This week, I’ve been exploring Guanyin (also spelled Kuan Yin), a Buddhist bodhisattva and the East Asian Goddess of Compassion. It’s little wonder millions worship this archetype of unalloyed empathy and protectress of women, fishermen, animals, sailors, and the imprisoned. She could easily be the Goddess of Writers, too, for empathy is essential to the writer’s craft. On this Great Stuff for Writers Friday, here are three excellent posts on writers and empathy and two interesting books on Guanyin.
How to Create Empathy as a Writer
“Much contemporary fiction fails the character test,” write Matt Rees in this lay-it-on-the-line article. Citing stories in the New Yorker as a prime example, he describes, “an authorial voice greatly distanced from the emotions of the characters.” The solution: empathy. This is what will put the reader in a connection with the characters. It’s what makes people care about your fiction. Rees also offers an interesting suggestion for people who want to enrich their ability to experience empathy: Go live somewhere you don’t belong. For more, see this insightful post on themanoftwistsandturns.com.
How to Enrich Your Story With Three Levels of Empathy
John Yeoman goes further in his post on writingforward.com He provides some sound suggestions for deepening our characters “with the finer nuances of emotion – and so skillfully that readers have no option but to engage with our characters.” His formula is simple:
1. Show the character’s feelings, superficially, from the narrator’s viewpoint.
2. Let the character reveal their true feelings.
3. Indicate the emotional stance that other characters take to that person’s feelings.
Check out his post on the writingforward website.
Why Empathy is the Key to Story
For an excellent writing exercise designed to enhance empathy check out this excellent post by Joe Bunting on thewritepractice.com.
And now for some sources on my current favorite deity.
Kuan Yin: Accessing the Power of Divine Feminine by Daniela Schenker
Schenker is not a scholar of East Asian traditions, and that fact occasionally comes through in her book, but she has lived in the Far East and studied the tradition of Guanyin. Her book is an interesting read that explores Guanyin and the “myriad ways in which we can invite her into our lives, and many dimensions to our experiences of her.” Especially worthwhile are the “33 Images of Guanyin for Contemplation,” and the appendices that show the various symbols associated with Guanyin and her mudras (the position of her hands in her various depictions, all of which have different meanings). This is a good beginning introduction to Guanyin.
The Bodhisattva of Compasion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin by John Blofield
In this slightly more scholarly—but still readable—introduction to Guanyin, Blofield combines storytelling and devotional practice and dabbles in a bit of philosophy. He also provides an overview of the cultural and historical context for understanding Guanyin. Like Schenker’s work, this is a good introduction to Guanyin as a significant religious figure in the Far East.