character’s intentions or interior feelings must be named so that the reader is able to perceive it.

Readers may not comprehend what’s happening when a character shuffles his feet in the dust, or rubs his chin, or stares blankly into space while another character is talking. Sometimes their intentions or interior feelings must be named so that the reader is able to perceive it. Telling may be required when characters display subtle emotions such as anxiousness, restlessness or boredom. Many readers prefer to be told directly what is happening when this is accompanied by enough description that they feel present at the scene. However, when a scene seems to drag on, it’s time to truncate details.

Telling takes far fewer words than showing. Each writer must learn to balance these two. How do you know when to tell your audience and when to show them? Try this exercise, write the scene in two manners—one that shows most of the action, and one that directly reveals what is happening. Review your writing, and choose what works best. You may discover that combining these styles is the key to overcoming the “show don’t tell” advice.

Photo by Dayon Rodio

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What Exactly is Imagery?

Posted on December 8, 2025 by knlistman

What is the difference between describing details and creating imagery? Perhaps I should ask what is the difference in describing details that are exquisite and those full of boring minutia. The concept is difficult to explain because it does depend on how much that readers desire to immerse themselves in the scene. I may want my readers to see, feel, smell, hear and even taste the locale of the story. However, a passage written for all five senses can make a person dizzy.

I decided to research what some experts in the fields of communication had to say about imagery.

Noam Chomsky, a linguist and cognitive scientist, who is known for his political involvement has examined McLuhan’s area of expertise, how the public perceives advertisements. According to Chomsky:

“Everyone knows that when you look at a television ad, you do not expect to get information. You expect to see delusion and imagery.”[1]

Marshall McLuhan, was known for his communication and media theories, and particularly the application of his theories. His most famous quote is “the medium is the message.”  He wrote extensively on how marketing and advertising appeals to people. However, occasionally he commented on the realm of politics:

“Politics will eventually be replaced by imagery. The politician will be only too happy to abdicate in favor of his image, because the image will be much more powerful than he could ever be.”[2]

There is a similar theme running through both of these quotes, the idea that imagery provides more than actually exists in the object or person being described.  The literary device of imagery can be defined as using words to create a mental picture. However, the mental picture is not simply what exists, but more than that. It is an amped up description that provides a greater intensity.

When imagery is used to describe a simple sponge cake cookie called a madeleine dipped in tea, it takes on a taste, texture and color that make it magically memorable. This technique used by Marcel Proust introduce memories of his childhood in his multiple tome In Search of Lost Time (also known as Remembrance of Things Past).

Techniques that move imagery to this level are comparisons known as similes and metaphors. Similes typically deal with more superficial appearances. For example, “The sky overflowed with gray clouds, dark as slate.” Metaphors typically deal with deeper structural similarities as in the sky is a vast, turbulent ocean of air.  This similarity can be stretched into complex extended metaphors. However in each case the writer is adding nuances to the description that are beyond simply what is observed. Imagery adds connotations which builds another level of perception and results in something being more appealing or distasteful than it actually is.

In the end what the reader desires is not simply to feel like they are present with the author but to be able to see the intangibles: the feelings, desires and very beliefs that drive the words on the written page. Remember the imagery in commercials: the man standing stalwart in front of the flapping flag sells stability not the candidate, and the car rushing down the open road sells freedom, rather than a brand of automobile. People do not want to read books to show them reality, but something beyond it.

[1] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/noamchomsk635602.html

[2] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marshallmc135596.html

Artwork by J. W. Listman

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The Writing Sampler

Posted on November 22, 2025 by knlistman

I recall a time when I could amble through a mall and be approached by marketing interviewers. If I fit the criteria, I could spend twenty minutes of time providing my opinion in exchange for a few dollars or coupons for free products. I preferred those interviews in which I could sample foods for a company trying to create a new flavor. No one was upset at my choice among multiple shades of flavor to determine which was the most popular. It is much more difficult to present precious words for sampling to a writing critique group. Of course, literary critique groups only expect one variation of your work, but rarely is everyone in the group pleased with it. After belonging to a number of critique groups I began to recognize the paths that different members followed.

The grammarians are very precise about grammar and usage rules. Therefore, they will point out all known errors. Some even ask the author to correct preferences that are not errors, such as using a preposition at the end of sentence or using a conjunction, such as “and” or “but” at the beginning. People tend to learn usage rules that are acceptable during the time of their education. Then, they stick with these even though the language continues to change. Even when people change their writing style with the time they should not expunge all adverbs, dialogue tags or passive verbs. These have a legitimate place in writing.

The trendsetters have read current bestsellers and books about writing composed by currently famous authors. They direct me to change all writing to follow styles used right now. Some of these comments may be useful. For example, I really don’t want an “info dump” following my exciting first scene. However, I do not always have a dramatic first scene, but one that hints at the drama to follow may suffice. I don’t want my coming of age novel forced into a horror/suspense format.

Content critics uncover events or character’s actions that are not ringing true. They may be true for the life I have lived but not theirs. Or perhaps the book is beginning to drag. and they think I should add a bit of tension or trim some excess details. This is where I find my own strength in providing critique information. It is also one of the hardest to quantify when it comes to the usefulness of the advice as it is not rule driven.

Because opinions are a matter of taste it may work better for group members to read each other’s work and provide comments before the critique group meets. That way people will receive comments from these different viewpoints. The other option is providing written feedback. Nobody has to hear what the other members said about your work. But the people providing the critique do not receive any feedback on the usefulness of their comments either. I’ve often heard that criticism should only provide an indication of what is wrong without ever telling the other person how to fix it. This provides a safe place to hide for the person who tells me to get rid of passive tense. If I request to know how to reword the passive text, I put the other person on the spot. Their results must sound better than my own writing. 

Perhaps critiquing should be more like the marketing interviews. The “interviewer” asks specific questions about their writing, we all give answers, and then enjoy our free samples and treats.

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