How to Use a Zettelkasten to Write Stories Packed with Emotion
Kathleen Spracklen
In this piece, I am going to share with you a method that you can use to maximize the emotional power of your story. There are three processes to this method: (1) Understanding where and how the emotions of your story unfold, (2) allowing your reader to blend his/her emotions with those of the story, and (3) showing your hero achieving significant personal growth.
Then we will workshop these processes so that you will have the hands-on experience to be able to seamlessly control the emotional development of your story.
Process #1:
Process #1 is understanding where and how the emotions of your story unfold. For this, we need to begin with the following question:
Where do you want the emotions of your story to live?
You have two very real choices of where you want the emotional tug of your stories to live. Each is quite distinct. The emotions of your story might live on the page. Your descriptions could be so vivid that your reader feels as if s/he is watching the scene play out. Your reader picks up on the emotions within the scene and relates to them empathetically. A car-chase scene or a love scene are obvious examples. A well-crafted scene can be deeply engaging, and books like The Emotion Thesaurus can help you get the emotions of your story onto the printed page. But there is another place where the emotions of your story can live. They can live within the heart and soul of your reader. It is this second choice that we are going to talk about here.
The most obvious example of delivering the emotions of your story directly into your reader’s heart is the suspense thriller. Your character doesn’t know she is being followed, but your reader does, and your reader feels the fear your character would feel if she were aware of the danger.
You can probably list a number of emotions besides terror that can be delivered to your reader’s heart easily and effectively. Jealousy, rage, greed, and other very strong emotions can be transmitted to your reader without accessing a thesaurus of descriptive words. You sketch out the situation, and the emotions arise in your reader’s heart. It is this second type of emotional portrayal that is the subject of this article, although we won’t limit ourselves to just the obvious strong emotions.
If you want your stories to be memorable, you must place the emotions of your story firmly within the heart of your reader.
Process #2:
Process #2 is allowing your reader to blend his/her emotions with those of the story. Again, we must begin with a question:
Why is it important to let your reader bring his/her own emotions into your story?
Again and again, psychological studies have shown that we humans remember emotional content better than fact-based content, and content that is related to ourselves better than content related to even the most beloved other people in our lives. That’s just the way our brains are wired.
So, to create the most memorable stories possible, we must have emotional content that takes place within our reader, where our reader is given the opportunity to inject his/her own experience and feelings into the scene.
In our suspense thriller, for example, we can leave space for our reader to recall a time when s/he felt s/he was being followed.
Leave space for your reader's emotions.
Process #3:
Process #3 is showing your hero achieving significant personal growth. Our question for this process is:
Why should your story show growth to your reader?
This process is my “secret sauce.” We all have unfulfilled dreams of personal growth we hope to one day accomplish. Reading a story where the hero accomplishes that growth is uplifting and inspiring.
If your story demonstrates your hero making significant personal growth, your story will create a desire within your reader to experience that growth for him/herself. Effectively, your reader will mentally mark your story as really worth remembering.
Your story should inspire your reader by showing a path to significant personal growth.
The Workshop
So that’s the theory behind our three processes, the what and why, and now we must discuss the how, because we have scoped out a significant task for ourselves as we begin the workshop portion of this piece:
Place the emotions within our reader.
Give our reader the opportunity to blend his/her emotions with those of the story.
Show our hero undergoing a desirable, positive transformation.
It is a significant list, but the payoff is enormous. Your story will be memorable and compelling, and possibly even transformative, for your reader. You will have readers who not only remember your story, but are grateful to you for what you have written, and that means they will be watching for your next work to come out.
So, we have a big task. How are we going to do it, and how will a Zettelkasten help?
If you don’t already have a Zettelkasten, don’t worry. Just grab a stack of 4x6 file cards, and if you don’t have those handy, simply cut some sheets of printer paper into quarters, and that will do.
They say that everyone has one great book inside them. What makes that statement true? Each one of us has had a set of emotion-rich experiences that collectively open a unique window into some of the fundamental struggles of human existence. When you tell your story, it goes straight to the heart of your reader because it is real, because it is genuine, and because, deeply within us, we understand all of the fundamental struggles of human existence. We hear you, we resonate with the truth you lay out before us, and we project our own struggles onto the struggle you portray. We bring our own emotions into your story.
Shall I now spoil the magic of that thought by telling you we can dissect that experience and lay it out on a handful of file cards?
Let’s do it.
Workshopping Process #1:
Our first workshop process is to gain an understanding of how the emotions of your story unfold. This is the biggest task, but it should be quite approachable for you, because it is all about your story.
Did you think of your great storyline just now? Why not take one of those file cards and jot down your story, as though it were on the dust cover of your magnificent new novel? Stacks of your book are drawing attention in bookstores across the country. What are they reading as they pick up your book? What are you telling them about your story?
