2/20/2015

WritingQuestionsAnswered

Writing Questions Answered

Description: Describing Actions
jaewkasked:I am sorry if this already has been asked, I only checked description because I thought that
was the place I would most likely find what I was looking for. (I did see a lot of other useful stuff though). In
roleplay theres a lot of describing actions, I wondered if you could give some useful tips about how to do
that properly without having a text like He nodded and smiled for example.
Im not sure I see a problem with He nodded and smiled unless you just want to avoid saying that specific
thing over and over again. One alternative is to just have them say something instead of nodding and smiling
Followwritingquestionsanswered
or whatever action it is that youre trying to replace.

Start by looking at what the action is trying to convey. In the case of a nod, it could be an affirmative answer or
simply an acknowledgement of something that was said. A smile indicates that the action was made in
happiness. So, He nodded and smiled could become:
I thanked the host on my way out of the restaurant. Have a great evening, I said as he opened the door for me.
"Thanks, you too," he answered cheerfully.
Here, the thanks replaces the nod as an acknowledgement of what was said, and cheerfully replaces the
smile, because when we hear that someone has said something cheerfully, we usually assume the person is
smiling.
Another example would be She sighed and then shrugged. A sigh typically illustrates frustration, whereas a
shrug indicates a lack of knowledge. Instead we could say:
I looked at my sister plainly and asked, Why do you keep going back to him?
"I dont know," Laura replied, sounding as frustrated with herself as I was.
Here, I dont know replaces the shrug, and sounding frustrated replaces the shrug.
To really change things up, you can use a combination:
The host nodded and held the door for me. You, too, he added cheerfully.
Or
Laura sighed. I dont know.
If you change up your technique here and there, it will keep you from sounding repetitive. :)

94 notes

9 Oct 2013

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