Morning Sickness

Over the last couple months this blog has consisted of a lot of questions and no answers. I have been very sick, on account of a new addition to our family being on the way, and I am just starting to feel like a human again.

Over December/January I will be going back through the emotions that have been brought up in prompts and posting the list of examples that should have accompanied them. I would like to thank all of you who offered examples and would love to hear any other examples you might think of. Hopefully I can be back on track starting February.

I look forward to brainstorming with you in the future!

Writing Research – Embarrassment (3)

This week's emotion is Embarrassment. How would you describe the internal/physical response to embarrassment?

How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are Embarrassed? What have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Embarrassment

This weeks emotion is embarrassment. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with embarrassment?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone is embarrassed?

What do they do that indicates they are embarrassed?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to embarrassment that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Hate (3)

This week's emotion is Hate. How would you describe the internal/physical response to hate?

 


How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are feeling hate? Do you feel sick? What have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Hate

This weeks emotion is Hate. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with hatred?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone hates something or someone?

What do they do that indicates hatred?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to hatred that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research – Shame (3)

This week's emotion is Shame.

How would you describe the internal/physical response to shame?

How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are ashamed?

Does your body shake or do you grow still?

Or what have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Shame

This weeks emotion is shame. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with shame?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone is feeling shame?

What do they do that indicates the feeling?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to shame that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Tenderness (3)

This week's emotion is Tenderness.

How would you describe the internal/physical response to tenderness? How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are feeling tenderness? What have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Tenderness

This weeks emotion is Tenderness.

What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with tenderness?

Here are some prompting questions.

• What do people do that indicates their feelings of tenderness?

• What do they say and how do they say it?

• Do they have involuntary responses?

• Is there a physical response to tenderness that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Hope (3)

This week's emotion is Hope. How would you describe the internal/physical response to hope?

 

How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are hopeful? Do you feel warm inside? What have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Hope (2)

This weeks emotion is Hope. What is the most unusual thing you've seen a hopeful person do?
 
 What was the funniest? What mannerisms have you seen associated with Hope?

Writing Research - Hope

This weeks emotion is Hope. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with Hope?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone is Hopeful?

What do they do that indicates they are Hopeful?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to Hope that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Irritation (3)

This week's emotion is Irritation. How would you describe the internal/physical response to irritation?

 

How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are irritated? What have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Irritation (2)

This weeks emotion is Irritation. What is the most unusual thing you've seen an irritated person do?
 
 

What was the funniest? What mannerisms have you seen associated with Irritation?

Writing Research - Irritation

This weeks emotion is Irritation. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with Irritation?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone is Irritated?

What do they do that indicates they are Irritated?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to Irritation that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Hostility (3)

 This week's emotion is Hostility. How would you describe the internal/physical response to hostility?

 

How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are feeling hostile?

Does your body shake or do you grow still?

What have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Hostility (2)

This weeks emotion is Hostility. What is the most unusual thing you've seen a hostile person do?

 

What was the funniest? What mannerisms have you seen associated with Hostility?

Writing Research - Hostility

This weeks emotion is Hostility. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with Hostility?

Here are some prompting questions:

• How do you know someone is Hostile?

• What do they do that indicates they are Hostile?

• What do they say and how do they say it?

• Do they have involuntary responses?

• Is there a physical response to Hostility that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Surprise (3)

This week's emotion is Surprise. How would you describe the internal/physical response to surprise? How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are surprised? What have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Surprise (2)

This weeks emotion is Surprise. What is the most unusual thing you've seen a surprised person do? What was the funniest? What mannerisms have you seen associated with Surprise?

Writing Research - Surprise

This weeks emotion is Surprise. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with Surprise?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone is surprised?

What do they do that indicates they are surprised?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to surprise that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Suspicion (3)

This week's emotion is Suspicion. How would you describe the internal/physical response to suspicion? How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are suspicious? What have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Suspicion (2)

This weeks emotion is Suspicion. What is the most unusual thing you've seen a suspicious person do? What was the funniest? What mannerisms have you seen associated with Suspicion?

