Describing facial expressions

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GrunAugen

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I'm in agreement with the people who say the dialogue can appropriately detail a facial expression so authors don't have to.

"Well F you, too!" clearly shows anger, and it's something the reader can relate to - so the facial expression goes without saying.

"What? You're breaking up with me? But why? What have I done?" could be confusion, mild heart ache, etc. Again, the reader can relate, making description of a facial expression unnecessary.

Personally, I try not to use facial expressions unless I'm absolutely at the end of my rope and can't think of a better way to write what I want to say. Then I'll flag it and come back later to work on it with a fresh perspective. If you combine action with appropriate dialogue, telling the reader what the expression on someone's face is becomes unnecessary in many instances.

Then again, I'm new to all of this, so take my advice with a grain of salt. It's just that describing facial expressions is something I noticed was one of my own weaknesses. When I modified conversations and action in order to better convey facial expressions, I found my piece was a better, smoother read.
 

Paradise Squandered

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Actions vs reactions

While I was editing my first novel, I noticed that the protagonist spent far too much time frowning and nodding. It started to drive me crazy, but it eventually made me a lot more clever at describing certain scenes. In certain cases, I found it more interesting to describe reactions instead of actions. Case in point:

One of them immediately catches my eye—she's wearing a frilly mini skirt and a lace top. She reacts to my presence like she already knows me.

[I originally wrote: One of them immediately catches my eye—she's wearing a frilly mini skirt and a lace top. Her eyes light up as she notices me; her drunken smile widens.]

“Hey, you were at Steven's place the other night, right?”

“Yeah.”

She moves in, obviously intoxicated, and I smile back and unknowingly commit to the fake-hug she initiates. I don't know who she is, but I don't want to seem rude. I tell her I'm an artist. I ask her if she wants to see my bedroom.

[Rough draft version: She moves in, wobbling, and I smile back and try not to fall over backward as she lunges at me, hugging me aggressively. I don't know who she is, but I don't want to seem rude. I tell her I'm an artist. I ask her if she wants to see my bedroom.]
 

dontpanic

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Yeah it's difficult to describe facial expressions without being repetitive. I usually focus on different aspects of their countenance, like eyes - I'm really big on eyes and make a lot of eye contact myself so I think it reflects in my writing of characters. You can also try focusing on what is inferred by the other characters from watching someone's facial expressions.
 

Mamba

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What I've found is, rather than use a lot of facial expressions, I let the character do some sort of physical action. So for example, if there's a serious meeting going on, they might stroke their beard, or run their fingers through their hair, or twiddle their thumbs, or something of that nature.

This is really helpful I find, because not only are you conveying some sort of feeling that might not be readily apparent through dialogue, but it also allows you to add a little bit of description while making it appear natural.

At one point, I had a chapter that was pushing 2000 words that were simply describing every character in a meeting. Eventually on the second draft, I cut nearly all of it and chose to emphasize certain physical traits through reactions or unconscious movement. Grinning, for example, is more useful than smiling, because I can get away with describing someone's teeth or facial hair if that's notable.
 

JennieRose8

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I, too, have trouble with reusing phrases like "he smiled," "She nodded," etc, and have been looking up synonyms and brainstorming as to how a certain character would describe someone's responses or situations. No one can say writing isn't an art. You sketch out the chapter, then you add meat, and then you correct all the repeated phrases and insert more suitable words. Suitable to the character, that is. It can be hard but it's fun at the same time.
 

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Instead of: He grimaced.
Try: Great, just great. This was never going to work.

I have found that interjecting thoughts into the dialogue as Linda suggested is very effective for me, especially if the character is trying to hide an emotion.

I also rely heavily on a thesaurus, such as the one at Dictionary.com. I often find another word is better or the definition itself can be a handy substitute.

More grimace examples:
He frowned.

Grimace definition: make a pained expression
His pained expression said it all . . .
 

Angela_785

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I, too, have trouble with reusing phrases like "he smiled," "She nodded," etc, and have been looking up synonyms and brainstorming as to how a certain character would describe someone's responses or situations. No one can say writing isn't an art. You sketch out the chapter, then you add meat, and then you correct all the repeated phrases and insert more suitable words. Suitable to the character, that is. It can be hard but it's fun at the same time.

I think we have a tendency to want to use the face because in real life, that's what we focus on and notice. But in fiction, the face offers very limited opportunity for fresh description.

It can be helpful sometimes to put yourself in the character's shoes. Think "down" to what the shoulders, arms and legs are doing. Hesitations, or smooth fluid actions? Posture? Is the body closed off, or open, and why? What does that look like? You don't need to describe every movement or action--this is where the pacing problems come in. One or two bits of strong body language will always beat a paragraph of weaker emotional cues.

