Emotional Beats: Ways to Portray Interest

Tags

Emotional Beats, emotions, feelings, interest, Writing

Emotional Beats | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's books

Read for free with KU

In September, I mentioned the launch of Emotional Beats: How to Easily Convert your Writing into Palpable Feelings. As promised, I will be posting the book on my blog. So, here is the next installment, listing beats you can use to convey:

Interest

Commonly used in a romantic setting, these are some nice ways to show interest between characters.

Eyes

She anchored her attention on…
For a moment, his eyes hung on the [object].
He shifted his gaze to the [object].
His eyes retraced their path to…
Her eyes darted toward…
His dark-eyed gaze tugged at her heart.

Hands & Feet

She spread her arms wide.
He held out his arms.
She raised a hand in greeting.
He snapped to attention.
He leaned forward, his fingers laced before him on the tabletop.
He gestured a little too excitedly and nearly toppled off the couch.
Her index finger made tight circles in the air while she considered his words.
He pulled himself to his feet.
He jumped to his feet.
He waved.
She held up her hands.
She gesticulated.
He waved his hands.
She clapped her hands.
He snapped his fingers.
She held up a finger: Wait!
She gestured with a thumb.
He jerked his thumb toward [object].
She held out her hand.
He extended a hand.
She spaced her index finger and thumb a quarter of an inch apart to show him how much she liked him.