![]() ![]() Using some distinctions I picked up in Russian (which splits verbs into more complexity than English) I break my stage direction terms (as I call them) into verb, verb + adverb combos, nouns and adjectives, for the face, body, hands, and other parts. Great list, I’ve seen others but this is more complete than most. Thank you so much for reading, and happy writing! ![]() I think it’s a great tool for making “show don’t tell” easier and for inspiration during every part of the writing process. It may seem a little obsessive to list facial expressions, but there’s almost nothing I like better than making lists! I have many more lists like this in my book Master Lists for Writers: Thesauruses, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More. His lower lip quivered Ways to Describe Reactions Related to the SkinĪ flush crept up her face Ways to Describe Expressions Having to Do With the Whole Face She sniffled Ways to Describe Expressions Related to the Mouth His pupils flared Ways to Describe Expressions Related to the Nose Get writing inspiration, news about books and giveaways.and never miss a new post! Ways to Describe Expressions Related to the Eyes and Eyebrows You might want to pin it for future reference! In fact, I started this list in a notebook for myself as a reference so I would stop using “he said” and “she said” so often…and as any editor or writing coach will tell you, just using tons of synonyms for “said” does not solve this problem it makes it worse! By using a facial expression as a dialogue tag, you can also convey the tone of voice. Some of these aren’t exactly words to describe facial expressions, but they’re useful for dialogue tags. While I have included some longer phrases, they are not proprietary and it’s fine to use them. In many cases I’ve given several ways to describe the same thing. And not all of these will work for every character. You’ll have to say what she’s glaring at, or if his face is contorting in rage, or grief, or what. Some of them require a little more explanation on your part. Note that some of them work for more than one emotion-a person might narrow their eyes out of vindictiveness or skepticism, for instance, and their face might turn red out of anger or out of embarrassment. The expressions are broken down by the part of the face. And sometimes in the middle of writing, when we’re trying to find the words to describe an angry expression or a sad expression, we draw a blank. However, it’s easy for us to rely on the same descriptions over and over again. Writers need good facial expression descriptions in their writing to help the readers picture the characters and to convey emotions. A lot of writers keep this page bookmarked! It came about because I started to list facial expressions in a spiral notebook for my own reference, and then I figured I’d share. This list of facial expressions for writers is one of my all-time most popular posts. ![]()
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