Describing Facial Expressions

-> feel free to edit and adjust pronouns as you see fit.

Eyes and Eyebrows:

• His eyes widened
• Her eyes went round
• Their eyes narrowed
• His eyes lit up
• Her eyes darted
• They squinted
• He blinked
• Her eyes twinkled with...
• Their eyes gleamed with...
• His eyes flashed with...
• Her eyes burned with...
• Their eyes blazed with...
• - glowed in his eyes
• The corners of her eyes crinkled
• They rolled their eyes
• He winked
• Tears filled her eyes
• Their eyes welled with tears
• His eyes swam with tears
• Tears flooded her eyes
• Tears shimmered in their eyes
• Tears shone in his eyes
• Her eyes were glossy
• They were fighting back tears
• Tears ran down his cheeks
• She squeezed her eyes shut
• Their lashes fluttered
• She batted her lashes
• His brows knitted
• Their forehead creased
• She furrowed her brows
• A line appeared between his brows
• Their brows drew together
• She raised a brow
• His eyebrows rose
• They lifted a brow
• She wagged her eyebrows
• He gave them a once-over
• They sized
• Her eyes bore into them
• He took in the sight of...
• They glared
• She peered
• He gazed
• They glanced
• She stared
• He scrutinized
• They studied
• She gaped
• He observed
• They surveyed
• She gawked
• He leered
• Their pupils dilated

Nose:

• Her nose crinkled
• His nose wrinkled
• They sneered
• Her nostrils glared
• He stuck his nose up
• They sniffed
• She sniffled
• He scrunched his nose

Mouth:

• She smiled
• He smirked
• They grinned
• She simpered
• He beamed
• Their mouth curved into a smile
• The corners of his mouth turned up
• The corner of her mouth quirked up
• A corner of their mouth lifted
• Her mouth twitched
• He gave a half-smile
• They gave a lopsided grin
• His mouth twisted
• She plastered a smile on her face
• They forced a smile
• He faked a smile
• Her smile faded
• Their smile slipped
• He pursed his lips
• She pouted
• Their mouth snapped shut
• His mouth set in a hard line
• Their lips were pressed into a thin line
• She pressed her lips together
• They bit their lip
• He drew his lower lip between his teeth
• She chewed on her bottom lip
• Their jaw set
• His jaw clenched
• Their jaw tightened
• A muscle in her jaw twitched
• He ground his jaw
• They snarled
• Her lips drew back in a snarl
• His mouth fell open
• Their jaw dropped
• Her jaw went slack
• He gritted his teeth
• They gnashed their teeth
• Her lower lip trembled
• His lower lip quivered

Foreshadowing Ideas

• Character themes/motifs. I’ve heard of one writer who tries to give each character their own theme for similes, metaphors, descriptions, etc so there’s like a theme to the way they’re portrayed. You could use that to foreshadow notable secrets about the character that will later be revealed, or if at any point they’re disguised then you can use that to tip off the reader that they have the same motifs and so might be related/the same person

• Tiny details hidden in lists. Say the MC was trying to work out the identity of a bad guy, who we know was wearing a red shirt on the day of a big bad event. A few chapters later, MC is checking around their best friend’s room to find them, with the place its usual mess with discarded takeaway boxes, the bed unmade, a red shirt left on the floor that could use a good sweep. The red shirt might not click with all the readers, but those who register it upon their first read will eat it up

• Inconsistent behavioural patterns. Once we have a good idea of what a character is like, having them act out of character can set off alarm bells and make us question what’s occurred to make them act this way. Let the other characters register it too, if it’s reasonable that they would, but let them ultimately brush it off quite quickly to keep it subtle. Or just call it right out, whichever you prefer

• Unreliable narrators. Let one character say one thing and a second character say another, even if they both ultimately agree on the same thing but get one or two small details wrong. Ideally do this two or three times in order for the reader to know it’s not just a mistake in the plot but an intentional inconsistency, but even if it’s only done once and it’s taken as a mistake it’ll still slot together like puzzle pieces in the end and they’ll be kicking themself for dismissing it

• In-universe red herrings. If you’re going to add red herrings as foreshadowing, it’s helpful if the red herring aligns with the intentions of someone person aware of the upcoming plot twist who’s trying to control the narrative. Say the plot twist was the reveal of a mysterious character’s identity to be the best friend of the MC, the best friend might have deliberately thrown the MC off their scent by planting suspicions in the MC’s mind that a different character was the mysterious character’s identity all along. This is less about foreshadowing the actual reveal, of course, but rereads will be a punch to the gut when everyone realises that all this misinformation and red herring business came from someone trying to cover their own ass rather than coming from misunderstandings or multiple other random sources

Everything Creative Writers Should Know About Symbolism

Literary devices make stories more enjoyable. They take a simple concept and make it compelling. Symbolism is one of those devices, but sometimes new writers don’t know how to use it purposefully. It’s easy to take credit when readers assume something had more meaning when we didn’t really write it that way for any specific reason.