Gratitude – Responses, Mannerisms, Behaviors

Many thanks to those of you who gave me input! Gratitude seems to be a less obvious emotion and I would love to hear of more mannerisms, behaviors, or nuances that you associate with the word/emotion. Please leave a note if you can think of anything not on this list. I would love to continue to improve it!

Outwardly

- Happy

- Smile

- Teary eyes

- Cry

- Hug

- Raised hands

- Repeated Thanks

- Fumble for words

- Speechless

- Gush

- Sleep well

Inwardly

- Recognize the value and cost when gratitude is towards an individual

- Desire to further develop relationship with individual

- Feel awkward/uncomfortable (if naturally so when expressing emotion)

Writing Research - Suspicion

This weeks emotion is Suspicion. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with Suspicion?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone is suspicious?

What do they do that indicates they are suspicious?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to Suspicion that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Gratitude (3)

This week's emotion is Gratitude. How would you describe the internal/physical response to gratitude? How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are grateful? What have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Gratitude (2)

This weeks emotion is Gratitude. What is the most unusual thing you've seen a grateful person do? What was the funniest? Basically what mannerisms have you seen associated with gratitude?

Confusion – Responses, Mannerisms, Behaviors

Thank you again to all of you who gave input! Please leave a note if you can think of anything not on this list. I would love to continue to improve it!

Outwardly

- Furrowed Brow

- Raised eyebrow

- Blank stare

- Closes eyes

- Squint Eyes

- Looking from left to right (as if searching)

- Slightly scrunched nose

- Tight lipped Grimace

- Open mouth

- Frown

- Broken speech

- Sigh/ groan

- Questioned response

- “What?”

- Repeat for clarification

- Pauses in conversation

- Throwing hands up

- Bang and/or shake offending object

- Become quiet

- Tilted head

- Head scratch

- Rub eyes, face, chin

- Cover face with hands

- Quizzical look

- Far away look

Inwardly

- Straining eyes (soar eyes)

- Has trouble completing tasks

- Internal quiet

- Focused

- Scattered

- Frustrated

- Give up on task

Writing Research - Gratitude

This weeks emotion is Gratitude. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with Gratitude?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone is grateful?

What do they do that indicates they are grateful?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to Gratitude that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research – Curiosity (3)

This week's emotion is Curiosity. How would you describe the internal/physical response to Curiosity? How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are Curious? What have you noticed in others?

Anger – Responses, Mannerisms, Behaviors

Outwardly

- All aspects of the face tend to crinkle in the middle (nose, eyes, eye brows, lips)

- Creases in Forehead

- Slanted eyebrows, furrowed in the middle of face

- One eyebrow raised

- Eyes narrow on inside corner (next to nose)

- stare or glare

- flared nostrils

- set jaw

- grinding teeth

- Frown

- Sneer

- spit flying out of mouth

- face turns red, or white

- sweat/ perspire

- become quiet

- becomes louder and louder, crescendo effect (quiet voice to yell)

- inhale loudly

- cry

- laugh

- muttering

- swear/bad language

- talk fast

- sarcasms (negative, cutting)

- snapping comments/ responses

- walk/run away

- strike out at person or thing perceived responsible for anger

- knocking things over

- slamming things

- kicking things

- hitting things

- breaking things

- clenched hands

- grabbing another person's wrists

- arms folded tightly across chest

- points/waves finger in or at someone's face, direction, etc...

- stomp feet

- raise stature to full height in attempt to tower over opponent

- move fast/ agitated

- face off opponent so you are squarely in front of them

- tries to cool off (takes off removable layers, turns on air, etc . . . in attempt to do so)
- strikes out until seeing blood (another person's or their own) 

Inwardly

- increased heart rate

- higher blood pressure

- blame others for feeling

- the body tenses

- feel a temporary high/rush brought on by adrenalin

- burning feeling in chest

- numbness in cheeks and jaw

- suddenly hot (need to get cooled off)

- forced patience

- a strong desire to say exactly what you think (in a deliberately hurtful manner, or simply without consideration of another)

If I've left out anything please post a note, more insight is always good!

