In the writer’s quest to show and not tell body language plays an important role. Slumped shoulders, shoulders thrown back, shrugged shoulders—they all say something without words. Facial expressions show universal emotions—body language understood around the world. They convey happiness, sadness, fear, pride, surprise, disgust, anger, sadness, and more. You might call it a universal language and one your readers will understand. For this prompt I've provided the following list to help spur your creativity. Remember to choose strong verbs to show the action.
Face emotion
- Eyes: damp, wide, close, pointing down, raised, wide and staring, cast down, tearful, staring, wide open, dilated pupils, slightly raised, steady gaze, squinting, looking away, turned away, staring at nothing, glazed over, gazing, crows-feet wrinkles
- Eyebrows: thrust together (furrowing brow), arched, one brow raised, tilted outwards with outer edges lower, wrinkled forehead
- Nose: nostrils flared, wrinkled
- Lips: trembling lower lip, pinched, pursed, puckered, smiling, slightly parted, pressed together, nibble lower lip, closed, pulled to the side, curled in a sneer
- Jaw: mouth gaping, slack jawed, tight, muscles twitching, clenched
- Chin: pulled in, jutted, chattering
Today’s writing prompt: Show facial emotions
This prompt can be for a human, animal, or even an alien lifeform. Pick your character(s) and write a short scene that shows three of these emotions. Add other details like position of the head, facial color (pale, blushing, turning purple), and gestures like tugging on hair, twirling a strand of hair, raking fingers through hair, etc. for added oomph. For bonus points, get the ears involved. Show what they hear and how they react.
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Boredom
- Contempt
- Desire
- Disgust
- Envy
- Fear
- Happiness
- Interest
- Pity
- Relief
- Shame
- Surprise
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