One usually approaches this topic as “filling scenes with emotion” although, if you think about it, it’s people who experience emotion. If your characters are feeling it, then they’ll embue the whole scene with it. And, because of the wonderful faculty of compassion, readers will start to twang with the same emotional resonance.
Where do you stand?
The exact way we, the authors, will go about this depends on what point of view we’ve chosen. Is it omniscient third person? The godlike narrator knows what everyone is feeling to the same degree. Third-person limited? She’ll describe for us in detail the emotions of the POV personage, as felt inside that person’s heart. Other characters can only be interpreted from the outward signs they give. First person? Obviously the narrator knows what he’s feeling, but, again, can only read the faces and body language of those around him.
Just say it
The lazy way to insert emotions is simply to say they exist: “She was furious.” Nothing really wrong with that, and sometimes terseness has a lot to recommend it. But it won’t bring any tears to readers’ eyes. Fortunately, there’s a better way.
Write it in the body
As anybody knows who has ever felt anything, emotion brings with it a whole train of physiological symptoms. What does fury look like on someone’s face? What does it feel like inside the furious person? Try something like these:
“Fury washed over her in a scalding wave.” (POV character)
“She clenched her teeth, and her face grew scarlet.” (Other character)
You could add details like pulsing veins, popping eyes, and heartbeat like a hammer and anvil. But remember that one can only describe inner changes in a POV character and only outward changes in anyone else. POV can know her face feels hot, but she can’t see that it has turned red.
Furious is as furious does
There’s that other kind of body language, too, and it often gives away our emotions. Tapping fingers and rigid posture can betray anger or impatience. Burying one’s face in one’s hands, exspecially if the shoulders shake, generally means someone is weeping or wants to. Dropping into a chair, white-faced, show someone has just received a nasty surprise. Layer on the gestures and facial changes, and nobody will fail to respond to your character’s feelings—because we’re programmed to do just that.
The unspoken part
These little, often unconscious movements of face and body make great beats in dialogue. Here’s a way to create a sense of emotion without stopping your action to do a long description. And, like an emoji, they can shade what is being said.
“Oh, really?” He sneered.
She dabbed her nose with her handkerchief and looked up with tear-sparkling eyes. “Oh? Really?”
She rolled her eyes and gave a sniff. “Oh, really.”
Don’t be afraid to pit two characters against one another in an emotional confrontation. The distinctive way each of them reacts to conflict will tell readers a lot about them. Is one calm and controlled? Eager to please and distressed by conflict? Is one hot-tempered? It will become obvious in their twitching fingers, tense shoulders, shrinking demeanor, or leaking lids.
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