Facial Expressions--Sadness

Sad expressions convey messages related to loss, bereavement, discomfort, pain, helplessness, etc.

Words to describe sadness:
bereaved, bitter, blue, cheerless, dejected, despairing, despondent, disconsolate, dismal, distressed, doleful, down, down in dumps, down in mouth, downcast, forlorn, gloomy, glum, grief-stricken, grieved, heartbroken, heartsick, heavyhearted, hurting, in doldrums, in grief, in the dumps, languishing, low, low-spirited, lugubrious, melancholy, morbid, morose, mournful, out of sorts, pensive, pessimistic, sick at heart, somber, sorrowful, sorry, troubled, weeping, wistful, woebegone 

This is what it looks like:

A quick vid:



The Bookshelf Muse--Entry on Sadness/Grief

The Importance of Facial Expressions--by Elaine AM Smith

This post is brought to you by the Letter F and the A to Z Challenge.
Thank you Elaine for sharing this great post with my followers as well as yours.

Facial expressions are outward manifestations of internal conflicts.

The fleeting alterations in visual, nonverbal communication, implies the stages from reaction and realization through to acceptance and finally to action.

In the facial expressions, the writer can show:

a)Character traits
b)Thought processes
c)Physical appearances – muscles, lines, moles
d)The character’s reactions to others’ changing perceptions

There have been many studies which show the near perfect universality in nonverbal communication: body language and facial signs.

Our command of language is highly evolved. The spoken and written word can convey the sense of place and time and the human condition. Neither medium is perfect, otherwise, in time of our greatest joy or sadness, we would not revert to being speechless.

Facial expressions are a window into the personality – the unguarded version, who would not be chosen as the PC spokesperson – they can be used to show the character’s temperament and attitudes.

In a photograph or painting an artist can capture an emotion. Specialists believed the face can reveal static characteristics (the study is sometimes called physiognomy.)

When I was eleven I found a book in a jumble sale: The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace first published 1905. This paragraph, on page 6 (ie page2) came after an extensive description of Thery. I knew what he looked like but

“Signor Paolo Mantegazza, Director of the National Museum of Anthropology, Florence, has done Thery the honour of including him in his admirable work (see the chapter on ‘Intellectual Value of a Face’); hence I say that to all students of criminology and physiognomy, Thery must need no introduction.”

The word "physiognomy" drove me to distraction. I couldn’t sound it properly, my Dad had never heard of it and when I looked up “physiognomy” in the dictionary I couldn’t understand the definition.

The theory my English teacher helped me research threw my world out of orbit: it was the idea that you can judge a book by its cover.

I remain fascinated by all things psychological.

Facial expressions? Long before Tim Roth brought micro-expressions to the front of people’s consciousness ;) I made sure I judged people by what they did.

A FANTASIA OF FEELINGS:
fair, fallible, fanatical, fascinated, fawning, fearful, fearless, fed up, fervent, fickle, fiery, fixated, flirtatious, flustered, foolish, forlorn, free, fretful, friendly, frightened, frustrated, fulfilled, fuming, furious

Seen any fantastic facial expression lately?
I'm going with Charlie Sheen.

all photos from google images

Smells in Writing

We have plenty of words to describe other senses and sensations, but smell seems to defy words. The human sense of smell is not heavily developed compared to that of many animals. Still, it's a deep and rich sense, and it can enhance how you communicate, especially when you're crafting a story or describing a moment.

When we use smells in our writing, it can enhance the readers experience by tying them to the scene, giving them something to relate to that makes it feel real to them. Before you add smells to your WIP, there are a few things you need to do first so you can have the greatest impact. Well, you don't have to do all of these, pick and choose the ones that work for you.

The following is condensed from WikiHow. 

1. Identify your reason for describing the smell.

• Do you want to capture the nature of the smell or the overall quality?
• Do you want your reader or listener to recognize an unfamiliar smell based on your description?
• Do you want to evoke a certain meaning or feeling in your reader?

2. Observe the smell. If it's possible and safe to do so, smell what you wish to describe. Pay full attention to it:

• Remove distractions. Don't smoke or wear fragrances.
• Take breaks. The sense of smell acclimates or becomes accustomed to a smell. Remove the smell or remove yourself from the smell for awhile if you stop being able to smell it or smell it distinctly.

3. Notice any words, images, feelings, or memories that the smell brings to mind. If you have any sort of gut reaction, pay attention to it. Make notes if you can, even if they're disjointed.

