Using Body Language to Show Emotions

I'm one of those authors who have a small group of body movements I include in my writing. I have a larger list I keep on file. I just need to refer to it more often.

All body language must be considered in context, but if I've set my scene correctly and established my characters' good and bad points, a little body language can help add life to the story. I'll share a few with you.

Anger

Anger is one expression of fight-or-flight mode -- an automatic, instinctive reaction to a threat. In many cases, there is an underlying fear of being harmed. Thanks to autonomic nervous system arousal, the heart rate increases, pupils dilate, and the face may flush. Other signs of anger:

􀂃 Balling the fists

􀂃 Crossing the arms tightly

􀂃 Clenching the fists once arms are crossed

􀂃 Tight-lipped smile

􀂃 Clenched teeth

􀂃 Shaking a finger like a club

􀂃 Stabbing a finger at someone

Attraction

􀂃 Pupils dilate

􀂃 Women will cross and uncross legs to draw attention to them

􀂃 Mirroring - (usually unconsciously) mimicking the other person’s body language

Closed to Conversation

􀂃 Keeping the hands in the pockets (esp. men)

􀂃 Arms and legs crossed

􀂃 Sitting back

􀂃 Folding the hands together on a table (creates a barrier)

􀂃 The “figure-four” leg cross (setting the ankle of one leg on the knee of the other) and then grabbing the lower half of the top leg with both hands.

Opennesss and Honesty

􀂃 Exposure of the palms

􀂃 Arms and legs unfolded

􀂃 Leaning forward

Submissive Signals

􀂃 Smiling - that’s why some people smile when they’re upset or afraid

􀂃 Slumping the shoulders

􀂃 Doing anything to appear smaller

Distress

􀂃 Men in particular have a tendency to stroke or rub the nape of the neck when they’re upset. It acts as a self-soothing gesture to deal with a “pain in the neck.”

􀂃 Crossed arms - arms act like a protective barrier

􀂃 Self-hugging - arms are crossed, hands gripping upper arms

􀂃 One-arm cross - one arm crosses the body to hold or touch the other arm - women keep a hand on a purse or bag strap to make this look more natural

􀂃 Clutching a purse, briefcase, or bag with both arms

􀂃 Adjusting cuffs or cuff-links (men’s version of the purse-strap grab)

􀂃 Folding the hands together in front of the crotch (men)

Lying

Lying causes a subtle tingling in the face and neck, so the gestures below are attempts to eliminate that feeling

􀂃 Covering the mouth - can be like a shh gesture, or they may cover the mouth completely - some people try to cover it by coughing

􀂃 Touching or rubbing the nose or just below the nose - often a quick, small gesture, not a scratch

􀂃 Rubbing the eyes (especially men)

􀂃 Scratching the neck with the index finger

Superiority, Confidence, Power, Dominance 

􀂃 Steepling the fingers (aka setting the tips of the fingers together)

􀂃 Folding the hands behind the back

􀂃 Thumbs sticking out from pockets when hands are in pockets (can be front or back pockets)

􀂃 Hands on hips

􀂃 Straddling a chair

􀂃 Hands folded behind the head while sitting up (in men; in women this thrusts the breasts out and becomes sexual)

Wednesday Writerly Wisdom

During a phone call, my editor at Loveswept told me she wished I'd teach a seminar on pacing. I laughed. Teach a seminar to whom? Cats lined up on a sofa? I mean, what do I know about pacing? Well, as a mother of 3, I will admit to pacing the floor until the kids got home during those teenaged years, but I don't think that's what she had in mind.

Pacing is continually moving the story forward and not getting bogged down in the woe-is-me emotional repetition of romances of years ago. You know the type. In fact, many still exist. Some writers get so into the sharing of emotions, the rehashing of past feelings, the angst of "gee, I feel this way, but I really shouldn't" that--although their prose is lovely--it's dragged on for two or more pages and the story's pacing  has come to a screeching halt.

Meanwhile the reader is thinking make something happen!!!

There must be a blend of dialog, action, character's inner thought or narration, character's reactions, and inner dialog. I'm sure there's a formula somewhere. But I'm individualistic enough to think we all use our own blend. The difficult task is finding that perfect blend that our readers want.

I'm strong on dialog and reactions. In fact, I usually write that first. One person says something and another reacts. This is my first step in crafting a scene. Then I add in movement, both large and small. Walking across a room, for example. Pouring a drink and sipping from the cup or glass.

I add those all-important signature movements for a character. We've all got little physical habits we do when we're talking or thinking something over. Right? Cracking our knuckles...pushing our glasses up if we wear them...fiddling with our hair...pinching the bridge of our nose...staring off. Small movements like this make the flat character more dimensional, because we're giving them typical human traits. Traits the reader might see in themselves, smile, nod, and think gee, I do the same thing. And that magic connection is made between the reader and the fictional character.

I add in narration and/or internal thoughts. While I strive for deeper emotion, I do this through word choice not by several paragraphs of character self-examination or recollections. These paragraphs are hardest for me to write. And they get written and rewritten many, many times until I can show and express whatever the emotion is in roughly four paragraphs.

I'm slowly learning to remember to include the physical reactions to narrative, too. The skin crawling, the heartbeat hammering in the ears, the mouth suddenly gone dry. So to make this part powerful, I might spend a couple days on this tiny section. Days spent consuming mass quantities of coffee and chocolate.

Because, here's the thing...when you stop the action, the moving forward of your story to tell the reader how the character is feeling or struggling, your story STOPS!

It's not going anywhere.

But your reader might.

Keep the pace moving or you're going to lose your reader's interest. And they might not give you the chance to get it back.