Blogger: Etta Wilson
Location: Books & Such Nashville Office
Weather: up to mid-40s
How many words are there for love? I wish we had more in the English language to distinguish the kinds of love.
We have parental love for a child, love based on sexual desire, love based on mutual interests and friendship, love or devotion for animals and nonliving things, adoration for God, and in tennis, love is a score of zero! We have love as a noun and love as a verb. I won’t even start with love as an adjective.
Did you know that one who writes about love is an amorist?
Would any of you amorists out there tell how you describe the feelings you attribute to love?
Do you find other words? Use other languages?
Do you indicate love in actions in your writing rather than using the word?
Maybe we’d all be warmed up in this horrendous winter with a little more love talk!
I just attended a writer’s retreat hosted by Susan May Warren, and she encouraged us to take a “primary emotion” such as love and focus on one of its hues in a scene since “love” in general is too broad. For instance, Susan suggested that some of the hues of love are desire, hope, security, respect, etc. Love even has its dark side with shades of possessiveness and jealousy.
I think it’s easier to pick an action to portray love if we zero in on a particular aspect. (Thank you, Susan May Warren!)
I’m an amorist at heart for sure. I’ve tagged my writing as such: Relationship Romance Redemption.
I love all the facets of love: the attraction, the thrill of pursuit, the passion of involvement, the consummation of all those facets. Actions, thoughts, words, banter: all of it. I contrast the world’s views and actions to God’s without judgment.
Sometimes the scenes are raw (not graphic) and therefore not for the Prairie Romance crowd.
Redemption for some is always available, not always taken. Christian characters are real with their struggles, their faith, their failures, and their obedience.
Warm yet? 🙂
You’re right, Etta. We do use the one word ‘love’ to describe an awful lot of different feelings. I don’t write romance, but I often try to portray a character’s love for someone or something by their actions and the physical feeling they associate with the object of their love. As James says, we should not love in word only but in deed and in truth. I think that works in fiction as well as in life.
We are on this earth for the briefest time. I don’t know why we so easily (and conveniently at times) forget that. While we’re here, we must convey our love for others and for God in as many ways as we can. We show love in the little acts and in the grand gestures, both in our writing and in real life. Go, love!