Character Emotion: Is It Written All Over Their Face?

How to convey emotions?

The face is the first thing we notice in real life, and the focal point during any conversation.

We connect to a person’s gaze, paying attention to how their eyes widen, squint, focus inward or dart. We also watch their mouth, noting lip presses, teeth flashes, frowns, smiles and pursed lips. Eyebrow lifts, the forehead crinkling and relaxing…each facial micro movement is a message, a clue to what the person is thinking and feeling.

So as writers, is it important to maintain a strong focus in this area when we set out to describe character emotion?

Actually, it’s more the opposite. While the face might offer hundreds of micro expressions in real life, these split-second gestures do not always translate into strong emotional description.

Don’t get me wrong…the face is important! When a new character enters the scene, facial description is often the first beat of connection a reader has with them. A woman’s soft grey eyes, her rounded face, how sunlight glints through her curly auburn hair as she moves…these details help readers form an image.

But while face-centered description helps to paint a physical picture, it should not be relied on to also provide an emotional one. Instead, more descriptive ‘weight’ needs to be given to what the character’s body is doing.

By sheer mass, the body can provide thousands of possible movements, gestures and actions that will show readers what the character is feeling. Why? Because all readers (all people!) are body language experts. Ninety-three percent of communication is nonverbal, so we are constantly being fed messages through body movement. What we sense as we interact with others will dictate how we feel ourselves, and our behavior toward the other person.

Readers naturally apply this skill to what they read, and recognize body language on the page. Often the way a gesture or movement is described reminds them of how they used a similar one themselves when experiencing an emotion. This ‘shared experience’ is what powers up that empathy link between the reader and the character. Add this to emotion-rich dialogue, and, if the POV allows, snippets of the character’s thoughts and internal sensations (visceral reactions), and we can convey a powerful emotional moment!

Why doesn’t this body language skill apply to reading micro expressions?

Interpreting facial and body language is largely visual, and our readers are not seeing emotion being expressed first-hand. Instead, they are relying on their own imagination to work in tandem with the writer’s ability to create vivid description. Micro facial shifts happen quickly, and often several at the same time. Trying to break down these movements and describe them accurately can create a mechanical feel and slow the pace. There are larger, more recognizable expressions that work well as emotional cues (frowning, smiling, etc.), but they are often overused. Because of this, describing the character’s facial expression to show how they are feeling is something that should be done in moderation.

So the next time you have to show your character’s emotion, think beyond the face.

Instead, look at what the body might be doing. Delve into your past, remembering when you experienced the same emotion. What did your body do? How did it express itself? What did you feel inside–a heaviness in the chest, pain twisting your throat? Light-headedness from a surge of adrenaline? Skin sensitivity? Recreate the emotional moment and allow your senses to take over. Then, write it down.

Observing people in real life and in movies is another great way to build up a ‘store’ of body language to draw upon. There are examples all around us of unique ways to express emotion, and all we have to do is look. :)

When you think about what body language movements to show, dig deep. The more work we put into crafting fresh body cues, the deeper the connection we forge with readers. Above all, readers read for the experience, so make sure to give it to them!

Your turn! Do you find yourself overusing facial cues to describe how your character feels? What do you struggle with when it comes to showing emotion? Let me know in the comments!

About the author:

Angela Ackerman is one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, and co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. Listing the body language, visceral reactions and thoughts associated with seventy-five different emotions, this brainstorming guide is a valuable tool for showing, not telling, emotion. 
Image: Sad woman BigStockPhotos

Using Visualization to Write Killer Hooks

how to write the hook

The hook

Imagine yourself one year from now.

If you’re a blogger:

You have over 10,000 converting subscribers.

Your website traffic stats are off the charts.

Each of your posts averages 100 comments each.

You are a rock star in your niche.

Or if you’re a writer:

You have released a very successful book or two.

Your fans keep asking for more.

You get so many offers to write for major companies that you have to turn some down instead of the other way around.

You have your very own stalker.

What if I can tell you that this can be done in less than a year (okay, except for the stalker)?

What if I can tell you that by next week, you’ll be writing the type of content that people find irresistible to read and share?

What Just Happened?

