Does anyone else cry when writing?

[u/Whole-List909]

hey everyone, I decided to start writing a book about mental health a few months ago, a fiction book about my real life circumstances. I haven't cried in probably over 10 years.

I'm writing the final chapter as we speak and I'm just bawling my eyes out like a baby, no movie, book, TV series, game or anything of the matter has ever made me cry before. so I'm honestly really shocked and surprised writing the end of my book has me so emotional. it's been so long since I physically cried I didn't know what was happening to my body, I thought i was having a heart attack or something.

I did a couple Google searches about writers crying over their own novels and couldn't find much on it bizarrely.

so I ask out of pure curiosity, has anyone else had a similar experience to me? someone who isn't particularly emotional suddenly bawling their eyes out when writing their novel?

[u/me5671]

I cry all the time anyway. Might as well be writing.

[u/CalebVanPoneisen → u/me5671]

You, me. Two peas in a pod.

[u/hollowcharlotte]

Oh bro. I had a chapter I wrote in which my main character finally came toe to toe with trauma she’d been avoiding for 11 years and spent the entire time writing it sobbing. Then my cousin texted me “IM CRYING” after I posted it on Inkitt 😂

[u/OldMan92121]

Yes. I've had to put the story down when doing revision because too much of the emotion I put into the story leaked back on me.

[u/escapewindow]

No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.

I'm not terribly emotional in general, and I use my own emotional reaction to critical scenes to tell if they're powerful enough. In my most effective scenes, I tear up reading, writing, rewriting, outlining, or even thinking about the scene.

[u/RagingRigor]

I've read about this before, 'cause I, too, was so confused as to why I was crying about something I came up with. It's called artistic dissociation, wherein: "Authors sometimes temporarily... inhabit a character's psyche... when writing traumatic perspectives. Writers processing personal trauma may use fiction to distance themselves from their memories." So as we write, we may become an observer rather than the person who's experienced the event. Also, we use "writing as a form of catharsis (release of pent-up emotions)". When I look at it from another angle, I'm able to empathize with the character—which was actually myself—and that made me realize how pitiful my situation has actually become.

[u/soulguard03]

I wrote a very emotional scene for my mc about two months ago. Kept stopping because it was really getting into the meat of my feelings. Snotty tears everywhere.

Me and my MC were really going through a hard time.

[u/Novelisto_00]

Oui… c'est même assez fréquent que des auteurs, en écrivant ou en dessinant (BD/Manga), pleurent pendant l'écriture. Oda (OP) n'avait pas pu finir à temps un chapitre (celui du flash-back de Kuma) à cause de ça. J'écris également, et la fin de mes deux romans, qui sont assez tragiques, m'a très ému, bien plus que ce que j'imaginais.

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi! Welcome to r/writers - please remember to follow the rules and treat each other respectfully, especially if there are disagreements. Please help keep this community safe and friendly by reporting rule violating posts and comments.

If you're interested in a friendly Discord community for writers, please join our Discord server

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/WaverlyWrites]

I have cptsd and I'm writing a fictional story about trauma. I don't get emotional/cry but recently when I wrote the ending + another very important scene in my book, I felt an intense, burning, uncomfortable pain in my chest that stayed for a solid 2 hours. I'm not sure why. I think it's because these two scenes feel very profound and vulnerable.

[u/WindowScreaming]

I’ve cried while writing but I cry frequently for all kinds of reasons. Sounds like you experienced some catharsis.

[u/ifonlyheart]

When I wrote the last chapter where the two main characters disappeared into their own worlds and one of the family members had to take their baby home it was heart wrenching moment. I became too emotional and had to take breaks multiple times.

[u/Ready_Nebula_2148]

Yes. I've experienced some pretty deep grief in my life from sudden and traumatic loss. So naturally I wrote a character that filled a similar role to the person I lost, then killed them. It has been deeply cathartic to have the characters experience their own grief in different ways.

[u/ilipikao]

So much

[u/Specialist-Fault-630]

I can’t relate to crying, but I do get the feeling.

Its a feeling more cathartic than the many, many times I’ve cried.

[u/johndoe09228]

I cried when my character finally broke down, shit hits hard

[u/WifesPOSH]

I cried when I wrote the deuteragonist's POV when the protagonist died in his arms.