Have the character interact with their environment if it makes sense to do so. What they pick up, touch, or notice yet avoid can say something about how they are feeling. So can where they choose to stand or sit, and how they do it--at the edge of a seat, lounging, curled against the armrest, toward or away from someone else, etc. If they are with others, are they in the center of the room, taking up lots of space (confident, in their element, extroverted), or hemming the side of a group, trying to figure out how to engage (shy, insecure, introverted?)

Dialogue can do a lot of the heavy lifting as well, and used together, the scene moves along quickly but still contains the emotions being expressed. We give away a lot in the voice--tone, the words we use, hesitations, choppiness or rapid speech, rushing, steering to more comfortable topics...lots of ways to show how a character is feeling. :)
 

WormHeart

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If I'm hanging out with someone in real life who rely on facial expression instead of speaking, that get old real fast.

"What? You're eyebrows are hopping. Are you joking? Are you being sarcastic? Are you mocking me? Speak up, or I will punch you so hard you make the facial expression for 'God, the pain - my teeth are stuck in my nose and I think I swallowed my jaw!'"

WormHeart
 

CrastersBabies

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Check out "The Emotion Thesaurus." It's a great little tool that I use when I'm stuck. I may not use exactly what they suggest for a certain emotion, but it often triggers ideas of how to show through action/reaction.

Also, consider letting the dialogue speak for itself here and there. This lets the reader fill in the blanks. Not a bad thing sometimes. :)
 

dontpanic

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I'm very big on eye contact with my real life communications so I tend to describe eyes and mouths most of all. I try to think of inventive ways of describing the same sort of facial expression by thinking about what I do or how my friends look. Sometimes it's good to try these expressions out in the mirror and note down things.Tone and content of dialogue should be complemented by expressions, so I try to keep facial expression description to a two feature minimum with one adjective or detail per feature.
 

swvaughn

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This is a friendly note to say that this zombie thread was started in 2006.

Also, it kinda made me sniffle a bit, 'cuz I started at the beginning and thought maestrowork had come back. :(

Anyway, carry on. :)
 

MakanJuu

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I don't know about facial expressions. My biggest peeve is coming up short with words when I try to explain people talking with their hands.
 

Fruitbat

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I think describing facial expressions is more often overdone than anything. If it doesn't add anything of interest or needed information, cut it.
 
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blacbird

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Here's something that's been bothering me for a while in trying to get my novel finished. I'm writing along, doing a scene where two or more characters are in dialogue, and in my mind, I "see" much of their attitude and expression in terms of their facial expressions.

If you've done a good enough job on your dialogue, so will most readers. Resist the temptation to overdescribe and overexplain.

caw
 

susysquark

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Facial expressions are another form of dialogue. Use it when it's necessary - and in particular, use it when it reveals something that you can't reveal any other way.

If you're still running out of words to describe faces, time to switch to the endless well that is metaphor (and simile).

His face lit up
Her expression soured
He looked like he had just seen a ghost (okay sorry that was a bit cliche, but you get the point)
 

Steve Day

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blacbird makes a good point: the dialog should carry the load.

Good film actors can say a thousand words with the flick of an eyelash, a pause.

Check out the scene in "Get Shorty" where Chili Palmer tells Martin Weir to 'look at me'.
(Chili is a loan shark, Martin is an actor.)
"No, You're a shylock, not the Shylock."
"You need glasses?"
"What? You're sleepy, you want to take a nap?"
 

Axordil

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Yet novels are not movies. Writers of fiction don't HAVE actors to supply eyelash flicks or pauses. We have to do that--outside of or mixed in with dialogue.

I love dialog as much as the next person, and I'm as visually oriented as anyone raised on TV can be, but novels are not scripts. Scripts are the bare bones of something it can take hundred of people to flesh out. With novels, what you read is what you get.

Physical expression can pin down ambiguous dialog, or call into question dialog that otherwise might be taken as gospel truth. It can amplify a neutral remark into a proposition or suck the promise out of a promise.

What it shouldn't do is simply reiterate, without inflection, a meaning already obvious from the spoken words of the characters. If a character says something most of us would smile at...adding the tag is a waste.
 

CrastersBabies

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blacbird makes a good point: the dialog should carry the load.

Good film actors can say a thousand words with the flick of an eyelash, a pause.

Check out the scene in "Get Shorty" where Chili Palmer tells Martin Weir to 'look at me'.
(Chili is a loan shark, Martin is an actor.)
"No, You're a shylock, not the Shylock."
"You need glasses?"
"What? You're sleepy, you want to take a nap?"

It should, but what about the other rules then?

Using action dispersed with dialogue tags? We aren't writing plays, we're writing fiction. Writers will use action at times. There is a balancing act to perform, though.
 
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