What just happened is I hacked your mind. I made you think exactly what I wanted you to think about. I took you from one place and put you in a place where you felt comfortable and powerful. I kept you reading and with each sentence you read, you got more and more interested in what I had to say.

To do all this I used the technique of visualization along with some other strategies to write my hook.

What is Visualization?

Visualization is the act of forming a mental image. Visualization builds rapport which is a feeling of connection and trust between two people. It doesn’t have to be deep but enough to make both parties feel comfortable with each other. Have you ever had a feeling of connection and trust with someone you just met? Did you just feel like they had a magnetic personality? That is rapport at work.

What is a Hook?

A hook is probably one of the most important parts of the entire piece of writing. It is the part that catches the reader’s attention and determines whether or not the reader will continue reading.

Just like in music, the hook is the part of the song that initially grabs the listener’s attention. It’s the part that makes you decide whether you want to listen to the actual verses or not. A hook has the potential to make or break a song.

Hooks can also be described as “Attention-Getters.” According to Colorado State University, “The attention-getter is designed to intrigue the audience members and motivate them to listen attentively for as long as you want them to.”

In General Writing: The hooks are usually created when you are trying to describe a situation, person or place.

In Blogging: The hook is usually what you put before the “<! –more–>” tag in a WordPress blog or page break in a Blogger blog. It is the short section of text that appears on the main page of a blog that entices the reader along with the title to click the “continue reading” or “read more” button.

Blending Hooks and Visualization

As I mentioned earlier, visualization is a technique that creates rapport with your reader. Once you gain the trust of your reader, you have to follow up with something that provides immense value and amazes them. If you achieve this in your writing then you have them hooked.

These are some situations where visualization can be used:

Speech Writing: When writing a speech, you don’t want to bore your listeners and make them fall asleep five minutes into it. You want to keep their attention for as long as possible in order to properly convey your message.

Fictional Writing: Visualization can be the single most important silver bullet in a fictional writer’s arsenal. Your goal would be to engage the reader’s five senses, which means you have to be highly descriptive. Make them see what you want them to see, hear what you want them to hear and feel what you want them to feel etc

Blog Writing: With visualization, you create rapport. With rapport, you create trust. Once you achieve this, you can make your readers subscribe to your feeds, subscribe to your lists and purchase your products, even on their first visit. It’s just that powerful.

Hooks don’t always have to be in the beginning of your piece. You can keep adding them throughout your writing to keep the level of interest of your reader or listener (in the case of speeches) high.

But it all starts with getting their attention in the first place.

Visualization achieves this and more. Some practical ways of incorporating this when writing your hooks include:

  1. Describing to the reader, the pain they are experiencing.
  2. Describing to the reader, the pleasure they would like to have (like this post).
  3. Starting with a very short, personal summary of a story of you overcoming a problem they are currently having. Studies show that people respond more to personal success stories than general advice.
  4. Adding humor.
  5. Unusual statements.
  6. Famous Quotes.
  7. Giving shocking statistics.

All these create strong mental pictures in the reader’s head and an uncontrollable feeling of desire.

Read back to the beginning of this post. Did you notice that in my hook, I started with the word “imagine” and gradually moved to the phrase “what if”?

These are what are called critical mind switches. When you write a killer hook, your aim is to switch off the reader’s critical mind and these words help you do this. They start to work on their imagination which leaves them open to your suggestions that you can outline in your writing. It’s sort of like hypnosis. You get into the readers mind and are able to influence their decisions but in a more ethical way.

In the case of a blog post on the main page of a site, the “read more” button can also be taken as your suggestion to them which they will gladly follow if your hook is good enough.

Great authors and writers are able to use visualization seamlessly with their writing and this is a powerful strategy to adopt as well.

Some resources to help you write better content:

Five common Writing Mistakes That Bloggers Make – And How to Fix Them

Unleash Your Writing With This Trick from The Movies

Over to You

Do you have a problem with writing hooks?

Are you satisfied with the number of page views your posts generate?

What techniques do you use to write killer hooks?

Tell me in comments. I’d love to help and learn.

A guest post by Nathan Kash (@electricblogger). Nathan is a professional blogger who runs Electric Blogging where you can discover methods of traffic generation, writing excellent content, social media utilization and how to blog effectively. He also gives blogging tips to the newbie blogger and seasoned professional.

