The Writer's Workshop Lecture Series

Enter Your Email Address to Confirm Your Registration

Already registered?

Sentiment & Sentimentality

The Art and Craft of Writing Powerful Emotions

Join renowned poet Ellen Bass for a one hour talk and Q&A session.

We all want our writing to be emotionally powerful, but how do we express strong feelings without falling into irritating sentimentality? We’ll talk about the courage required to run right up to the edge of sentimentality and the craft required not to spill over into it. As Oscar Wilde said, “A sentimentalist is simply one who desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it.”

During the talk, Ellen will  identify specific ways we can “pay” so that we don’t just talk about an emotion, but invoke it. She’ll also discuss writing that demonstrates the complex marriage of thought and feeling, and share strategies to heighten the intimacy of your writing and turn up the heat.

By signing up, we will also let you know about future lectures, workshops, and opportunities from The Writer's Workshop at Authors Publish.

Already registered?

Free Lecture: Sentiment & Sentimentality — The Art and Craft of Writing Powerful Emotions (With Ellen Bass)

Visit Ellen’s Website

Ellen mentioned quite a few authors, books, and quotes during the lecture here are some of them.

  • The Situation and The Story by Vivian Gornick
  • Dog Years by Mark Doty
  • Best Words, Best Order by Stephen Dobyns
  • The Art of Fiction by John Gardner

“A sentimentalist is simply one who desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it.” — Oscar Wilde

“Sentimentalism is simply emotion that hasn’t been argued for or proven to a reader, only gestured to.” — Mary Karr

“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader, not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.” — E.L. Doctorow

“If the poet can get us to believe about a small thing, we will be more likely to believe the poet about a big thing.” — Stephen Dobyns

“Most good poems hold some part of their thoughts in invisible ink. The unexpressed can at times affect the reader more strongly than what is explicit.” — Jane Hirshfield

“My metaphors go out before me.” — Mark Doty