BODY LANGUAGE | ANGER

Whole careers have been built around understanding body language.  It’s described by Dictionay.com as “the conscious and unconscious movements and postures by which attitudes and feelings are communicated”. Another description is that it’s non-verbal.

We all know some easy cues such as rolling the eyes in incredulity or not making eye contact? We immediately know that something’s amiss. How about crossing our arms as a protective mechanism when we feel threatened?

So how do we depict anger, fury, rage and antagonism in our writing without resorting to words or violence?

If your character is getting into a tizzy they could clench their teeth and purse their lips. How will that make their face look and how can that be described? The face is a mirror to our thoughts and unless we’re standing in front of a mirror we don’t know how our face is depicting our views. Frowning, grimacing and sneering all convey our feelings without a word being said. Don’t forget the cheeks are they flushing red with anger, has their heart rate increased, are they breathing heavily, and does the other character notice this? Are their eyes blazing or cold as ice?

Hands are an effective way to illustrate anger, they’re exposed for all to see and can escalate a situation on how they’re being used. What if they’re just a little bit cross? Try having your character shake a finger, it could be their go-to signal that they’re irritated and become part of their characterisation. Or step it up a notch and have them stab their finger into the other’s chest: aggressive without being too violent. Punching fists into the palms is a sure sign they’re getting angry without physically taking it out on anyone else and not a word is needed to understand their mood.

They could invade the other’s space and use menacing tactics such as coming closer, face to face as an antagonistic gesture. Turning away and not looking at the other person is an effective way of dismissing them, disengaging from confrontation and conversation. They could put their hands on their hips to show dominance Look to the animal world, cats will circle each other and howl before getting into a fight. Dogs will growl and bare their teeth.

Once we’re aware of body language and observe how it works we can imbue our characters with more realistic behaviours around anger and frustration without saying a word.