Ponyboy; Drama Queen?

[sharpshooter]

Ok, so right now I'm really stumped. In a part of a story I'm writing, I need help with Ponyboy's emotions. He's just gotten news of his brother's death, and first I have him get irritated with the guy who's delivered this news, then I have him in the 'quiet before the storm' mood, before he locks himself in his room and bawls his eyes out. To me, this seems over the top, but at the same time, he did say he loved his brother more then anyone else.

Ugh, I'm confused...

[Nittanylizard]

Hm, this is a tough one. It depends somewhat on how you personally envision the character, and on how far distanced it is (in time) from the events of the book.

I could see Ponyboy being (and reacting) stunned at first. In the book he works hard to not get emotional in front of strangers, so I do think he would work hard to contain himself, even if it's just by habit. BUT, that's a huge emotional blow, so I think it would be a big battle for him, and that would show, even as he tried to fight it. If that were the case, I could picture him not speaking much, and getting away from other people as quickly as possible.

When writing the scene, something to keep in mind is that tears for the character don't always mean tears for the reader. What I mean is, having Ponyboy go into a room and start crying might not be enough to get his pain across to the readers. If you describe what's happening to him physically, though, and go through what's in his head, you get the reader close in to what's happening for him. A character doesn't even have to cry to get an emotional response from the reader.

I have an original story where I'm still trying to get one scene right - the main character gets to the hospital knowing only that his mom was in an accident, and finds out from his brothers once he gets there that she didn't make it. I've gone over it umpteen times already, and it still doesn't feel quite right, but I think it's getting there. So keep trying things and see what works. I've found that if I can go back to something I wrote a few days or more later and it draws out the emotion I was trying to put into it, I got it. Otherwise, I play around with it some more.

Good luck!

[sharpshooter]

Y'know, I think I was focusing too much on one line from the book -about the only one I can remember well- where Ponyboy says he loves Sodapop even more then his parents, as long as he had Soda, he'd be ok. I was more about how he'd react on the inside, and not how he'd react on the outside.

After Ponyboy gets the news, I have it switch to Darry's POV -and he wasn't home at the time the message was delivered-, so I think Ponyboy not outwardly bawling his eyes out would be more significant then if he was. The readers know what happened, but Darry doesn't, so it's like, "What's gonna happen, is he gonna tell Darry or what?"
I think this scene is particularly tough for me though, because I know what's going to happen next and I just want Ponyboy to be cool and calm, 'cause his brother isn't gone yet.

Thank you so much, your input has really helped to clear the fog in my mind!

Hope you figure out that scene, by the way. I know sometimes, I'd just find an item, like my glasses or a certain hat, that I'd have to wear while writing a character. It was like, I put this hat on, and I'm now a wannabe Billy The Kid, what would I do in a situation like this?

[murderofcrows]

i think it sounds good, but i can't be for sure until i read it...have you posted the story somewhere? if so, could i have a link?