Body Language
By Janet Kendall

"The greater the repression, the greater the emotional pain, the more serious and insistent become the signals from the body." – Decoding the Secret Language of Your Body, Martin Rush, M.D.

Emotion is a key cornerstone of a romance story. By using emotion to thread the relationship, the characters' changes, and the elements that are at stake, the author weaves each strand into the tapestry of plot. Further, the hills and valleys of emotion allow the reader to identify with a character at some level. The better the emotion is conveyed, the deeper the reader will care about what happens to the characters. Using dialogue is just one way to deliver a character's emotion, but body language appropriately used adds depth to the character and makes him come alive. In real life, we see people signaling a message with their body or a part of their body and instantly know what they are saying.

"Emotions are apparently not spontaneous or mysteriously caused actions. They are reactions – to events, thoughts, experiences, or other stimuli. When we have an emotional reaction, the connection between the body and the mind becomes more obvious when we notice that two things happen at once: (1) There is a conscious awareness of the emotion, that is, I feel angry. (2) Physical and chemical changes take place in the body itself." Decoding the Secret Language of Your Body – Martin Rush, M.D.

The author should show both signs of emotion. To portray a silent message, remember that words must paint a vision for the reader to "see" and the visual is the reaction to an action. Body movement must do something to push the story forward, reveal character, or provide information just as dialogue does. Useless or meaningless "moving body parts" merely clutter the story.

One can show emotion by using strong action verbs. Using a movement to convey an emotion could be such things as: tapping her foot to show impatience, jerking around to show surprise, slamming his hand on the desk to show anger. He may cup his hands behind his neck and slouch deeper in the chair, thus signaling contentment or a state of relaxation.

Hands are great emotional revealers. Some examples are: clenched fists, clapping one's hands, cupping her chin in her hand to convey deep thought, or rubbing his hand against his jaw to show confusion, biting fingernails, laced hands in her lap, putting her palms against her ears, combing his hair with his fingers, drumming one's fingers on a table, pointing a finger, and toying with something in his hand. Each action should be a reaction to something important that is happening in a story. While these are commonly understood reactions, writers should know their characters well enough to have them respond in a way that is unique to them, too. Dig deep into the creative well. Over use of any one silent message can cause it to lose its punch, and also, irritate the reader.

Aside from hands, a body can convey emotion in many ways. Other emotionally revealing movements can be things such as; carriage or stance, long heavy strides, legs apart with arms akimbo, spine stiffened, and so forth. The way a character sits also sends a message. He may slouch, be rigid, or he can lean forward, and so forth.

All these snippets of silent dialogue should cause one or both of the characters to react in a way that moves the story forward, reveals something emotional about the character and instigates a response from the other person. If the physical reaction doesn't do at least a few of the things that dialogue does, then cut the movement or replace it.

Remember, the silent message must be the right one for the scene and the character. Body language should be a quick flash, but powerful in its statement.

Janet Wiist uses the pen name, Janet Kendall and has written for Harlequin Historical. She's a long-time RWA® member, a member of three RWA® chapters, and is currently the web mistress and Newsletter Co-Editor for Cactus Rose RWA®. For more information about Janet, visit her website,
http://home.att.net/~janetkendall/index.html

The following article was printed in the March 2004 issue of Cactus
Rose Sandscripts. RWA chapters may reprint with proper credit.