Hi

Recently--or more like twenty minutes ago--I was typing up a scene in Destiny's Bond, when I snagged on an action I thought needed 'research'. Basically, what happens is that a pixie named Nixie is studying Destiny's hair, admiring its luster and exotic white color. Then, in a moment of greed, she grips a lock of the tresses and yanks on them, plucking them from Destiny's head and zooming away with her prize.

I realized I had to 'experiment' with the notion, to see how many hairs--not a lot of course, simply a few strands--had to be plucked in a cluster for it to register as 'painful' in a person's mind. So, armed with the question, I proceeded to pluck at my own hair. First one strand, then two and three. After plucking five strands at once, I decided that was a decent amount for it to hurt.

This was what made me think to ask: What extremes have my fellow writers gone to to prove the plausibility of a character's actions? What 'experiments' have you performed to see if what you wrote is humanly possible? Have you ever acted out a scene in your manuscript to see if it's plausible and would work in real life? Like setting an armed chair on an old metal stove and sitting on it with a blanket wrapped about you to see if it would warm you up--which is what Jay Greenstein says he did on his Blog when writing the first scene in Samantha and the Bear.

 Sate my curiosity by leaving a reply

I can't think of any right off the bat except for this:

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One of my characters has developed an absinthe-like drink from fennel, three hundred years before it was invented. I want to buy a small bottle and try it, so I can talk about it from experience. Problem is, my husband has priced it and he says you can't get a small bottle and it's very expensive and what if we hate it? I'm willing to fork over forty dollars for, say, Grand Marinier (sp?) cause I love that stuff. Forty bucks or more for absinthe? Got to think about that.

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Anyone tried it? It just occurred to me. They might have it at a bar.

--edited by Mimi Speike on 3/28/2015, 12:56 AM--

Hi Amber and Mimi--I think I was on vacation when this thread was posted.

This isn't that crazy but sometimes I will make a face that I believe expresses a certain emotion (confusion, maybe, or dismay), and then go look in the mirror to see what it looks like. It sometimes helps me to think up new ways to show reactions in my scenes.

Gasp! Lucy, I do the same thing! Not the 'look in the mirror' part, but I do imagine what a facial expression for a certain emotion would look like.

Me, I find a couple of my characters 'knit their brows' when they're confused or concentrating. Sometimes, they do it to frown when they're mad.

I've been trying to think up different body movements my characters could use to express emotion. So far I have:

Crossing their arms--a dominant or defensive pose

Tilting their head (back, to the side)--contemplative

Shuffling their feet--defensive, frustrated (mostly when not wanting or knowing how to reply to a question or demand)

Wringing their fingers together--worried, upset (Karissa does this a lot, a habit of hers)

Worrying their bottom lip--anxious, uptight

Drawing themselves up--defensive, offended

Spluttering--shocked, bewildered

 
Narrowing their eyes--angry

Grinding their teeth--frustrated, angry

Jabbing fingers through their hair--frustrated

Tapping their foot--angry, frustrated, annoyed (Another of Karissa's habits)

Frowning--confused, concentrating, offended

Palming their face--a gesture that signals displeasure, frustration, not knowing what to do

Slumping--defeated, accepting one's argument

Eyes widening--surprise, fear

Jaw dropping--shock

Smiling--happy, content

Fiddling with their sleeves--hesitation, uncertainty

I know there are other body language techniques that show emotion. Most of mine show negative emotions, and I could use some that could express pleasure, happiness and the like. Does anyone have more body language techniques to add to my list?