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Avoid these generic reactions

March 3, 2020 by Nathan Bransford21 Comments

When we’re writing a novel, it’s inevitable that some bad habits are gonna kick in. It’s universal. I do it too.

These are writing tics, and we all have them.

If you aren’t careful, your novel will quickly become an explosion of sighs, eye-rolls, or hearts beating out of chests.

It’s so important to vary up the gestures and reactions to dramatic events. Here are some very common generic reaction crutches:

  • Sighs
  • Eye-rolls
  • Looking, staring, and meaningful glances
  • Eyes clenching shut
  • Staring at the ceiling/sky
  • Dramatic pauses
  • Hearts pounding
  • Crying/eyes welling with tears
  • Stuttering
  • Shrugging
  • Dramatic exhortations (“Ugh!” “Blech!” “God!”)
  • Stomachs lurching
  • Throats catching
  • Bodies going rigid
  • Hands clutching into fists
  • Faces going white
  • Blushes
  • Trembling
  • Clearing throats
  • Meaningless misunderstandings (e.g. Character A: “X!”, Character B: “What did you just say?!”, Character A: “I said X and am literally repeating what the reader just read!”)

A good rule of thumb: Do your best to use the gestures from this list no more than two or three times throughout the entire novel.

Yep. You heard me right. Three sighs for the whole novel. That’s it. Even better if it’s only one and it really matters that it’s a sigh.

I think it’s fine to use a unique gesture more often than this, like Dolores Umbridge’s “Hem, hem.” That feels more like a personality trait. Just use the generic ones as infrequently as possible.

What do you instead? Show your protagonist processing what’s happening. Infuse their emotions into the voice. Give them ways of reacting to things that draw upon their surroundings and their unique personality. Give them individual ways of reacting.

It’s far more interesting and you won’t make your reader sigh, eyeroll, and say a dramatic exhortation in the process.

See any crutches I missed? Take to the comments!

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Art: Chez Tortoni by Édouard Manet

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Filed Under: Writing Advice

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. abcsays

    March 3, 2020 at 12:28 pm

    Uh oh.

    Reply
    • Nathan Bransfordsays

      March 3, 2020 at 12:30 pm

      I wrote this post because I am massively guilty of this.

      Reply
      • abcsays

        March 3, 2020 at 2:23 pm

        That helps me feel a little bit better. But, I think I do all of these things in chapter two alone. My new manta will be 3 SIGHS PER BOOK, COFFEY!

        Reply
        • Neil Larkinssays

          March 3, 2020 at 4:11 pm

          ME TOO! “Oh, well,” he shrugs while rolling his eyes. Stop!

          Reply
      • Judythe Guarnerasays

        March 4, 2020 at 2:29 pm

        Me, too, Nathan. Is it okay if I reprint your column in SLO NightWriters newsletter if I cite you as the source–with a link?

        Reply
  2. Jeffrey Rickersays

    March 3, 2020 at 12:44 pm

    My students are workshopping their first stories in my class, and I’m going to share this list with them this week. Thanks.

    Reply
  3. Kiasays

    March 3, 2020 at 1:14 pm

    Why, Nathan. WHY?

    A crutch I always use: shaking or nodding heads.

    Reply
  4. James Madarasays

    March 3, 2020 at 1:37 pm

    “What the…”

    Reply
  5. JOHN T. SHEAsays

    March 3, 2020 at 1:49 pm

    In “Railsea” China Mieville replaced every “and” with an ampersand (&). I think I’ll replace all my character reactions with emojis. What could possibly go wrong?

    Reply
    • abcsays

      March 3, 2020 at 2:23 pm

      genius

      Reply
    • Viviennesays

      July 22, 2020 at 8:31 am

      😂😂

      Reply
  6. Kiasays

    March 3, 2020 at 4:09 pm

    PS. I HAVE 20 SIGHS.

    Reply
  7. David Kubiceksays

    March 3, 2020 at 4:18 pm

    A beta reader for one of my novels once commented that my main character “licked his lips” a lot. I don’t think I’ve written about a character licking his or her lips since.

    Reply
  8. SJsays

    March 3, 2020 at 4:44 pm

    Gonna use the word doc search feature on these. My scores will not be good. Others…maybe: blinking, gagging, snorting, shifting his weight, clenching his jaw, shaking his head, furrowing his brows, mouth twitching, squinting, hiding a smile.

    Reply
  9. Teresa Robesonsays

    March 3, 2020 at 4:44 pm

    “Swallowing hard” is my pet peeves of crutches. (And I personally use “sigh” and “roll eyes” more than I should.)

    Reply
  10. Cindysays

    March 3, 2020 at 6:33 pm

    Egad! Well, I was looking for a way to cut another 25K words…

    Reply
  11. Karen Skedgell-Ghibansays

    March 3, 2020 at 10:27 pm

    Heart racing/pounding is one of mine, and, apparently winking. My characters wink too much. *wink*

    Reply
  12. Heather Campsallsays

    March 4, 2020 at 12:58 am

    He stood rooted to the floor? heehee

    Reply
  13. Margesays

    March 4, 2020 at 6:29 am

    I feel like this is half my novel! Anymore advice on how to show and not tell?

    Reply
  14. Cathy Cadesays

    March 7, 2020 at 5:01 am

    “Her heart in her throat.” I’ve stopped myself using this several times ‘cos it’s a lee-eetle too literal-sounding. I imagine a critiquer I once had on Scribophile writing – “Really?” (He didn’t like my terrier skipping to the front door.)
    The trouble is, the phrase does describe the feeling well and it’s difficult to reword that feeling concisely

    Reply
  15. Viviennesays

    July 22, 2020 at 3:08 pm

    My characters sigh and smile rather a lot.
    Talking about literal things, I always get a weird picture if someone says something like ‘his eyes wandered around the room seeking her’.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors chase their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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