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, featuring Part 2 of the book: Body Parts. This post deals with eyes:
Eyes
As the saying goes, eyes are the window to the soul. They are also a writer’s best friend, as they can convey a wide variety of emotions. The only thing you need to watch out for is using overworn words: doesn’t “he gaped, unable to peel his gaze off the woman” sound better than “he stared at her”?
- Her eyelids fluttered shut.
- A flash of movement caught her eye.
- Her eyes clouded.
- He blinked owlishly.
- She blinked with feigned innocence.
- Her eyes rolled skyward.
- Her eyes wandered.
- Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him.
- She slammed her eyes shut.
- She squeezed her eyes shut.
- Disapproval gleamed in her eyes.
- She gave him an incredulous look.
- She treated him with a look of unmitigated disappointment.
- Her icy gaze stumbled upon him.
- Rheumy gray eyes picked apart the girl’s dress.
- His head tossed his gaze this way and that, like he had plenty to say but not enough time to say it.
He looked, she looked
I know it’s really easy to say, “he looked at her,” but you may also consider some of the alternatives. After all, there are so many other lovely words, like:
- gaze,
- glance,
- surveyed,
- glared,
- raked,
- searched,
- watched,
- scanned,
- inspected,
- inventoried,
- probed,
- watched.
How do I look?
An easy way to depict an emotion is to describe the look on a character’s face. So, just what kind of looks are there? Here is a selection:
- Absent: when your character is thinking of something else or wishes they were elsewhere.
- Appealing: when your character appeals to another.
- Beatific: an extremely happy and peaceful expression.
- Black: used when your character is angry or unhappy.
- Bleak: a cold and forbidding expression.
- Bored: like an absent expression, only stronger.
- Brooding: when your character has something in their mind and is mulling it over.
- Bug-eyed: a character who’s surprised, or caught unawares.
- Dark: much like a black expression, this signifies an angry or unhappy character.
- Deadpan: a character who’s pretending to be serious, when they are, in fact, joking.
- Doleful: a sad expression.
- Dreamy: much like an absent look, a dreamy look signifies that your character is thinking of something else; something more pleasant than their current situation.
- Etched: when a feeling is etched on someone’s face, it is perceived as intense.
- Expressionless: when your character wishes to hide their feelings.
- Faint: The opposite of etched; a feeling that barely registers.
- Fixed: an expression that does not change or look natural. It can signify brain damage or simply a lack of empathy.
- Glazed: it indicates a bored character.
- Glowering: a furious character.
- Grave: a solemn expression. It can indicate a character who’s worried or scared.
- Haunted: a character who’s spooked by something.
- Meaningful: characters exchange meaningful looks to avoid putting their thoughts into words.
- Mischievous: much like Loki, this is a character who enjoys causing trouble.
- Mona Lisa: like the enigmatic smile of Da Vinci’s famous painting.
- Pained: a character who’s expressing something that causes them anguish—physical or emotional.
- Pitying: it can indicate genuine pity, but also that your character does not think someone deserves better.
- Pleading: when your character pleads with someone to get their way.
- Poker: Much like an expressionless look, this signifies a character who wishes to hide their feelings.
- Quizzical: a character who’s confused or surprised.
- Radiant: an extremely happy expression.
- Roguish: a roguish expression suggests an individual who does not mind doing something wrong, as long as it’s not harmful.
- Sardonic: a sardonic character makes fun of others and shows them no respect.
- Set: like a fixed look, a set expression may hide your character’s actual thoughts.
- Shamefaced: your character feels shame about something.
- Slack-jawed: like a bug-eyed look, this is a very surprised character.
- Sly: used when your character knows something that others do not.
- Straight-faced: when something funny has happened, but your character does not wish to laugh.
- Sullen: a (teenage, usually) character who is in a dark mood and does not want to talk.
- Surly: like sullen, this is a character who is upset.
- Taut: a nervous or angry character.
- Thoughtful: describes someone lost in thought.
- Tight-lipped: may indicate someone who is annoyed about something, but also someone who wishes to make no comment.
- Unblinking: an intense stare, where a character does not blink at all.
- Unnatural: like a fixed look, it can indicate brain damage or simply a lack of empathy.
- Unreadable: like an expressionless look, it shows a character who does not wish to share what they are thinking.
- Vacant: like bored or absent, it describes a character who is not paying attention. It may also show someone who can’t understand something.
- Wan: a very sad and tired expression.
- Wide-eyed: like bug-eyed, it indicates surprise or fear.
- Withering: a withering look deliberately makes a character feel silly or embarrassed.
- Wolfish: a character with a wolfish expression is intending others harm.
- Wry: a character who thinks something is funny, but not necessarily pleasant.
Next week: facial expressions. View all posts on the subject, or buy the book on Amazon – free on KU!
I like bug-eyed!
Same here. That’s why I use it once in each of my books 😀
Thanks, Nicholas!
I tend to use more facial expressions, too. Maybe I focus more on the eyebrows than any other feature, but often feel a bit limited doing so. I sure wish I had a memory that could recall things like you mention here. :/
Lol – don’t we all! That’s why I write everything down 🙂
This is great, Nicholas. I think eyes are the most expressive part of the body and they’re wonderful for writing emotion. The challenge is making the references sound varied and fresh. Nice list 🙂
Thank you 😀
How about, “The heavy bags under his eyes told their own story of a life well-lived.”
Oh, I forgot. That’s me…
Best wishes, Pete.
You and me both, mate 😀
Great post. Eyes are definitely one of the most important emotion sources on the face, but I’m surprised that not as many authors use them as I expect. The mouth tends to get more attention.
Interesting. Personally, I struggle to stop from having every sentence start with, “she glanced,”he looked,” “they gawked” etc 😀
I have that issue with smiles, smirks, and grins. It’s so easy to portray emotions with the face.
One of the reasons why I started keeping notes – notes that ended up forming Emotional Beats 🙂
Nice. Nothing like stumbling onto a new book while organizing other things. 🙂
Lol – one of these days I should organize this blog. I bet I could end up with a book or two on book marketing!
Betting that would sell nicely too.
🙂