5 Steps to Telling Engaging Stories on Your Blog

how to tell stories on your blogThe best bloggers on the planet do three things very well. I call them the 3 E’s.

The first two, educate and engage, are the easiest to master. But the third E, entertain, is the one that will set a blogger apart from the masses.

The best way to entertain, to keep your reader glued to your page, is to tell a story.

What makes a good story?

The famed writer Flannery O’Connor said that a story is ‘a full action with a point.’ What better way to describe a blog post, too? In their most basic form, both a story and a blog post must have something happening and both must end with a point.

I’ve been reading Victoria Mixon’s groundbreaking book, The Art & Craft of Story. While she is talking to writers of fiction, what she says is just as true for bloggers. Her message is this: You are unique. Your history, your life experiences are unlike any other person’s in the world. And looking at your own life will teach you how to tell unique stories.

That’s powerful stuff. If you turn the camera on yourself, could you possibly have ways of looking at an issue or problem that that next blogger can’t duplicate? Could your life experiences relate to a post topic in story form, in a way that drives your point home in a unique and entertaining way?

How to tell an engaging story on your blog

1. Figure out your theme.

What is the one thing you are trying to say? What one thing will apply to all of your readers, regardless of their backgrounds and experiences? The theme is the point of your post. Write it on a sticky note, put it on your computer monitor and keep it front and center with each word you write.

2. Pull them in with an engaging hook.

Your headline and opening paragraph are your hook. Picture your reader browsing in Barnes and Noble. She opens to the first page and reads the first sentence. Will she read the next one (or buy the book)? Or will she put the book down, never to return?

You want your reader to think, “What’s going on here? I must find out!” There are many strategies for this, but making your reader curious or surprised with your headline and hook is one of the best.

Example of a Headline: Why I’m Dumping the Cat’s Eye Writer Blog

If you are a regular reader of the Cat’s Eye blog, this would make you sit up. Is she really quitting blogging? Why? This post prepared readers for my transition from Cat’s Eye Writer to my newly branded Judy Lee Dunn author blog.

Example of a Hook: The other day I unfollowed someone on Twitter. At first glance, we appeared to have lots in common. He’s a writer, I’m a writer. I thought I could learn some new things from him. But then election season hit.

What did election season have to do with anything? I wanted my reader to stay on the page to find out.

3. Paint a setting and introduce characters we will care about.

The character can make or break your post. Make it someone we can emotionally invest in, someone we will care about. Sometimes the character will be you. Other times, you will want to plunk the reader down in the story with you.

Example of a Character in a Setting: There are small towns. There are rural areas. And then there are islands. Islands that have no bridges, only ferries.

Ferries that blow their horns on foggy days. That break down at the worst possible  moment, usually when you have an important meeting with a new client. Ferries that will take you back home if you show up before the last one leaves the dock, at 7:30pm sharp.

When you arrive just 10 seconds late, the ferry workers in bright orange vests are pulling the thick ropes in and locking the gate. And you are stuck on the mainland, cursing that ‘careful’ driver who chugged along at 16 miles an hour all the way along the tree-lined road that leads to the ferry landing.

You would have made it if not for her.

This was a lead-in to a guest post I wrote for Becky McCray’s Small Town Survival blog. I was setting readers up for the challenges of operating a business in a remote location and figuring out how to make it work. I wanted the reader to be right there with me.

4. Set up your conflict (also known as your plot).

This is your problem. What are you helping the reader to solve? It should be a question your reader is itching to know the answer to. This is the part where something happens. Tell us a story about a problem you have had—one that you weren’t sure how to solve.

In this post, Google Said I Died: Will That Be Bad for Business?, the problem was how to control your online reputation when other people with the same name as yours are being talked about on the Web. As the story unfolds, I am at my computer. A Google Alert lands in my in-box, with a link to Judy Dunn’s obituary. So the conflict is this: What happens when a news story about another Judy Dunn hits the Web?:

Example of Conflict: Sometimes a Google Alert comes in that wakes you up. Like last Wednesday, when I found out I had died. It was kind of weird because I wasn’t really expecting it. I was just reading along and, bam, there it was: my death notice.

