How Characters Show Emotion Part III
Emotion, as much as any other part of a story, must be shown, not told. How much more effective is it to say
What do you see in this face? Photo credit: Nemo
He clenched is fists until his fingernails dug painfully into his palms
rather than
He was so angry, he saw red.
I’ve collected a list of actions characters display and participate in to communicate emotion. Many are culled from other author’s writings–how they effectively communicated the emotion (effective for me, anyway) and others from books on body language. They’re in both the character’s POV and that of one who is watching. They help me make sure my character’s body language is in sync with what they’re feeling.
Note: This is updated from an earlier publication to reflect more amazing insights from authors I read.
This article covers Emotions O-Z. For Emotions A-O:
Emotions A-F are here
Emotions G-O are here
Obstinacy
mouth firmly closed, lowering brow, slight frown
Pain
grunted as he shifted, trying to keep his ankles from paining him
in the thick soup of his brain
did her ragged little insults result even in a flesh wound?
didn’t so much regain consciousness as he began sensing pain
Power/confidence
Wears power as comfortably as a pair of mucklucks
Fear had found its way into his proud chest, into the cast of his eyes and the set of his ruined jaw
Electricity radiated like the hum of a power plant
He was in the presence of a formidable individual
Approaching the hum of a high-voltage transformer
The cold look of a trained operative
Power player
Quiet authority
Emotional rebar
Adrenaline hangover
Pride
Handed it over with the pride of a dog delivering a very slobbery bone
Sadness Seen in…
bowing postures of the body wall
in the cry face and lip-pout
in gazing-down
in a slumped (i.e., flexed-forward) posture of the shoulders
in the audible sigh.
drooping eyelids
flaccid muscles
hanging head
contracted chest
lowered lips, cheeks, and jaw (“all sink downwards from their own weight”)
raised inner-ends of the eyebrows and remaining motionless and passive Anatomy
In acute sadness, muscles of the throat constrict, repeated swallowing occurs, the eyes close
Facial signs include frowning eyebrows mouth pouted or compressed
Shame
a blush especially low down the body does the blush extend
Strength
one-armed push-up
rolled out, dropped to the carpet, did a few push-ups, a few sit-ups, picked up two twenty-five pound dumbbells and did a hundred curls with each arm.
Two hardest words for Zeke to say were ‘I quit’
Leaned back in his chair, shrewd eyes fixed on Jonathan
He went face to face around the room.
Stress
Difficulty making decisions.
Angry outbursts.
Forgetfulness.
Low energy level.
Constant worrying.
Propensity for mistakes.
Thoughts about death or suicide.
Trouble getting along with others.
Withdrawing from others.
Hiding from responsibilities.
Carelessness
I find it difficult to concentrate because of distracting thoughts.
I worry about things that don’t matter.
I feel jittery.
I get diarrhea.
I imagine terrifying scenes.
I cannot keep anxiety-provoking pictures and images out of my mind.
My stomach gets tense.
I pace up and down nervously.
I am bothered by unimportant thoughts running through my mind.
I become immobilized.
I feel I am losing out on things because I cannot make decisions fast enough.
I perspire.
I cannot stop thinking worrisome thoughts.
Become irritable when you have to wait in line or get caught in a traffic jam?
Eat, drink, or smoke in an attempt to relax and/or relieve tension?
Worry about your work or other deadlines at night and/or on weekends?
Wake up in the night thinking about all the things you must do the next day?
Feel impatient at the slowness with which many events take place?
Find yourself short of time to complete everything that needs to take place?
Become upset because things have not gone your way
Tend to lose your temper and get irritable?
Wake up in the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep?
Drive over the speed limit?
Interrupt people while they are talking or complete their sentences for them?
Forget about appointments and/or lose objects
signs of stress: My heart beats faster.
symptoms of stress such as tension, pain in the neck or shoulders, or headaches
Tension
Frowning
Twitching
Eyelids Breathing rapid
Breathing irregular
Mouth tight
Swallowing
Be aware of nervous gestures: If someone brushes their hair back with their fingers, their thoughts conflict with yours. If someone is biting their lip, they are anticipating something.
Trust
The wider the gesture, the closer someone is to you, the warmer his opinions of you
Watch head position. tilted heads are trying to convince you of their honesty
Check their arms. The worst thing that you can do to people with crossed arms is to challenge them in one way or another. This annoys them. If someone rests their arms behind their neck, they are open to what is being discussed.
Lowered eyebrows and squinted eyes illustrate an attempt at understanding. It’s usually skeptical.
Forced smiles only involve the muscles around the mouth
Unhappy
She was into a sobbing, shaking, nose-running, chest-heaving, gasping-for-breath, flat-out-crying fit
Recalled him with a shudder
She felt a lump in her throat and a tightening knot in her stomach
Wasn’t enough warm milk and Ambien in the world to let me sleep
Weakness
His legs buckled, and he fell to the ground
Wealth
the oppressive reek of excess
Worry
Twilier drew her right arm across her belly, rested her left elbow on it, and began chewing a thumb cuticle that already looked raw
Can you add to this list? How do you convey emotion in your characters?
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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, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. In her free time, she is editor of technology training books for how to integrate technology in education. Currently, she’s editing a techno-thriller that should be out to publishers next summer.
Filed under: characters, descriptors, writers resources Tagged: body language, characterization, characters, emotions