Example: Words that come to mind when I smell mud: damp, earthy, spring, mudpies, childhood, coolness around my toes, squishy, scummy fingernails, moldy

4. Notice descriptions of smells when you see or hear them.

5. Use adjectives.

• Adjectives can describe the general, overall quality of the smell. Wispy, rancid, airy, musty, stale, fresh, putrid, faint, light, floral, and acrid are all adjectives that could pertain to smell.
• Smell origins may take the form of a noun (the smell of leather) or an adjective (a leathery smell). The adjective may describe the effect where the noun describes a specific source.

6. Use nouns.

• Be specific. Smoke smells different depending on where it came from. Can you tell the difference between smoke from a campfire and a wildfire? Between cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoke? Could you recognize by smell burning rubber or a vehicle that was burning oil?
• Be creative. What does spring smell like?

7. Use verbs.

• Use verbs for the smells themselves. Smells can waft, distract, hint, permeate, suggest, confuse, conjure images, command attention, or intrude upon the consciousness.
• Use verbs to describe the source of the smell. Here are some actions that you might associate with smells: baking, frying, digging, sweating, burning, rotting.
• Visualize what the smell does. Does it creep into your nose? Wrap around you? Follow you? Bombard your nostrils?

8. Borrow words associated with other senses. Smell doesn't have a lot of vocabulary of its own, but many other senses do, and they can suggest the quality or nature of a smell.

• Sight. Can a smell be bright or dark? Can a smell be pink or green? Can it be clear or hazy? Can it be fast? Slow? Sluggish? Smooth?
• Sound. Can a smell be dissonant? Harmonious? Loud or quiet?
• Touch. Can a smell be sharp or dull? Even or jagged? Smooth or rough? Heavy or light? Cool or hot? How would you physically react to the smell? Would you relax or stiffen, pucker, or make a face?

Example: Spring smells yellow/green to me. Makes sense, right? Spring, baby green leaves coming out all over, and sometimes in the south the air looks baby green because of all the pollen in the air. Those living in the south know about the thin (sometimes thick) coating of yellow powder that clings to our cars each spring.

We get this much daily!

9. Consider what feelings and emotions a smell evokes, especially if you are using it as a literary device. Smell can conjure associations with particular events or general thoughts or emotions.

• Is the smell startling or jarring? Soothing or comforting? Earthy or natural? Chemical or antiseptic?
• Smell is often strongly associated with memories, but this is only useful if you're describing the smell to yourself (such as in a journal) since you can't know what somebody smelled in their memories.

10. Use Metaphors: A smell can't really grab someone by the nose or stab someone, but this might be a powerful description.

Ok, do you know what comes next? I'm going to ask the question again. Yes, I am because the last two times I asked I didn't get any response.


Do you want to help me build a Smell Thesaurus? You will be credited for the smells you contribute and the post will link to your blog as well. Please, please, please?

All you have to do is:
1. tell me in the comment what smell(s) you want to write a thesaurus entry for,
2. write the entry
3. email it to charity.bradford@gmail.com

I'll post it and then send you the information so you can share the post with your blog readers.

Facial Expressions--Anger

Did you think I had died? Nope, just super busy. Sorry to leave you hanging after starting the Facial Expressions series. Here is the next installment.

Anger

Emotional Competency states it this way--Anger is a strong emotion designed to send the clear message “something has got to change”. It is an urgent plea for justice and action. (All of the following is summarized from that website.)

Words to describe the range of emotional anger: annoyance, irritation, aggravation, agitation, frustration, peeved, annoyed, miffed, sulking, offended, bitter, indignation, exasperation, incensed, pissed, outrage, hostile, spite, vengefulness, resentment, wrath, rage, fury, ferocity, and livid


What does it look like?
An angry expression sends the clear signal: back off, I am prepared to attack.

• Eyebrows pulled down together,
• Wide open, glaring eyes,
• Upper eyelids raised in a stare,
• Lips wide open to form a rectangle, or
• tightly closed with the red margins of the lips becoming more narrow, and the lips becoming thinner.

Physiological Responses

You actually feel anger, partially as a result of these involuntary changes in your body:

• Increased heart rate,
• increased blood pressure,
• reddened face,
• tensed muscles,
• a tendency to move forward, toward the target of the anger.

Expressions of Anger

• Shouting, raised voice, threatened or actual violence.
• Passive withdrawal, stonewalling, lack of cooperation, sabotage, revenge.
• Throwing a tantrum—a violent and objectionable demonstration of rage or frustration that is often considered quite childish.