5. End with a climax and resolution that shows the choice your character made.

This is where you reach the point of your whole story—how it ends and what that means for the reader. The best characters go through a change and make a new choice. So by the time you end your post, you should leave your readers with how and why you changed your mind, your opinion, or your way of thinking or feeling about something.

Using the Google Said I Died example again, I end with the resolution of the problem. I show the steps I took to manage my online reputation so I could be sure that the good stuff I was doing online came up higher in search engine rankings than the other Judy Dunn’s:

Example of a Climax/Resolution: If you are a solopreneur or small biz owner and people relate to your name, rather than your business, it makes sense to keep an eye on the places you are appearing on the Web. You may not have died, like I did, but one of your name-alikes might have done something truly dreadful, like embezzling the company receipts or breaking into a family’s house and drinking all their Scotch. Here are some things you can do to separate yourself from them:…

What about you?

Do you ever tell stories on your blog?

Do you think that a good story draws the reader in and helps them remember your post?

What kinds of stories could you tell on your blog?

Let us know in the comments what your experience has been with telling stories in blog posts.

A guest post by Judy Lee Dunn, owner of Cat’s Eye Writer. Subscribe to her Judy Lee Dunn blog for writers and get a free report: 30 Design and Content Secrets to Skyrocket Your Blog.

The Definitive Guide to Successful Online Writing

Do you ever think about giving up on writing?

On some days does being a writer just feel like a big struggle?

This is a normal reaction.

We live in a fast, information-filled world that bombards us with a constant stream of technology. We’re told about countless things we “must” do in order to succeed as a writer.

It’s overwhelming.

You may find yourself wondering…

a) is writing the right choice for me?
b) do I even have the writing skills necessary to “make it?”
c) what do I really need to know about writing to succeed?

Well, guess what?

The Write Guide for a Stumble-free Path to Success will point you in the right direction so you can pick yourself, stop second guessing yourself, and get you moving onto a smoother writing path to success.

Read on to learn how.

Every topic in this post will give you an important piece of the writing puzzle. Put them all together and you will have the complete view of what you need to succeed as a writer.

This guide gives you clear steps, insight, and beneficial ideas, that help you understand your strengths as a writer. Plus, you will learn some of the most important skills for writing in today’s world so you don’t have to waste anymore time going off your path.

And there’s more. This guide gives you personal attention. We are all different, so generic advice just doesn’t cut it. That’s why The Write Guide for a Stumble-free Path to Success is designed to help you discover what’s important to you personally, as well as just how you can keep yourself intact while navigating through the Internet writing jungle.

All the articles we link to in each chapter provides information that is easy to grasp, straightforward, and unmissably useful.

Are you ready to stop stumbling and start moving smoothly?

Okay. Let’s do it!

Introducing:

The Write Guide for a Stumble-free Path to Success

You may use this guide by clicking on any of the chapter links below to jump straight to a topic or you might choose to start at the beginning and read through to the end.

Chapter 1. Your Personal Writing Road
Chapter 2. Your Writing Kickstart
Chapter 3. Online Writing that Works
Chapter 4. Blogging Essentials
Chapter 5. Get it Done
Chapter 6. Keeping the You in Your Writing
Chapter 7. Bonus – Notch Up Your Creativity

Chapter 1. Your Personal Writing Road

To know if you are a successful writer you must have a personal definition of what success is and it’s important to know where your specific strengths lie. The tips and information in this chapter will help you with this.

Chapter 2. Your Writing Kickstart

As a writer, sometimes you need a kickstart or some secret insights to rev yourself up so you can keep moving on your path to success. Use the topics in this chapter to get your writing engine going.

Chapter 3. Online Writing that Works

Here are your simple tips and methods for writing in today’s world so no more unexpected pitfalls. These ideas work, are easy to use, and will help give you the confidence you need to stay on your writing journey.

Chapter 4. Blogging Essentials

Most writers today who are trying to succeed online, at one point or another, are also bloggers, or at least contribute to other blogs. Here are the essentials you need to you can write content that generates traffic, readers, and conversions or sales.

Chapter 5. Get it Done

Writers often have so many creative ideas in their head they either feel blank, don’t know where to begin, or get so scattered they don’t complete projects. Use the following information to get your writing done.

