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, continuing Part 3 of the book: Other Beats. This chapter deals with:
Hunger, drinks, and food
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Unless they are a robot, your character will no doubt feel the need to eat and drink on occasion. Here are some ways to describe this:
- He slugged back the last of his drink.
- He studied the amber liquid rolling around his glass as he swirled it.
- She ushered me towards the lounge and laid the snacks down on a large coffee table in the center.
- He placed both mugs down in front of them.
- She took a large swig from her mug.
- He heard the clink of crystal and the shrill of high-pitched feminine laughter.
- He set a bottle down.
- She plonked the bottle onto the table.
- He swished the wine in his mouth.
- He drained his stein.
- He emptied his flask.
- She brought over a flagon of lemonade.
- He slipped out of bed, plodded along to the kitchen, flicked on the kettle and popped two slices of wholemeal bread into the toaster.
- She finished off her toast and the dregs of her brew.
- He poured citron water with floating sprigs of honeybalm.
- He looked up so sharply, he spilled citron water from his beaker.
- He sipped his shots, not tossed them back.
- “Shall I decant?” he asked [pour small quantity to try out].
- She set the Bordeaux glass on the white linen tablecloth and used a foil cutter to remove the foil cap over the cork.
- He poured a dram and swirled it in the tumbler, letting it coat the glass.
- He popped the tab on his beer.
- He spoke into his coffee cup as he took a sip, his voice suddenly lower as if there was someone else in the room who might overhear.
- She slammed her mug down.
- She started gobbling up the delicious [food].
- Tendrils of steam from the tea rose in the cold morning air. She took a cup in both hands, raised it to scent the drink and blew across its surface before taking a sip.
- He blew on his [hot food] and his stomach rumbled. He tasted his food, winced and cooled his burning tongue with a quick gulp of water.
- He speared a cherry tomato and shoved it into his mouth.
- Her stomach gurgled/churned growled in protest.
- He had a tower of stacked glasses cradled in one hand and several bottles precariously trapped between the fingers of his other.
- Ice clinked against the glass. A drop of condensation slid from the rim to the tablecloth, fanning out and growing larger and larger.
- She drew that bottle to her lips, pulled its liquid heat against her tongue, and breathed off those vapors. A cough or two dropped into her lap.
- A liquid rope of warmth spilled eagerly from the bottle, and into his mouth and throat.
- He brought a shot to his lips and sipped at its fire. It burned his throat, turning his blood hot.
Next week: Light. View all posts on the subject, or buy the book on Amazon – free on KU!
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Very creative on this one!
Thank you 😀
“The wine bottle was now empty. He considered reaching for a second, but a disapproving glance from his wife stopped him in his tracks.” Real life, in Beetley
Best wishes, Pete.
Ha ha – write what you know 😀
Always my maxim, Nicholas! 🙂
Thanks, Nicholas for another of these fantastic posts. 🙂 — Suzanne
Thank you 😀
I really need to use flagon more often.
Is that the flagon with dragon? 🙂
Shared while riding a wagon. 😀
Remember “The Court Jester”? The vessel with the pestle and the chalice from the palace. 🙂
I had to look it up. The phrase and comedy style were familiar, but I never heard of the name. Interesting that Get it/Got it/Good is from that movie.
Now a classic…it failed miserably at the box office.
A lot of movies do that for some reason. Kind of proves that box office doesn’t always mean quality.
One of Danny Kaye’s best moments ever. (He didn’t have that many) 🙂
We all do 🙂