Let’s dive into the components of your story
We’re going to be on the lookout for three elements that show up early in your story and remain important, though gradually evolving, as your story proceeds. One of these stands out as being the singularly most important element in your triumph. Here, at the end, it is strong and powerful. What was it like at the beginning? Did you have any idea that you would one day be that strong?
The change you see there, from the beginning of your story to its powerful conclusion, is the arc of emotion of your story. We’re going to trace that out. Take out three file cards and title them “Beginning,” “Middle,” and “End.” When we are finished, we will have three rows on each card. Each row will consist of a name and a description of one of the elements in the arc of emotions of your story. The elements will be described as they were at the beginning of the story, in the middle, and at the conclusion of your story.
Identifying with the Emotions
We are going to explore feelings, placing ourselves in the midst of the story, identifying with those very real emotions. Then we are going to name them and capture them in the briefest description that can be counted on to recall the full richness of the experience. That’s how we are going to build-out those three file cards: feel-name-describe. We will do this for three different struggles, and when we are done, we will have captured a complete emotional journey on a small set of file cards. And precisely why are we doing this?
Your Great Story
You have a great story within you that you can write by instinct. We will use that story, which comes to you with absolute authenticity, to identify the elements that underlie the story, and see how they play together. We are going to reverse-engineer your story so that you can use what you find there as a way to build up new stories that also have that ring of authenticity. Because it is the authenticity within our stories that our readers engage with. It is how we pack our stories with emotion, and it is how we write stories that our readers will always remember.
This little stack of file cards will help to identify and capture the struggles that underlie the story you already know how to tell. Your story comes with authenticity baked in. It is authentic. From there, we can explore creating stories that feel authentic, even though they never really happened. The key to creating stories that feel authentic is the awareness of the struggles that underlie the story arc. We are accustomed to the arc of the drama. It's what makes your story entertaining. But it is the arc of emotions that makes your story compelling.
So, let’s do it. Three file cards. Beginning, Middle, and End.
Let’s return to the drama of your story. Be in the moment of ultimate victory. There was a final temptation to abandon your effort, to give up. You firmly, even violently, rejected it. What was that temptation? What was that final struggle? Find a word, two if needed, to name it. Put the name down on the first line on the card titled “End.” Briefly describe that last temptation, that last struggle, in the remaining space on that line, or two lines at most.
Holding that struggle in mind, where were you with that temptation at the midpoint of your story? Could you have stood tall with such firmness as you did at the end? How did that struggle show up in the middle of your story? Log that on the card titled “Middle.” Name the struggle as you did before, and take the rest of the line to capture where you were with that issue at that point in your story. What did that struggle feel like at that point?
What about at the beginning of your story? Was that struggle even on your radar when your story begins? Was it a fleeting thought now and then? Maybe it was something strong, even at the start. Something that defeated you again and again and held you down. Whatever that struggle was to you at the start, log that on the card titled “Beginning.”
Spread those three cards out in front of you. Here's what it should look like:
Can you feel how the emotions of that struggle transitioned from card to card?
We have two more struggles left to identify. We have finished the easiest one. The next one is also fairly easy to find. It shows up at the beginning of your story. When your story begins, what were you consciously struggling with? What were you commanding yourself to do or avoid? What promises were you making to yourself to do better next time? Sometimes you did okay, sometimes you missed, but it was always on your mind. Can you hear three distinct voices? Two of the voices are pulling in opposite directions, and the third is wavering between them. Hearing three voices is the clearest sign of a conscious struggle.
Think of a name for that struggle. Add that struggle to your card titled “Beginning.” Include a description that will bring back the emotions of that struggle.
How had that struggle changed by the midpoint of your story? Put yourself into that time period, and feel how you responded. What changed from the beginning of your story? Capture the state of that struggle at the middle of your story on the card titled “Middle,” and do the same for where you were with that issue by the end of your story.
Lay your three cards out in front of you again, and feel how those two struggles evolved. Compare how the struggles evolved with how the events of your story played out. The struggles are like the bones and muscles under the skin that make the movements of your story possible.
The Third Struggle
We have one more struggle to identify. Perhaps you are already aware of it as the missing inner movement that has not yet been captured. If you haven’t quite put your finger on it yet, think of the midpoint of your story. What were you struggling with most consciously at that point in your life? You can use the guidelines for identifying your beginning struggle: the voices that were speaking in your head at the midpoint of your story; the commands and recriminations you were dishing out to yourself. Name the struggle, and describe it as you have been doing.
Now, reach back in time to the beginning and forward in time to the end to complete the entries that describe the arc of that third struggle.
You now have a complete understanding of how the emotions of your story unfold.
Workshopping Process #2:
Process #2 is allowing your reader to blend his/her emotions with those of the story. This process is so simple in practice that it might seem like a gimmick, but it is based on the solid theory of developing the emotions of your reader within the heart of your reader and not on the printed page.
Now you have brought to mind the struggles that underlie your story, and you have put them on file cards where you can look at them in front of you. Your job as a storyteller is to put your reader into that situation. Present him/her with the dilemma, with the choices, and with the struggle. This process can be captured in a single, simple rule:
Detail the struggle. Sketch the emotions.
