getting emotion out of the pages and into the reader

So for a while I was really hooked on reading Nicholas Sparks and Jodie Picoult; basically books that were full of emotion and occasionally make me shed a tear or two. I am now writing a short story (actually I don't know what it is yet, it's a wait and see thing) where a character dies but I don't know how to really make a reader feel connected to the character to the point where they would feel empathy and compassion at the death. How do you convey that type of feeling so it makes the reader feel connected?

The closer you feel to the character, the sadder it will be if something happens to them. Like in Harry Potter, a lot of people cry when Sirius, Dumbledore, Dobby, etc. die because they love them so much as characters. Also, make it really kind of sudden and profound. Going back to the Harry Potter example, who expected any of those people to die? (Unless someone spoiled it for you). Like with Dumbledore, Snape killed him and the first reaction is 'what! Snape is on Dumbledore's side! Dumbledore can't die! Harry needs him!'
I don't cry in books very often, I think I've only ever cried while reading four different books. One of them, was in The Lakehouse by James Patterson. Oz gets a big tattoo of an eagle on his chest and right over his heart is a heart with 'Max' written in it because he is in love with Max (who's a girl). He get's shot and killed and the bullet goes right through that heart. It made me bawl.
Also, with me, it's also the reactions of other people. When I see other people cry, it makes me cry. So in the book if everyone is really upset and crying, it makes me want to cry too. Like in The Lakehouse, Max is horribly devastated and it makes you devastated.
But none of this matters if you don't have really strong, lovable characters to begin with.

-Carly

The closer you feel to the character, the sadder it will be if something happens to them. Like in Harry Potter, a lot of people cry when Sirius, Dumbledore, Dobby, etc. die because they love them so much as characters.

I was one of those people, by the way. But to use your example, myself and others loved those characters so much because we grew up with them and stayed with them for seven books. What about in a short story? Or even just a single novel? You don't have enough pages to get that same connection. So how do I create that feeling, to the best of my ability, in a small amount of time?

The trick is either setting up an emotional situation that is instantly understood or setting up the backstory so we know exactly where the character is coming from.

In a short story of mine, Christmas Magic, I used both. My initial situation was the MC moving during the school year (Christmas break, specifically), and disliking her parents because of it. This is a situation people can understand very easily. And since I established that she was moving early on in the story, there was a rather instant connection.

In the next scene (and at the end of the first scene) I showed her being upset that her brother isn't there to enjoy Christmas with her, because he's in Afganistan. I also gave a little bit of backstory to show some of the memories they had at Christmas together. Another easily understandable emotion, another connection with the reader.

The rest of the story followed the same pattern. I'd set up a relatable emotional situation, give just a bit of backstory (come a certain point, the backstory has mostly been given so you don't need to do give some every time) and move the plot forward.

If you want to take a look at the story, click here (and please do not comment. The story was posted in January)

The same priciple applies to a single novel. Just explain the situation enough for us to understand why the MC is feeling this way (it can be a little or a lot of explanation, depending on how easy it is to understand the situation) and you'll have an emotional connection!

doyle229 wrote:I am now writing a short story (actually I don't know what it is yet, it's a wait and see thing) where a character dies but I don't know how to really make a reader feel connected to the character to the point where they would feel empathy and compassion at the death. How do you convey that type of feeling so it makes the reader feel connected?

A character bites it in the first chapter of my novel. Readers commented on an early draft that they just didn't care - they weren't attached enough to the character, the protagonist wasn't feeling enough about the death, etc. So I had to really work on getting the reader to feel something. I'm relieved to say that readers are now considerably more upset.

Steps I took:

Gave the character more screen time. He now has 1600+ words.

Let the character be more active and heroic. I did this in a kind of roundabout way by bringing the antagonist into the first chapter (something I needed to do anyway). So the character is now facing off against a scary, psychotic, pissed-off antagonist of rampaging death.

Changed the protagonist's emotional and familial relationship with him. The protagonist is his panicking, desperate father.

Made the protagonist sacrifice more to keep him alive, thinking he'd saved his son, and then be totally shocked and devastated at the son's sudden death.

Put the death onscreen instead of offscreen.

Didn't let the reader experience a cathartic emotional release via the protagonist. The protagonist isn't allowed to grieve, so the reader can't experience that through him. The reader is left (I hope) shocked and upset about the character's death and worried for the protagonist's fragile emotional state.

Hope that helps.

A final comment:

tnme22 wrote:Also, make it really kind of sudden and profound. Going back to the Harry Potter example, who expected any of those people to die? (Unless someone spoiled it for you). Like with Dumbledore, Snape killed him and the first reaction is 'what! Snape is on Dumbledore's side! Dumbledore can't die! Harry needs him!'

Just had to pick this quote out because it cracked me up. The mentor character in a Hero's Journey story always dies. Obi-Wan Kenobi died in Star Wars. Gandalf died (apparently) in The Lord of the Rings. Moiraine dies in The Wheel of Time. Dumbledore was always going to die - the only question was when.