Have you ever written a scene in your novel that left you emotionally drained?

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I’m just curious if that has ever happened to you before.

The closest I came to feeling that way was just me tearing up, but that was it.

I’ve never really written a scene where I felt emotional exhaustion after writing it. Though it could happen someday soon.

What about you? Thoughts and feelings?

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The closest I got was in trying to write poems…

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I haven’t written a poem in years and I just can’t do those anymore.

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I sometimes use my own life experiences in my work, which is helpful as I’ve lived a hundred lives according to my friends (also known as undiagnosed ADHD). Unfortunately, I’ve had a few instances where some experiences are a little too raw and I end a writing session feeling just drained and awful. I’ve learned not to write about those experiences now :smiley:

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Yup, usually when I write a death scene it leaves me so depressed and wrung out I can’t write anything for another two or three days. And during those two or three days my mind keeps replaying what I wrote, coming up with better words or phrasing, so when I finally can resume writing, I have to start with that chapter even though I’d rather move on to something else. Sigh.

There’s a reason they say writing is cutting open a vein and bleeding on the page. ˓(ˊᘩˋ⋆)

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Yeah, I have several times, usually scenes with a lot of negative emotion, but I also love writing conflict and angst, so even though I have to recharge my emotional battery afterwards, I still enjoy writing them.

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Not really when it comes to my books tbh :thinking:

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Nope, and I think it’s because I never insert myself into my stories. I’m very distant from my stories. Not that I don’t feel anything towards my characters. I do feel really happy when they finally find their best friend, or open up, or survive some horrible thing. But I don’t feel any intense emotion

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Yes. I’m a very emotional writer, and when I’m exerting a lot of technical control, prose control, when I’m “in the flow” and doing an extremely emotional intense scene, I can feel somewhat exhausted after because I’m exerting so much brain power.

This is often by choice, though, and with extensive check-ins afterwards to make sure my own emotions didn’t accidentally infect the scene :).

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