Then leave space in your story for the reader to add his/her own feelings. This space could be a chapter break, or simply some innocuous description like, "The train rumbled down the tracks. Passengers ruffled through their belongings. The conductor came through collecting the tickets of those who just boarded. Marlene surveyed it all numbly."
You are giving your reader permission to split his/her attention between the words of your story and your reader's thoughts and feelings.
Workshopping Process #3:
Process #3 is showing your hero achieving significant personal growth. Before we can do that, we must examine one other element present in the struggles represented on your cards. That element is your level of awareness. How aware were you of each struggle as your story unfolded?
Level of Awareness
In a story of victory such as yours, you will notice that the struggle you were most aware of and most actively fighting when your story began, the one on Row 2 of your cards, has shifted by the middle of your story. You now have a pretty good handle on that one, and your consistent successes in that dimension have made it possible for you to do battle with your mid-point struggle.
Think about it. The middle struggle of your saga was out of reach for you at the beginning. Back then, it was either a distant longing or a nagging lack that you seemed unable to improve. Here at the midpoint, you are taking it on and sometimes winning the battle. That’s some pretty significant growth right there.
Starting to nail that one sets you up to be ready for the final epic struggle, the one that makes your story a grand victory.
It’s like climbing a ladder. You reach higher as you climb upward. A minimum story arc takes three levels, three struggles, three stretches for something higher. A more complex story might have more levels, or some dead-end side efforts that do not produce advancement, or some trials that result in slipping back and losing struggles previously won.
Combine a well-crafted story arc with a well-understood emotional arc.
When your well-crafted story arc, with its situations, characters, and events, has a well-understood emotional arc, with its struggles, losses, and victories behind it, then you have achieved Process #3: showing your hero achieving significant personal growth.
If you have followed along with the steps in the workshop portion of this piece, you now have in your hands a set of cards that collectively show a personal example of the three processes at work in delivering a story packed with emotion.
Your deep familiarity with your own personal journey made that possible. Let's now see how these same processes can be a resource by which you can create new stories.
Applying the Three Processes to Story Creation
You could tell your story without the cards you made, because you can draw on reality itself whenever you need further clarity or inspiration. But cards like these can be used to create new stories packed with emotion.
These three processes that took you through the telling of your great story can be done in reverse to generate any number of great stories. You are not limited to searching for deep wells of emotion in your past.
Every great story needs an entertaining story arc, together with a compelling arc of emotion. Now that you know that the arc of emotion comes from the arc of struggle and transformation, your personal feelings and emotions can be poured into your stories to provide color, depth, and realism; but your muse, a generator of limitless stories, is ever at your service: it’s an understanding of human struggles and motivation, why people do what they do, and the forces that drive them.
Become a student of the struggles common to us all.
Our common struggles can be divided into four groups (five if you prefer Maslow's classification):
Our struggle against the physical world and life circumstances.
Our struggle to control ourselves and act in an integrated manner.
Our struggle to understand the world and make predictions.
Our struggle to get along with others and live in community.
Become a collector of these struggles. Gather them into groups, as mentioned above. As you craft the arc of events of your next story, be on the lookout for the struggles that lie hidden within the choices your characters make.
Hang onto these file cards. Give them a home in your Zettelkasten, or start a Zettelkasten to hold them. They are your shortcut to connecting with the motivations of your story, and with setting up the emotions of your story within your reader. Show your reader the struggles, and your reader will bring his/her own emotions to your tale.
Conclusion
Whew! We've covered a lot together. I've taken you through a straightforward process of using simple file cards that you might keep in a Zettelkasten to craft stories packed with emotion. We've covered the three processes that make conveying deep emotion possible, and now you understand the secret to crafting incredible stories yourself.
I hope you enjoyed this piece. If you'd like to share your thoughts, comments, or inspirations, feel free to email me (kathleen@kathleenspracklen.com), or, leave a comment on my YouTube channel (link).
About the Author
After gaining a certain renown in the field of computer science in the '80s and '90s, Kathleen Spracklen settled into a long career as caregiver to all the folks at PA-Distribution who sit or stand in front of a computer all day. She saw her role as enabling the machine to be the servant of the people, while honoring the order and integrity of the data. Her computer science background in systems building aided in that mission.
Newly retired, she found a new group with underserved needs: writer-moms. People with a story to tell and only fragments of time in which to write. So she drew on her systems building, together with a three-year period when she served as statistician for a renowned psychology researcher. She created a tool that only requires a pen and a 4x6 file card to enable writer-moms to bridge those fragments of time into a coherent story with living characters.
New Book! Writing with Emotion
Kathleen recently released a new book,
Writing with Emotion. If you'd like to learn more about using a Zettelkasten to unleash emotions in your readers, be sure to check out her book here: www.kathleenspracklen.com/book
© Kathleen Spracklen