Sympathy or Empathy?
Sympathy: noun - harmony of disposition or
temperament, making people compatible; common feeling; sharing or being in
agreement with the feelings or condition of another or others; feelings of pity
and sorrow for the suffering of another; a feeling or expression of compassion
or condolence.
Empathy: noun - the ability to mentally identify
with and fully comprehend a person or object of contemplation.
Sympathy is relatively
common, especially for someone in distress of some sort. But it involves no
more than sharing feelings with the victim.
Empathy, on the other
hand, requires a deep and comprehensive understanding of the full implications
of the emotions felt by a victim; it is, in a sense, 'becoming' that person in
the way that a fine actor will 'be' the character rather than simply portray
the person.
By all means portray a
character sympathetically, if that suits the story. But, as a writer, you need
to be empathetic and get into the skin of the character you're depicting.
2 comments:
How about doing discreet and discrete? I've only just found out the difference. D'oh!
I did this one in June, Avril. Here's the link: http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/2011/06/stuarts-daily-word-spot-discreet-or.html
But thanks for the suggestion. I'm open to all suggestions in this series, so please feel free to be as suggestive as you like.
Post a Comment