A character’s dialogue can add humor and suspense (if
delivered by an antagonist). Two characters can exchange witty banter, argue,
or whisper sweet nothings. Dialogue pushes a story forward. You can’t have a
book without it.
A character’s emotion influences the story, fuels scenes,
and builds connections with readers. Without emotions, we would have dull
stories and robotic characters. We don’t want that!
A character’s body language is also important because it
compliments dialogue and reveals emotions. Whenever our characters say or do
something, whenever they feel a certain way, we should add physical cues to
drive home those feelings and actions.
Below are some emotions with physical
reactions.
Anger – clenching of jaw and fists, a puffing up of the
chest and squaring of shoulders, spine rod-straight, arms crossed, flaring of
nostrils, seething, pacing, glaring, heart pounding, blood roaring, heat rising
up neck and face
Curiosity/Suspicion – head tilting, pursing of lips,
scratching head or temple, tapping fingers, quirking a brow, squinting eyes
Fear – cowering, avoiding eye contact, slumped shoulders,
body shaking, sweaty hands, dry mouth, fast breathing, heart racing
Grief – sobbing, whole body shaking, quivering lips,
tearing eyes, heavy heart, shuffling footsteps, low shoulders
Love/flirting – heart fluttering, breath catching, glowing,
blushing, laughing, winking, lip biting, butterflies in the stomach
QUESTION: Do you forget to add body language and other
physical reactions?
That would be important to add body language in character development. Mskes them more life like I think.
ReplyDeleteBetty
More life like is the goal. :)
DeleteI reconise "The Fear" body lanuage, living alone and not seeing many people certainhly brings fear into life. I know how to covercome it but purring it into practice is another thing.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and most interesting.
Yvonne.
Fear comes into life in many qays. It's probably the most common felling and body language we experience.
DeleteGood reminder on using body language...
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteYes, body language tells so much about a character's emotions. It adds to their words, gives a clearer image of the person. Great advice, Chrys. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteI always have to go back through my writing to add more body language.
DeleteThanks for the list! Body language is important. And it needs to be more than nodding.
ReplyDeleteExactly. At first my chatacters nod a lot. lol
DeleteYes body language tells a lot. You don't have to tell the reader what your character is feeling because the character is showing it with their body language. I love using The Emotions Thesaurus because it's body language 101 helps to add more depth to your character(s).
ReplyDeleteShow don't tell. ;) I need to check out The emotion Thesaurus.
DeleteBody language adds a whole lot indeed, sometimes I can be skimpy on it I think.
ReplyDeleteI can be skimpy with the first draft. While I revise, I look for ways to add more.
DeleteBody language is one I have to be careful because it is really easy to over use some... teens and eye rolling... nodding... It is a good place though, to give a character a tic. A single character who does something (especially if it is a tell--a child who looks at his feet when he lies... stuff like that)
ReplyDeleteNodding is one that I overuse. Using body language as a personal tic is perfect.
DeleteGreat tips! Essential, I think, if you want the reader to know your character as well as you do. What would a room full of test-takers be without at least one who slumps? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love that! There's always one person/student who slumps during a test.
DeleteGreat tips!
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
Thanks!
DeleteBody language is something I try to use as much as I can. Instead of saying someone felt angry, I try to show it with their body language.
ReplyDeleteShow don't tell. That's why it's important. I still put in those telling sentences but beta readers can help me spot them. :)
DeleteThis is a great tip sheet for adding that extra dimension to emotions of our characters. Thanks, Chrys! Interestingly, I haven't written very many angry characters. Maybe I should channel some anger into a character or two---LOL :)
ReplyDeleteI've written about a lot of angry characters. I guess I can be an angry person. LOL
DeleteThese are some great tips and important things to consider in novel writing. But I think I might avoid 'butterflies in the stomach' because I have seen quite a few reviewers complain about the overuse of this body language in relation to feelings of love and excitement. One even joked that the character needed to go see a doctor with the amount of animals living in her chest.
ReplyDeleteThat's very true. It's important to not use cliches or bizarre descriptions.
DeleteI think I do pretty good at adding body language. But it's also easy to forget at times. As a writer, we know how our character is feeling/thinking. I can see how disastrous it would be if we forget to illustrate that. I will be paying special attention as I write my next chapter. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteExactly. We see and know our characters but sometimes that doesn't translate with out words.
DeleteI may overdo this a bit. ;) At least my editors tell me I do.
ReplyDeleteOverdo body language? That's new. :P
DeleteYou always have such helpful features. Love this ER and looking forward to what you have planned for the rest of the year.
ReplyDeleteVery cool that you're starting up an IWSG newsletter!
Thank you, Julia! I'm glad you like this new little feature. I had fun thinking of the posts for this one. :)
DeleteIt's only been fairly recently I've added much of any realistic or frequent body language, instead of either glossing over something or using a line like "[Name] was very angry." As an Aspie, depicting emotions just doesn't come naturally for me, since it's not in my brain wiring to think about and experience emotions the same way a neurotypical would. I may never be perfect at it, since I can't change the way my brain has been wired since creation, but at least I can make the effort to improve and get close to the ability of a neurotypical writer.
ReplyDeleteA lot of Writer's find it hard to add emotion or physical descriptions because they don't feel comfortable with emotions or don't like to show them. I'm such a writer. But I've worked on adding these things to my writing.
DeleteConsidering we say more non verbally than we do verbally, I think it is very important to add this...unless you are Spock, or my boss
ReplyDeleteLOL. Spock is one who won't have physical reactions.
DeleteExcellent post! I'm big on using body language. Sometimes so big I forget to even use a little of dialogue tags! =P
ReplyDeleteYou swapped one for the other. lol I used to have both problems. :p
DeleteI do often forget to add body language and physical descriptions in my first drafts, which often seem like there are two people talking an empty room. I always have to go back and "fill in the blanks," so to speak.
ReplyDeleteI have to fill in the blanks too. :)
DeleteI try to add body language to help move a scene forward. But I have my problems with this.
ReplyDeleteBody language can help a lot with scenes. :)
DeleteMy biggest problem is being diversity with body language. Sometimes I get into ruts and use the same stuff over and over.
ReplyDeleteThat happens. It's not until he edit when we notice that and can fix it.
DeleteThose seem like great tips.
ReplyDeleteHi Chrys ... it's so easy to use body language, without realising what effect it has on the people around you - something I must pay attention to and learn from
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary
You're right. We're never conscious of our body language.
DeleteI've started assigning body language/emotional reactions to each character. It makes them more unique and helps me keep it all straight. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
That's a great idea!
DeleteI rely on the Emotion Thesaurus, it's gold. Body language and reactions during a conversation are so important. Part of the show don't tell. When writing a first draft the tell part is always what I have to edit out! LOL Talk about work. Someday I hope to write that way naturally! Do you think it's possible? :)
ReplyDeleteI need this thesaurus! I'm not sure if it's possible...I haven't gotten there yet. lol
DeleteThose are some nice physical reactions you listed. I find that many people mask their fear by putting up a false front of being brave, like they might puff up their chest more or speak in a louder voice. So sometimes physical features might be exaggerated to compensate for what's really going on internally.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. But with a characters whose head we're in we can't do a false front. We have to share that fear...and then they can put up a false front to the other characters. ;)
Delete