Eliciting emotions using words alone is an art. How is it done? There are a number of ways including one of my favourites “Deep Point of View”. There are a number of books about it so I won’t try to explain it fully.

Whichever point of view you are using, keep the ‘camera’ close inside the character. Avoid anything which puts distance between the character and reader. For example, what do you feel when you read “It was raining, hard”? Anything? If you love rain your imagination may take you there, but it may not either.

“Raindrops pelted down, bouncing on the concrete path, stinging, bruising the skin on her arms between goosebumps raised by the cold. Rivulets gushed down over her face and hair and, as she drew in a deep breath saturated with that distinctive smell of dust settling, she felt laughter bubble up and burst free. Raising her face to the sky, she revelled in the knowledge that the long drought was broken.”