Interesting links:

• 50 Facial expressions and how to draw them
• Take a test to see if you can tell a real smile from a fake smile HERE. I'm so good I got 17 out of 20 correct! Thank you Lie to Me.
• The Bookshelf Muse--Anger

Facial Expressions--Fear

The following is a combination of information I found on Emotional Competency and Physiology of Facial Expressions.

Fear and anxiety are closely related. Both are provoked by danger. And we all know how important danger is to a good story. Fear is the response to a specific and immediate danger. Anxiety results from a non-specific concern or threat. Translation--worry that danger is coming or will become immediate.

There are times when you will want to show your character's fear without stating it. I never thought about this before, but why do you think we make fearful expressions in the first place?

Fear expressions send a danger warning to those close by.

Synonyms for fear include: horror, fright, petrified, scared, shocked, hysterical, mortified, and terrified. The terms dread, alarm, and panic may refer to either anxiety or fear.

What does it look like?

Fear: The eyes widen and the upper lids rise, as in surprise, but the brows draw together. The lips stretch horizontally.

 

Body Language: See The Bookshelf Muse's page on Fear.

Facial Expressions--Happiness

Do your characters smile a lot? Mine do, and I've found that I need a new way of showing their happiness. There are different reasons and types of smiles, but this will cover general happiness.

The following is a combination of information I found on Emotional Competency and Physiology of Facial Expressions.

Synonyms: amusement, bliss, happiness, joyous, carefree, jubilant, exultant, cheerful, playful, amused, fun, glad, gay, gleeful, jolly, jovial, delighted, enjoyment, euphoric, ecstatic, thrilled, elated, enraptured, comfort, contentment, harmony, satisfaction, and triumphant.

What does it look like?

HAPPINESS: The corners (both) of the mouth lift in a smile. As the eyelids tighten, the cheeks rise and the outside corners of the brows pull down.

True joy is expressed by the Duchenne smile where the involuntary muscles around the eye orbit are fully involved. Friendliness, but not heartfelt joy, is expressed by the “Pan Am” smile, which does not reshape the eyes or lift the cheeks.

The Duchenne smile expresses true joy with these distinctive features:

*A smile, raising the lips at each corner of the mouth, and
*The muscle that circles the eye contracts. This:
*pulls down the eyebrows and the skin below the eyebrows,
*pulls up the skin below the eye, and
*raises the cheeks.




The Pan Am smile expresses friendliness but not joy with a smile lacking the contracted eye orbit muscle. It signals appeasement.





Example in writing:

Telling--She smiled at him.

Showing--The corners of her lips jumped upward at the sight of him, and her eyes sparkled in the light.

Facial Expressions--Contempt

I'm always finding great music, shows, or books after they've been around awhile. Although I'm late to the game, Lie to Me has completely won me over. From the first episode, all I could think was, "How can I use this in my writing?" The next few blog posts will cover the 7 main facial expressions.

Today we are going to talk about the facial expression that shows Contempt. Remember, in writing showing is preferred to telling.

First, let's make sure we understand what contempt is. (The following is a combination of information I found on Emotional Competency and Physiology of Facial Expressions.

Definitions
1. Feeling morally superior to someone else.
2. Disapproving of another’s action.

Synonyms: appalled, despise, disdain, indignation, and reproach. We snub someone when we dismiss them with contempt. Contempt is similar to disgust, but pertains to people and their behavior rather than to chemically toxic substances.

So what does it look like?

This is the only expression that appears on just one side of the face: One half of the upper lip tightens upward.

Sometimes it almost looks like a lopsided smile, but if you look closely you can see the tightness in the eyes. Also, once again, only one side of the lips are raised. In a real smile the whole face gets in on the action.

The facial expression of contempt has these distinctive features:

* Chin is raised, making it easier to look down your nose at the offender
* The lip corner is tightened and slightly raised on one side of the face
* A slight smile can show enjoyment
* This expression is often called a sneer.

Body language may include:

* exaggerated sigh
* folding arms across chest
* raising an eyebrow
* rolling the eyes
* waving a hand in dismissal

Example in writing:

Telling: She watched him load the groceries with contempt.

Showing: She crossed her arms and lifted her chin as he placed the groceries in the trunk. He noticed the tightness around her eyes as she shook her head and sighed.

Eh, something random off the top of my head, so don't be surprised it isn't that great. But you get the idea.

For more ideas on how you can work showing contempt into your novel, head over to the Bookshelf Muse and browse the suggestions for: haughty/smug/superior and indignation.