Emotion

A recent issue of Writers Digest contained a Robert Frost quote which spoke to both the reader and writer in me.  Frost said:

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

How true those words!  I think of my favorite books, many of which I love because they spoke to my heart, which made me identify with the characters and enter a world totally separate from my own.  That is ultimately what led me to want to write--that desire, no need, to create a world in which the reader could submerge as I loved to, away from reality, and bring to life a whole different world for someone.  I love the feeling of wanting to come to the conclusion of a book to see how it ends but being sad to do so and leave the world in which I was living during the length of the book.  I hope and strive to one day create that feeling in others, to make them not want to put my book down, to escape reality and remain in the world of my book.  If I can dig deep and invoke the tears, surprise, joy, etc., in myself as I write, I can offer it to others as they read.  What a true accomplishment that will be!

Do you have a particular book which elicited strong feelings in you? I'd love to hear about it as well as what drives you to write.