Chapter 6. Keeping the You in Your Writing

Don’t lose yourself in the writing jungle. It’s important to keep your ideas intact because your unique voice is what the world most needs from you as a writer.

Chapter 7. Bonus – Notch Up Your Creativity

Every writer, newbie or seasoned, needs a creative boost now and then. Feel free to use the ideas in this chapter whenever you need them.

Your writing path does not have to be such a struggle. Let this resource ease you past the potential pitfalls so that your writing journey will be long, prosperous, and filled with joy.

What aspect of writing are you struggling with? Let us know in the comments below.

A guest post by Karen Daniels, topselling amazon author and online writing coach who blogs at zencopy.com. Check out her free Authors Writing and Branding Resource.

Mastering Words: Transform Your Writing Weakness into Strength

A guest post by Angela Ackerman of The Bookshelf Muse

Each day, we seek to put our best foot forward. We shower, dress for the day’s activities, style our hair. We plan, organize, gather our things, and check the mirror before leaving to pluck stray fluff off our sweaters and straighten sleeves.

Why?

  • To enhance our strengths.
  • To appear confident.
  • To show the people who interact with us that we are collected and ready for whatever comes our way.

It’s human nature to minimize our weaknesses. We hide zits, disguise thinning hair and avoid talking about our embarrassing mistakes. But in writing, covering up flaws can keep us from success.

Attitude

All writers shares a common epiphany on the writing path. I call it Staring Into The Abyss. This experience happens when our writing has strengthened to the point where blissful ignorance rubs away and we begin to realize just how much we don’t know.

It’s a dark moment, a bleak moment. We feel shock. Frustration. Despair. Some stop right there on the path, their writing spirits broken. Others take a micro-step forward, progressing toward the most important stages leading to growth: acceptance and determination.

Once we come to terms with what we don’t know, we can set out to learn. Taking on the attitude of a Learner is what separates an amateur from a PRO.

Asking for help

Writers can strengthen their skills on their own, but it’s a lot of hard work. Reaching out to other writers will shorten the learning curve considerably. Critique partners can help identify your weak areas and offer strategies to improve. They also will know of resources which might help.

There are many great sites for writers to find a critique partner or two. I recommend The Critique Circle (free & safe to post work). There are also sites like Absolute Write, Critters Workshop and Agent Query’s Critique Partner Wanted board. Or let someone play matchmaker for you: Ladies Who Critique & Rach Writes.

Read

No matter what areas need to be worked on, books can help. Find inspiration through your favorite fiction authors and in ‘how to’ books (here’s a good list to start on). Pick up a few and take notes. If you can, pair up with another writer to read the same book and then discuss it. Learning together gives you a better chance to fully understand any topic.

Resources, resources, resources

There are thousands of articles on writing that can teach strong writing technique. Plotting, Story Structure, Voice, Description, Showing vs Telling, Style, Dialogue, Characters…whatever areas you want to develop, there is content out there to help you.

The trick is finding the best nuggets of information without losing your whole day online. Try this Search Engine for Writers for starters. Then, bookmark The Writers Resource which is a must-have for any writer. And saving the best for last, turn your gaze to the sidebar! Write to Done is a treasure trove of fantastic material for writers.

Think outside the monitor

Many of us are introverts, and it’s easy to get caught up on the keyboard and screen. There’s nothing wrong with this, unless your rectangular life preserver is holding you back. Writing Groups, Conferences, Work Shops and Retreats are all excellent opportunities to hone writing skills and meet mentors. Writing events need not be expensive–get involved in a local writing group and see what events have a low or no cost for members.

When you’re looking for opportunities to learn, don’t forget the movies. So much can be gleaned by watching films to see what makes them work. In fact, some of our biggest epiphanies as writers will come from studying screenwriting. I highly recommend reading Save the Cat & Writing Screenplays that Sell. These books are pure gold. Trust me, your writing will thank you!

Write and rewrite

Transforming writing weaknesses into strengths takes time. Choose learning strategies that work best for you and never stop writing. Each step of the way, apply new-found knowledge to the page. We learn most of all by doing, so always make time to write.

Angela Ackerman writes on the darker side of MG & YA. She blogs at The Bookshelf Muse, a description resource hub for writers. Her book, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression is scheduled for release in April 2012.