Do you "feel" what you read?

#1

So, every time I go to my story folder and happen to encounter a certain line I feel unclean and gross. While I was scripting it in tonight I had to take a break because every time I skimmed over it I’d just feel so awful and violated if, you will. Long story short, you are sold to a slaver and he tries to assault you, cause I mean he’s a slaver and that’s what they did. Luckily the ship captain saves you but that’s besides the point Here’s the old version(If you want to revised version it’ll be in my demo this weekend)
:warning:️bad stuff ahead!:warning:️️
"His face gets closer and travels to the crook of your neck. You can smell his stench. He reeks as if he hasn’t bathed in a week and his clothes smell of wet dog.

From the looks of it he hasn’t washed his clothes in months. Grime and dirt cling to the fabric like a drowning man clings to a plank of wood. His beard feels like a greased pig as it slips across you collarbone."
Ew, god I can’t look at it. Is it just me? Do you ever feel a certain way after reading something?

#2

I know what you mean, if a story is written well I often find myself feeling what the character feels. For example I used to really love the Gone series and at one point the main character (Sam) gets really angry at something and I went around the whole day in a super bad mood and almost bit my sister’s head off for asking me to pass the mayonnaise.

#3

I wouldn’t normally refer to myself as an overly emotional person when it comes to artistic work, but there are definitely times where I feel somewhat like the characters do. It’s usually during a re-read of a past favorite work, when I know what goes on, but I just wants to absorb all of the details in order to form a complete picture in my head. It’s easier to catch the feels, as the youth would say (I feel old now…), when you try to visualize it as you go.

It also depends on the writing and mood, I suppose. If I read something just for the sake of reading, I don’t have the same level of immersion unless the story takes me somewhere special. Other times, it can be a part of the story or even just a single line (as has happened in the past) that really pulls me in and gets me involved. It’s definitely not an experience easy to describe. I often find myself feeling FOR the characters, like I will laugh when something ridiculous happens, or I’ll be embarrassed when I know something very bad or awkward is going to happen in the next few lines, or I will have to look away and take a breather because “shit went down.” (Sorry for the language.) I think the more detailed the scene (without all the unnecessary bits we all are guilty of when we start out), the more invested I become. :slight_smile:

#4

Strangely enough, despite not being a very emotional person in real life, I invest way too much into fictional stories and characters. They can make me cry, scream in anger or giggle like an idiot.

Which is great on one hand because it means the story feels alive and it makes me love the characters like they were real people, but not so great on the other hand because it’s hard to explain that you’ve been suffering from depression for weeks because a fictional character died.

So yeah, I do feel what I read - though not always exactly what the main character feels. Depends on how much I identify with them.

#5

Absolutely, I’m a very emotional person, which can be quite challenging. One of those challenges is that I feel a lot during everything, including what I read. When I finished reading My Sister’s Keeper I cried for like 6 straight hours until I just passed out.

#6

If I sympathize or like a character in a story, I can definitely feel what I read. If the character is in an unstoppable fit of rage, I feel like I’m in a bit of unstoppable rage. If the character is in a romantic relationship, I feel good about myself.

If you manage to make your reader feel something, then that means you are doing something right.

#7

In one of my actual short stories for class I have a rape scene and it took me about a week to actually get through it, so yes I know exactly what you mean. I hate to say it but I feel like that’s a really good thing. As a writer I feel like you’re sympathizing and relating with your character, for example every time I put my character through some crazy drama, I feel bad and part of me wants to change it but then I’m like ‘whelp we all go through crap, it’s just your time’.

#8

I consider a hallmark of great writing to be the ability to elicit an emotional response from the reader/watcher.

Mass Effect 3 was particularly good on numerous occasions for instance. Bioware are quite good at emotional rollercoasters which is why I continue to buy their games.

#9

I only feel emotions if the writing is good. If it’s a horror, I’m scared. If it is funny, I laugh.

My emotions may not always line up with character emotions if I don’t identify with the character. Like is the otome Aloners rape-ish (IDK what to call it) scene I didn’t feel bad about it. It is clear that the MC is worthless and has no skills according to Trash. The rapists were the only ones to be nice to MC and feed and house her without bringing up her obvious inferiority. But, of course, nothing in life is free, so it made sense that the MC would eventually have to work for her keep. That is what weak people who cannot take care of themselves in the zombie apocalypse (or any other long term disaster) have to do to stay alive. I didn’t care about the rape scene in the Walking Dead Game partially because of that and because the victim was a fake baby killing family destroying crazy person.

I can’t feel happy when otome MCs are happy in abusive relationships. I feel when MCs are insulted like the scene in Heartbaked was sad because he ment all of it.

If I’m deep in role playing mode (which just depends on my mood and is usually my first play) I feel along with the MC.

When I write or draw, I feel the story. I once had to stop because the bad guy was too scary. This is why it’s hard to write characters I don’t identify with.

#10

well…like what others said it depends on the story. However. I find interactive novels make me the most emotional, then audio books then COGs…mainly because if I can with customisation I often play an emotionally detached indifferent character who doesn’t feel much :stuck_out_tongue: . So if I can relate well to the character in an interactive novel if they’re quite emotional I can get quite emotional too. Though they are exceptions. Again in choice of robots for example because you can romance a robot or tammy, both socially awquard like my MC that got me emotional, same reasonning with emma from zombie exodus.

#11

Yes, I definitely feel what I read. There have been times I’ve actually felt physically sick after reading some stories or even passages, but thankfully that’s a fairly rare reaction. More often though I’m just left lying awake at night contemplating all the details and outcomes (especially if there has been an injustice, which I have a powerful innate desire to rectify).

#12

I don’t, but then again, I dissociate at such a rapid fire rate I doubt I feel much of anything anymore.

#13

Ehhh, kinda? I’m an emotional person who easily gets her head stuck in the clouds all the time but that doesn’t always translate into reading. It takes me a while to “warm up” to the story and even then I need to be in the right mood to feel anything. At most I get mild emotions.

You see, as crazy as it may sound, I have a hard time using my imagination and reading at the same time… at least for anything longer than just a few “flashes”. Maybe that’s why I’m so detached to it - it detracts too much energy and attention for me to “visualize” and “feel” what I’m reading.

Games or movies are a whole different story though - games allow me to “physically” invest myself into the story and movies are basically images with sound, something I have a much easier time assimilating than text. An emotional movie can reduce me to a fountain of tears, meanwhile in an emotional novel I merely recognize something bad happaned to the main character.

Believe it or not, a visual novel is basically just a text story with images and sound but it makes a HUGE difference for me.