This is everything you should know about symbolism so you can plan your literary devices with confidence.

What Is Symbolism?

Symbolism is the act of using one thing to represent another thing. It often sets or reaffirms the tone of a scene. Symbols can also act as foreshadowing.

Most often, writers use symbolism to thread their theme through a plot. It makes it easier to tell how a theme is influencing or being shown in a scene.

Types of Symbolism

Colors

Writers use colors to apply meaning to scenes or characters because they’re easy to associate with emotions. It’s also a historical real-world use of symbolism. If you see a white flag, that symbolizes surrender. A movie featuring a woman in a red dress often symbolizes her sexuality.

Examples: yellow means caution, brown means grounded earthiness, and black means mourning.

Objects

Sometimes object symbolism is blunt or obvious. Other times, it’s subtle because the writer reveals the meaning of it later in the story.

In the Divergent series, Tris can’t look in a mirror because it’s of cultural significance in her faction. As a storytelling tool, it symbolizes her inability to recognize her own identity because she hasn’t had her coming-of-age experiences yet.

Examples: water means rebirth or creating life, an apple represents sin or someone up to no good, and a clock can mean change is coming (which is also foreshadowing).

Tips for Writing Symbolism 

1. Understand Your Plot

You need to know where your story is going and what theme you’re writing about to effectively create symbols. If your protagonist sees a dove in the first chapter, it’s just a bird unless obtaining peace is a key component of your protagonist’s character arc later on.

2. Pick One Symbol

Stories filled with symbolism can come across as pretentious or too dense. It’s better to start with one symbol that connects at least two parts of your story or relates to your theme. Readers will get that intriguing chill down their spine if they recognize a hidden symbol rather than get reminded about it over and over again.

3. Remember to Use Foreshadowing

Symbols often foreshadow future plot events. These are also called omens. Your protagonist might break a mirror in the first chapter, which people often relate to the start of bad luck. Maybe a crow sits by them on a park bench because you want to symbolize a future death in your plot.

Foreshadowing can give your symbols meaning if you’re unsure how to connect them with your theme. It’s an easy way to practice creating symbols so you’re more comfortable with them in long-form stories and other uses.

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You don’t need some mystical storytelling skill to effectively write symbolism. Practice these tips and you’ll layer just enough symbolism into your stories to impress your readers.

A Quick Guide to Colour Symbolism

Colour symbolism has been a long-standing part of the writers' craft. Colours can hold different meanings across various cultures, but here are some common examples of some colours and their associated imagery.

🍎 Red: Love, lust, anger, danger, violence, passion

💎 Blue: Tranquillity, calm, peace, sadness, isolation

🥬 Green: Jealousy, rebirth, growth, greed, renewal

♠️ Black: Death, sadness, loss, grief, evil, depression

🎀 Pink: Sweetness, love, kindness, innocence

🍊 Orange: Joy, creativity, energy, excitement

🌼 Yellow: Joy, cowardice, innocence, optimism

🏳️ White: Innocence, faith, peace, purity, mourning

🐴 Brown: Stability, comfort, predictability, boredom

💟 Purple: Royalty, bravery, virtue, luxury, spirituality

A quick guide to animal symbolism:

Animals have a long history of symbolism that varies between cultures and customs. As literary tropes develop, some animal symbolism has become universally recognised in the western literary canon. Here are some examples you can use in your writing to give subtext, develop motifs, or promote your thematic content.

🐥 Birds: freedom, hope, escape
🦁 Lions: strength, courage, royalty
🐶 Dogs: loyalty, devotion, protection
🐱 Cats: independence, stealth, mystery
🐺 Wolves: intelligence, nature, wildness
🦊 Foxes: cleverness, cunning, deception
🐍 Snakes: temptation, evil, deceit
🦋 Butterflies: transformation, change, new beginnings
🦉 Owls: wisdom, knowledge, mystery
🦅 Eagles: strength, freedom, nobility
◾ Ravens: death, mystery, the unknown
🕊️ Doves: peace, love, purity
🐻 Bears: resurrection, strength, power, new life
🤘 Bulls: virility, sovereignty, wealth

The symbolism of flowers

Flowers have a long history of symbolism that you can incorporate into your writing to give subtext.

