creative writing - How to show a crying/sad scene without using sentimentalism?

Previously, I had no difficulty in showing a scene like that, and as for me, to show a crying scene I'd write something like "then a teardrop rolled by her cheek". However, I had read an article from a respected writer (I can't remember who) saying how sentimentalism is bad for a story, and used as an example a crying scene, and said that writing something like "then a teardrop rolled by her cheek" is too sentimental, however, this writer didn't tell how it should be written without sentimentalism, which is hard, because the act of crying is itself something sentimental, making it not sentimental I would be telling, not showing.

And that's what I want to know: how to show (not tell) a crying or sad scene without using sentimentalism?

Answer

The problem with sentimentalism is not that it's sentimental. But that it often results in cliche.

This is a sample of non-cliched sentimentalism:

"Once that first tear broke free, the rest followed in an unbroken stream. Naoko bent forward where she sat on the floor and pressing her palms to the mat, she began to cry with the force of a person vomiting on all fours."

Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami.

As you can see there are tears in this passage, but the part that says "she began to cry with the force of a person vomiting on all fours" (not sure about you, but I've never seen crying being described like this before) removes the cliche and instead of sentimentalism, we have a very strong image.

So, sentimentalism isn't bad. In fact, the main reason we read stories is to feel sentimental, to let our feelings take over.

EDIT:

This is another example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9t_1sWBywU

(I was going to explain what Final Fantasy is but then I saw your profile photo.)

This is a scene from FFVII: Crisis Core. Cloud's friend Zack dies and gives him his sword. It's sentimental. And cliched. The part that removes the cliche is Cloud's scream. It's not your typical "Noooooo!" or "Whyyy?!". He screams like he's being ripped off or murdered (again, this is the first time I see something like this). And that, in my opinion, is what makes it a good scene.