How to Show (Not Tell) an Emotion–A to D
Anger
Emotions show up on your body in a variety of hand movements, eye twitches, breathing patterns and more. There are so many ways to show what your characters are feeling without boring us as readers by saying, Anabelle felt angry. Yuck! Show me, don’t tell me!
Here are some ideas:
Anger
cold anger
clenching jaws or grinding teeth
uncovering the teeth
headache
stomach ache
increased and rapid heart rate
sweating, especially your palms
feeling hot in the neck/face
shaking or trembling
dizziness
Emotionally you may feel:
like you want to get away
irritated
sad or depressed
guilty
resentful
anxious
like striking out verbally or physically
Also, you may notice that you are:
rubbing your head
cupping your fist with other hand
pacing
getting sarcastic
losing your sense of humor
acting in abusive/abrasive manner
craving a drink, a smoke or other substances that relax you
raising your voice
beginning to yell, scream, or cry
Anxiety
Sweaty palms.
lip-compression
lip-bite
tongue-show
tongue-in-cheek;
hand-to-hand, hand-to-body
hand-behind-head hand-to-face
Astonishment
the eyes and mouth opened wide, the eyebrows raised
Concentration
frown or wrinkle beneath the lower eyelids
Deception:
covering the mouth with the hands
rubbing the side of the nose
leaning away from you
micro shrug
voice pitch increases
Liars, he says, use more “negative emotion” words (hurt, ugly, nasty) and fewer first-person singulars
Depression
Recent Loss – through death, divorce, separation, broken relationship, loss of job, money, status, self-confidence, self-esteem, loss of religious faith, loss of interest in friends, sex, hobbies, activities previously enjoyed
forehead is wrinkled in the middle, but not across the whole breadth, as when the eyebrows are raised in surprise.
Change in Personality – sad, withdrawn, irritable, anxious, tired, apathetic Change in Sleep Patterns – insomnia, often with early waking or oversleeping, nightmares Change in Eating Habits – loss of appetite and weight, or overeating
Fear of losing control- harming self or others
Low self esteem- feeling worthless, shame, overwhelming guilt, self-hatred, “everyone would be better off without me” No hope for the future – believing things will never get better; that nothing will ever change
Other things to watch for- Suicidal impulses, statements, plans; giving away favorite things; previous suicide attempts
Defiance
hold body and head erect, square shoulders and clench fists
Disgust
curled upper lip
narrowed or partly closed eyes;
side-to-side head-shakes;
protrusions of the tongue.
guttural sounds (“ach” or “ugh”)
nose is drawn up and wrinkled
sneers or snarls at another
Doubt
throat-clear is a nonverbal indication of doubt
for more emotions (excitement, fear, happiness, helplessness, lying and obstinacy)
, click here for the next in the series.
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, Cisco guest blogger, Technology in Education featured blogger, and IMS tech expert. She is the editor of a K-6 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-6 Digital Citizenship curriculum, creator of technology training books for middle school and ebooks on technology in education. Currently, she’s editing a thriller that should be out to publishers next summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: characters, descriptors, writers resources, writing Tagged: character descriptors, characterize emotions, show emotions, writers resources, writers toolkit