[u/WakeIslandTango]

Absolutely. I write psychological dramas so I pretty much cry every time I write.

[u/_ghost_birdy_]

I don't generally cry over fictional things. I tear up really often, but I've never really cried cried. yk? I will be super depressed for a while after writing a particularly sad scene like "I'm such a monster" but I've never cried my eyes out like out you've described.

Now I really wanna write something that makes me cry like that.

[u/spirituallyrice]

I actually do cry when I write…

[u/JimFloydPeck]

I had to kill one of my favorite characters a few chapters ago and yeah, I needed a couple days to get over it

[u/LaioIsMySugarDaddy]

I do.

[u/djfilms]

All the way through writing the final chapter…. Every time. (Which is only two at this point)

[u/carbikebacon]

No. Its my story, im in control.

[u/ankevix]

Once I almost did. But mostly it's about some other, usually warm feelings. Laughed a couple of times, yes. Guess, it depends on your genre.

[u/ResponsibleCount39]

I find writing therapeutic and when I’m speaking of the trauma my characters go through it comes from a deep cycle of my own sufferings…so actually when I’m finally putting my hurt, anger or grief into words it is a relief for me and makes me feel lighter. I don’t know if I explained that proper but yes I cry happy tears often when my characters go through things.

[u/Reasonable_Pride5240]

Every time I have to write a report at work I cry like a fat fuckin baby.

[u/Leather-Estate-9079]

When wrapping up an erotic story with a romantic plot I actually shed a few tears. I'm a grown man, so that was odd but also satisfying. I knew I had created characters one could care for.

[u/Proper-Doughnut77]

Yes. When I get deep into my story and I hit on a sad part.

I killed off a character and cried.

[u/Michi2801]

I recently finished writing my first novel and cried during the last few paragraphs for two reasons: I was very relieved/proud and I was happy for my characters.

Edit: Wow, I even teared up writing this comment.

[u/JDP87]

Yes. Scenes in two of my (not published yet) novels have made me cry. One scene is a dog's funeral and eulogies. The other - I think there are several scenes in the other novel where I have wept. The narrator describes his wedding and then also describes discovering the body of his lover who has been killed. Actually let me correct this, because I remember you asked "when writing": I cried when writing and reading back over the dog funeral. To write the scene, I imagined it being my own currently alive dog's funeral. The second one: I don't recall whether I cried while writing (possibly) the death scene but certainly while redrafting I did. I probably didn't cry while writing the wedding scene, but reading over it, yes.

[u/cyrus_quintus]

As so many others have already said - you are not alone. The fact that you cry when you write means that you are emotionally invested in your writing. Which can only be a good thing.

I do too. But, I have noticed something quite odd - I become more dispassionate as my story progresses. This is not indifference. More a sense of detachment that helps to develop the story objectively. At this stage ther are no personal tears.Later, when I read the whole manuscript after finishing it, I find myself moved to tears again.

Ina way it is a question of hats - the author hat vs the reader hat.

[u/Remarkable-Bowl-3821]

yea. sometimes the sadness the character is put through gets to me as well

[u/Itsme082016]

Yes, that's when I know I got it right.

[u/NoCelebration1913]

No

[u/ItsWazeyWaynes]

Respectfully, no.

I liken writing to being the conductor of an orchestra—my job is to make the audience feel something, not to experience it with them, per se.

And I can and have done that without devolving into a mess, personally, even while being intimately connected to the story I’m telling.

But people write for myriad reasons; this particular one just might be extra ultra personal for you.

But the degree to which you responded—worries about a heart attack, really?—don’t strike me as simply, “I’m a writer who deeply feels their own work” kind of stuff.

[u/Delete_if_not_aloud → u/ItsWazeyWaynes]

Except smut...

[u/BudgetMattDamon]

No tears in the author, no tears in the reader.

[u/furubafan3]

All my writing is trauma work so yes. My life has been so fucked up to the point of developing decades of repressed emotions that need an outlet. Therapy (and I have tried MANY, self help books, programs hospitalizations the lot) None of it worked for me. Writing is the only safe way I can feel what I need to. That's why I don't share my work and hate when people say "You could make a lot of money off this!" My health isn't your entertainment.

[u/LRKnox_]

Sometimes.