Back in September, I published Emotional Beats: How to Easily Convert your Writing into Palpable Feelings. As promised, I will be posting the book on my blog. So, here is the next installment, listing beats you can use to convey:
Surprise
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Everyone loves a twist, right? Which is why your characters will probably be surprised rather often. Here are some ways to describe that:
- He shot up an eyebrow.
- He whipped his head around.
- “What?” she asked with a tilt of her head, as if listening to music only she could hear.
- She clamped her mouth shut, but her jaw went slack when she saw him. “You!”
- She arched a questioning eyebrow in his direction.
- His face remained a plank of wood, his amazement hidden by a slow breath.
- He raised his eyebrows at her in disbelief.
- His mouth slackened.
- A question kept gnawing at her.
- He gazed to one side as if playing back the memory in his mind.
- Her eyes widened.
- Her eyebrows shot to her hairline.
- Her eyebrows arched.
- Her lips thinned. She craned her neck to get a view of her back.
- Her head whipped around so fast, she heard a crack.
- She slapped a hand over her mouth.
- She covered her mouth with her hand.
- She pressed a hand to her throat.
- She slapped her forehead.
- He smacked his forehead.
- He facepalmed.
- She slapped a hand over her mouth.
- Her eyes widened.
- Her jaw slackened.
- He cocked an eyebrow in surprise.
- She looked at him with folded arms and raised eyebrows.
- Her eyes popped wide.
- The subtle rise of his eyebrow put a giggle in her belly.
Next week: surprise. View all posts on the subject, or buy the book on Amazon – free on KU!
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Have a wonderful Christmas, Nicholas and I am sure it is extra special with your little one 😀
She’s such a joy, but she does make it impossible to decorate. She’s worse than a cat!
I agree with D. Wallace Peach: great starters for your own spin. 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Nicholas.
Yes, they’re meant as thought starters rather than copy-and-paste 🙂
Exactly! 🙂
Great list. Faces are so expressive of emotions that they become an easy resource. I’ve started looking for non-face options too…cocked his head, retracted his chin, gaped, leapt backward, sounds like yelped, squeaked, or gasped (though that can get old fast). These lists are great lists, Nicholas, even as thought starters.
Thank you! Yes, they’re mostly meant as thought starters rather than copy-and-paste expressions.
My eyebrows can sadly no longer ‘shoot to my hairline’. The distance is too great!
Thanks for the tips. It’s an excellent book!
Best wishes, Pete.
Ha ha – happens to the best of, I’m afraid. Thank you 😀
I actually remember getting criticized for ‘shot an eyebrow up’. The person reading it had no idea what I was talking about and thought it was either gun or drug related. So I started doing ‘eyebrow arching’ and ‘rising his/her eyebrow’ after getting frustrated. Amazing what one person can do to an author in their early days.
Lol – quite so 😀