Internalization, externalization, and the land of the clichéd expressions

 

     According to the Encarta dictionary—Internalization: to deal with an emotion or conflict by thinking about it rather than expressing it openly.  

     My critiquing partners have often complained that I need to have my characters internalize more.  I have trouble writing internalized emotions.  This is something I’m trying to improve.  It isn’t easy.  I find that I often fall into the land of the clichéd expressions. 

     One doesn’t want to fall into this land.  They kick and bite you.  While writing an emotional scene, it sometimes takes using a clichéd expression so your writing flow doesn’t freeze.  That way you can continue writing without wracking your brain for some sort of analogy. 

     I have Word set to catch clichés.  When my computer screams at me for using a clichéd expression, I turn the phrase to a different color, which makes it easy to spot later, and I continue to write.  Then when I get to the rewrites, I have to change them.

     Externalization: to express ideas or feelings in some visible or perceptible way in order to communicate them to somebody else. 

    This is much easier to do and I use it more often than internalization.  I need to reach a happy medium.