Writing Research - Curiosity (2)

This weeks emotion is Curiosity. What is the most unusual thing you've seen a curious person do? What was the funniest? What mannerisms have you seen associated with curiosity?

Writing Research - Curiosity

This weeks emotion is Curiosity. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with Curiosity?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone is curious?

What do they do that indicates they are curious?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to curiosity that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Anger (3)

This week's emotion is Anger. How would you describe the internal/physical response to anger? How does your stomach, head, etc feel when you are angry? Does your body shake or do you grow still? Or what have you noticed in others?

Writing Research - Anger (2)

This weeks emotion is Anger. What is the most unusual thing you've seen an angry person do? What was the funniest? Basically what mannerisms have you seen associated with anger?

Jealousy – Responses, Mannerisms, Behaviors

Some Responses, Mannerisms, Behaviors of Jealous People Are:

Outwardly

- watch those they are jealous of

- lurk in the background

- are possessive of items, people, positions . . .

- frown

- purse lips

- narrow eyes

- avoiding eye contact

- flush red (but not out of embarrassment)

Inwardly

- feel empty

- feel hollow

- feel sick

- angry

- self-consciousness

- insecure

Can you think of any other Responses, Mannerisms or Behaviors?

Writing Research - Anger

This weeks emotion is Anger. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with Anger?

Here are some prompting questions.

How do you know someone is Angry?

What do they do that indicates they are Angry?

What do they say and how do they say it?

Do they have involuntary responses?

Is there a physical response to Anger that only the person experiencing it is aware of?

All insight is appreciated!

10 tips Article by Janet Fitch

I just happened upon this excellent article: 10 Writing Tips That Can Help Almost Anyone


Check it out!

Writing Research - Confusion

This weeks emotion is Confusion. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with confusion? How do you know someone else is confused? How do you respond when you are confused? All insight is appreciated!

The last emotion was jealousy.

Book Review - Guardian of the Flame: A Seven Wonders Novel

I recently posted a book review on Guardian of the Flame: A Seven Wonders Novel By: T.L. Higley at http://ssbookreviews.blogspot.com/. If any of you are interested please check it out.

Writing Research - Jealousy

This weeks emotion is Jealousy. What mannerisms or behaviors do you associate with jealousy? All insight is appreciated!

The last emotion was resignation.

Writing Research - Resignation

Resignation by definition
~ accepts/agrees that something is inevitable or right
~ goes along without resistance

To say that you are resigned to something implies that you were not always resigned.

I tend to think of resignation in the context of an unhappy or beaten person, but it occurred to me that this is not always the case. If you are resigned because you agree that the opposition is in fact right, then you may be happily resigned.

 

Resignation looks different depending on why the individual resigned themselves and how they feel about the inevitable.

A person resigned to the fact that they were going to die someday might still portray feelings of fear, sadness, anger, happiness or peace depending on why the person was resigned. (Did they have faith? Hate life?) The motivations for resigning are key to the mannerisms displayed.

When writing resignation I would ask

~ Why wasn't my character originally resigned?
~ What are the motivations/reasons for the change of heart/mind?
~ What is the resulting emotional/mental state?

What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Have any specific input on how to portray this emotion in writing?

Thank you all who have given me input thus far. I truly appreciate it and would appreciate any further light you could cast on the subject!

The emotion for this next week is Jealousy. Last weeks emotion was Grief.

Character development – Types of Physical Responses Part 4 of 5

CONSCIOUS MOVEMENTS

Conscious movements are responses we decide to express.

~ Punching Things
~ Stomping Feet
~ Smiling
~ Massaging Temples

These are examples of responses we have control over.

A man gets really angry. His face turns white, he clenches his teeth, and he slams a door. The man has no control over the color of his face(involuntary response), and clenches his teeth subconsciously, but he decides to slam the door.

Grief - Responses, Mannerisms, Behaviors

GRIEF

Thank you to everyone who posted comments. I appreciate all the input. If you know of anything that I have left out, please let me know! The next emotion I would like feedback on is Resignation.

I have divided the information into four categories: Medical Responses, Physical Responses, Emotional/Mental Responses, and Resulting Mannerisms.


