kreatives

I was browsing around deviantArt today and ran across this meme: 25 Essential Expressions, as well as a couple of the responses, here and here.

You’ll notice, of course, that this meme was created for visual artists (comic artists in particular, I believe) to practice portraying a single character in a variety of emotive states. You might ask why this would pertain to you as a writer–but you probably won’t, because I’ll bet you’ve already figured out how to use this meme to your advantage. 

I’m sure some of you will think of more uses from the one I’m presenting today, but the first thing that came to mind for me was to modify this challenge into a character building exercise for fiction writers.  XD

The Exercise

First, either create a character to use for this exercise, or (preferably) select a character you have already established.(I say preferably because I believe you can get more from this exercise by working with a character that you can be in-depth and consistent with, unless you have time to truly flesh out a new character simply for use here.)

Next, write a short scene for each expression of the exercise, using the character to portray the expressions in 500 words or less. Keep in mind that you are portraying how this individual character would react–not a generalized representation of the emotion, but the character’s own reaction. For example, don’t have a shy, nervous personality portray anger with loud aggression. That wouldn’t be in character. Instead, you could show muscle tension and more subtle body language to indicate the emotion they were feeling.

Try to be creative with the scene. You can add supporting characters if you want, just remember that your focus is on the main character–secondary character development can always come later if you happen to write a great scene that inspires you to turn it into a complete story.

The list of 25 Essential Expressions:

Happy

Sad

Pleased

Angry

Confused

Tired

Shocked/Surprised

Irritated

WTF?

Triumph

Fear

Bereft

Flirty

Serious

Silly

Hollow

Incredulous

Confident

Fierce

Despondent/Pouty

Drunk

Rage

Sarcastic

Disgusted

Ill/Nauseous

If you use this exercise and post the results online, send me a link. I’d love to see them, and I might even feature some of them in a future blog!

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