Symbolism varies between cultures and customs, and these particular examples come from Victorian Era Britain. You'll find examples of this symbolism in many well-known novels of the era!

• Amaryllis: Pride
• Black-eyed Susan: Justice
• Bluebell: Humility
• Calla Lily: Beauty
• Pink Camellia: Longing
• Carnations: Female love
• Yellow Carnation: Rejection
• Clematis: Mental beauty
• Columbine: Foolishness
• Cyclamen: Resignation
• Daffodil: Unrivalled love
• Daisy: Innocence, loyalty
• Forget-me-not: True love
• Gardenia: Secret love
• Geranium: Folly, stupidity
• Gladiolus: Integrity, strength
• Hibiscus: Delicate beauty
• Honeysuckle: Bonds of love
• Blue Hyacinth: Constancy
• Hydrangea: Frigid, heartless
• Iris: Faith, trust, wisdom
• White Jasmine: Amiability
• Lavender: Distrust
• Lilac: Joy of youth
• White Lily: Purity
• Orange Lily: Hatred
• Tiger Lily: Wealth, pride
• Lily-of-the-valley: Sweetness, humility
• Lotus: Enlightenment, rebirth
• Magnolia: Nobility
• Marigold: Grief, jealousy
• Morning Glory: Affection
• Nasturtium: Patriotism, conquest
• Pansy: Thoughtfulness
• Peony: Bashfulness, shame
• Poppy: Consolation
• Red Rose: Love
• Yellow Rose: Jealously, infidelity
• Snapdragon: Deception, grace
• Sunflower: Adoration
• Sweet Willian: Gallantry
• Red Tulip: Passion
• Violet: Watchfulness, modesty
• Yarrow: Everlasting love
• Zinnia: Absent, affection

A Guide to Historically Accurate Regency-Era Names

I recently received a message from a historical romance writer asking if I knew any good resources for finding historically accurate Regency-era names for their characters.

Not knowing any off the top of my head, I dug around online a bit and found there really isn’t much out there. The vast majority of search results were Buzzfeed-style listicles which range from accurate-adjacent to really, really, really bad.

I did find a few blog posts with fairly decent name lists, but noticed that even these have very little indication as to each name’s relative popularity as those statistical breakdowns really don't exist.

I began writing up a response with this information, but then I (being a research addict who was currently snowed in after a blizzard) thought hey - if there aren’t any good resources out there why not make one myself?

As I lacked any compiled data to work from, I had to do my own data wrangling on this project. Due to this fact, I limited the scope to what I thought would be the most useful for writers who focus on this era, namely - people of a marriageable age living in the wealthiest areas of London.

So with this in mind - I went through period records and compiled the names of 25,000 couples who were married in the City of Westminster (which includes Mayfair, St. James and Hyde Park) between 1804 to 1821.

So let’s see what all that data tells us…

Keep reading

Fantasy Names III

1. Aithne (f)
2. Elderic (m)
3. Minne (f)
4. Valira (f)
5. Isidor (m)
6. Marabella (f)
7. Albion (f/m)
8. Gloriana (f)
9. Sakura (f)
10. Wolfram (m)
11. Azahara (f)
12. Neizan (m)
13. Malasintha (f)
14. Sonora (f)
15. Zabel (m)
16. Rosamunde (f)
17. Jamilian (m)
18. Sybella (f)
19. Alamea (f)
20. Gael (m)
21. Tamar (f)
22. Kamilla (f)
23. Burr (m)
24. Alias (m)
25. Emmeline (f)
26. Kuno (m)
27. Rosella (f)
28. Maura (f)
29. Iker (m)
30. Hemma (f)

Disclaimer: You can, of course, use any name you like for any genre of story. Some of these names are from actual mythology, some of them I just liked as names in a fantasy story.

More names!

Mythological Names

Names based on mythologies and religions.

1. Atlas (m)
2. Phoebe (f)
3. Maeve (f)
4. Lilith (f)
5. Aurora (f)
6. Samson (m)
7. Ram (m)
8. Calliope (f)
9. Dagon (m)
10. Cáel (m)
11. Arthur (m)
12. Nanna (f)
13. Athena (f)
14. Nike (f)
15. Bahram (m)
16. Ammon (m)
17. Delphine (f)
18. Balram (m)
19. Alexander (m)
20. Paris (f/m)
21. Cassandra (f)
22. Persephone (f)
23. Sunna (f)
24. Aeneas (m)
25. Vali (m)
26. Cassiopeia (f)
27. Anahita (f)
28. Kleio (f)
29. Doris (f)
30. Enki (m)

More names!

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