Medical Responses

~ Diminished Immunity (Often results in Colds)
~ Medical conditions that existed before the loss might get worse
~ The stress of grief leads to the body working harder internally (higher blood pressure and pulse)


Physical Responses

~ Aches and soreness throughout the body
~ Clenched Jaw
~ Cold and Hot spells
~ Dizziness
~ Dry Mouth
~ Emptiness (feeling in stomach or middle)
~ Fatigue, Exhaustion
~ Headaches
~ Heaviness in the Chest
~ Insomnia (can't sleep)
~ No Appetite, Come and go appetite, Overeating, inability to swallow, or Nausea
~ Numbness
~ Sensitivity to noise
~ Shortness of Breath
~ Slowed responses (Can lead to more spills and messes)
~ Tension (throughout body)
~ Tightening Throat
~ Trembling (tingly, shaky)
~ Weakness


Emotional/Mental Responses

~ Aggression
~ Agitated
~ Anger (towards God, the departed, or others)
~ Anxiety
~ Apprehensive
~ Blaming
~ Confused
~ Denial
~ Depressed
~ Despair
~ Disbelief
~ Disoriented
~ Distorted sense of time
~ Drugged feeling
~ Embarrassment (about responses to grief)
~ Emptiness
~ Fear
~ Guilt
~ Hallucinations
~ Hatred
~ Helplessness
~ Hopelessness
~ Isolated feeling (from friends, family, life, reality)
~ Loneliness
~ Mood swings
~ Nightmares
~ Out of Control (feeling)
~ Overwhelmed
~ Pain
~ Panic
~ Regret
~ Relief (sometimes accompanied by guilt)
~ Restless
~ Sadness
~ Self-pity
~ Shock
~ Tearing apart inside (feeling)
~ There's no point to anything (feeling)
~ Unreal (feeling)

Resulting Mannerisms

~ Accident prone (due to slowed response time)
~ Arguing
~ Avoiding places, people, and situations that would act as reminders
~ Crying
~ Difficulty Expressing Yourself
~ Disinterest
~ Doesn't complete tasks/distracted/not organized
~ Easily flies off the handle
~ Forget to go about normal activities (eating, exercising)
~ Hallucinations
~ Hyperactivity (drowns sorrows in busyness)
~ Imitating mannerisms of deceased
~ Impatience
~ Increase of Bad Habits (smoking, drugs, tantrums)
~ Insomnia, waking during the night, nightmares
~ Joking
~ Laughter
~ Listlessness
~ Making decisions and solving problems is hard
~ Protectiveness of others
~ Random crying (brought on by anything)
~ Reminiscing (life and death of deceased)
~ Restlessness
~ See the deceased's face constantly in their head
~ Senses deceased, looks for them, expects to see them walk through the door
~ Sighing
~ Startles easily or more dramatically
~ Wandering aimlessly
~ Withdrawn

Writing Research - Grief

What behaviors, mannerisms or responses do you associate with grief? How do you know someone is feeling grief without being told? All insight is appreciated!

Writing Research - Example Responses to Emotions

How do you respond to anxiety? Do you feel sick, eat chocolate, or run? It's easy enough to find the medical information on what physically happens to our bodies when we experience variant emotions, but what behaviors accompany the emotion depends on the individual.

When I write I am constantly trying to figure out how others respond. I am going to pick one emotion a week and ask for feedback. I would really appreciate everyone's insight! After a week, I'll post a comprehensive list of what I've been told and what I can think up or find.

Here's a list of the emotions I might cover.

Anger
Anxiety
Apathy
Confusion
Contentment
Curiosity
Desire
Despair
Excitement
Fear
Fondness
Forgiveness
Gratitude
Grief
Guilt
Happiness
Hate
Hope
Hostility
Irritation
Jealousy
Loneliness
Longing
Love (Parent - child)
Love (Romantic not sensual)
Passion
Resignation
Restlessness
Revenge
Sadness
Shame
Surprise
Suspicion
Sympathy
Tenderness
Worry

Character development – Types of Physical Responses Part 3 of 5

SUBCONSCIOUS MOVEMENT

Subconscious movements are the habitual responses we have to situations or emotions.

~ talking with hands
~ playing with hair
~ biting lip
~ bouncing knees while sitting

These are examples of things we do without necessarily intending to.

I just found myself pacing the house and clenching my hands together between composing sentences for this blog post. I know from experience that I pace whenever I'm restless, stressed, or thinking hard. I don't intend to pace or clench my hands, I just do it.

What are examples of subconscious responses you have?

Character development – Types of Physical Responses Part 2 of 5

INVOLUNTARY OUTWARD RESPONSES

Involuntary outward responses are reactions that are visible to those around us, but that we have little to no control over.

~ Blushing
~ Red Ears
~ Sweating
~ Teary eyes

These are all examples of involuntary responses. Involuntary responses are easily seen in others, but your point of view character would only notice the corresponding effects of the responses in himself/herself. For example my POV character would notice that his vision had blurred not that his eyes had teared. He would realize that it was tears that caused the blur.

If my face were to turn a different color, be that color red, white, green, or blue, I would not know it without the aid of a mirror. Instead, I would know that I felt sick or that my face was hot, cold, numb, etc . . .

What are examples of involuntary responses you have?

Character development – Types of Physical Responses Part 1 of 5

In the interest of developing characters that react to situations and feelings uniquely, I have come up with five different types of physical responses.

1st Undetectable Responses
2nd Involuntary Outward Responses
3rd Subconscious Movements
4th Conscious Movements
5th Verbal

This post will deal with the first.

UNDETECTABLE RESPONSES

Undetectable responses are reactions we have internally that are not visually evident to those around us. Only your Point of View character(s) will ever experience this type of response.

~ Butterflies in the heart or stomach
~ Pulse quickening
~ Ringing in Ears
~ Sudden tunnel vision
~ Migraines

These are all examples of physical responses that are only known to the person experiencing them.

I occasionally get a headache when I am really stressed. While this physical response to stress is painfully evident to me, it's undetectable by anyone else.

What are examples of undetectable responses you have?

Writing Blogs I recommend

These are very helpful resources.

Cec Murphey's Writer to Writer
http://cecmurpheyswritertowriter.blogspot.com

Suzanne Hartmann's Write at Home
http://suzanne-hartmann2.blogspot.com

Your Character's Appearance: Does Your Reader Remember?

I recently finished a first draft of my manuscript. As I tried to draw it to a close, I started seeing things I had failed to develop along the way.

At the end of the book I asked my husband to describe my characters to me. What he said wasn't nearly as helpful as what he didn't say. For the most part I had not reminded my audience what my characters looked like since they first met them at the beginning of the book. As consequence my husband had to think hard to remember and even then could only remember small things like “so and so was really tall and the other guy was really short.”

I have a short list of physical attributes that I bring up for each of my characters, the rest I leave to the readers imagination, but even my short list was forgotten for lack of reminders. For instance, one of my characters has burgundy eyes. I mention this around chapter three, but never again. There is no way my readers are going to remember this after nineteen more chapters without even the slightest reference to it. What was I thinking?

For each of my characters I need to go back through my story and find appropriate places to gently remind the reader of my characters' unique traits.

Character Development: Individual Physical Responses

In my writing I am always searching for ways to make my characters more individual. After all, the only person I have to draw from is me so adding uniqueness to my characters can be a daunting task.

One thing that I have been trying to focus on is situational mannerisms. Physical reactions that we have to specific situations. I tend to suck my breath in loudly when I am surprised – a trait that my family finds entertaining. My husband does not suck in his breath when surprised.

While there are common reactions to surprise, fear, excitement, etc . . . it is unlikely that you would have two people in your story that have identical reactions to everything. (Unless their similarity is the unique aspect.)

For example:

Nervousness - Some bite their nails, pace, sweat, or prattle incessantly.

Anger - Some turn red, others white; shout, go silent; stare, can't make eye contact.

When you know what your character's reaction is, you can tell your readers how the character feels through the reaction and give them a familiarity with the individual at the same time.

Samuel dug the toe of his shoe into the dirt, looking down as heat flushed across his face.