Comments on: Bringing Your Stories to Life with Nonverbals

By: tiffanyyatesmartin

tiffanyyatesmartin — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 01:48:12 +0000

In reply to Victoria Marie Lees. Thanks, Victoria--you too!

By: Victoria Marie Lees

Victoria Marie Lees — Mon, 31 May 2021 17:59:37 +0000

Thanks, Tiffany, for such a thought-provoking post. I've shared it online. Happy Memorial Day!

By: tiffanyyatesmartin

tiffanyyatesmartin — Tue, 25 May 2021 13:02:03 +0000

In reply to dholcomb1. Thanks, Denise! Glad it was helpful.

By: dholcomb1

dholcomb1 — Tue, 25 May 2021 06:02:51 +0000

I enjoyed you post and how to deepen the story with nonverbals.

denise

By: tiffanyyatesmartin

tiffanyyatesmartin — Tue, 25 May 2021 01:42:45 +0000

In reply to christopherlentzauthor. Love this, Christopher! That's another great suggestion, too--watching silent movies, where everything had to be conveyed nonverbally.

By: christopherlentzauthor

christopherlentzauthor — Mon, 24 May 2021 22:59:16 +0000

While on the treadmill this afternoon (TMI, I know), I was watching an Andrew Lloyd Webber music celebration and Glenn Close sang With One Look. This was a connect-the-dots moment. I'd read your blog earlier, and the lyrics from a song about a silent-movie Norma Desmond's glory days made your points about non-verbal communication hit home. Thanks for your thought-provoking message!
They don't want me any more,
They all say I'm through
Well it's time they knew
With on look
I can break your heart
With one look
I play every part
I can make your sad heart sing
With one look you'll know
All you need to know.
With one smile
I'm the girl next door
Or the love that you've hungered for
When I speak it's with my soul
I can play any role
No words can tell
The stories my eyes tell
Watch me when I frown
You can't write that down
You know I'm right
It's there in black and white
When I look your way
You'll hear what I say.
Yes, with one look
I put words to shame
Just one look
Sets the screen aflame
Silent music starts to play
One tear from my eye
Makes the whole world cry.
With one look
They'll forgive the past
They'll rejoice: I've returned at last
To my people in the dark
Still out there in the dark
Silent music starts to play
With one look you'll know
All you need to know.
With one look
I'll ignite a blaze
I'll return to my glory days
They'll say Norma's back at last.
This time I'm staying
I'm staying for good
I'll be back
Where I was born to be
With one look
I'll be me

By: tiffanyyatesmartin

tiffanyyatesmartin — Mon, 24 May 2021 17:24:55 +0000

In reply to Christina Anne Hawthorne. I do too--I'm fascinated by human behavior and reaction. Love to dissect and analyze it. I try to confine myself to TV and movies as much as possible so my friends don't wind up feeling like pithed frogs when we're talking. :) I love your way of working--vomit the scene/story out and then go back and layer in the texture and depth with things like nonverbals. That's the beauty of the editing and revision process--when you get to mine out all that gold. Thanks for the comment, Christina.

By: tiffanyyatesmartin

tiffanyyatesmartin — Mon, 24 May 2021 17:22:23 +0000

In reply to Barb DeLong. Thanks, Barb! Nonverbals can be magic for bringing a scene and characters to life--but yes, sometimes we can hit them to hard by underscoring them. ("Hey, did you get that? Did you?") Readers are pretty savvy overall, in my experience, and I think those below-the-radar reactions and actions get noticed and subconsciously add to the puzzle they're putting together of who these characters are and what's going on in the scene. And that's so much of what makes readers feel they're a direct part of the story, I think. Thanks for the comment.

By: Christina Anne Hawthorne

Christina Anne Hawthorne — Mon, 24 May 2021 16:25:29 +0000

This was great! I took quite a few communications classes in college and always enjoy the topic. I try to sprinkle them in as I draft, but I'm a fast drafter and don't like to take too much time to think about them then. Instead, I relish adding them later when the process is oh so much slower and contemplative. I can sit back and watch what transpires. As you noted in describing the one picture, there's a lot of power in characters misinterpreting non-verbals and that's great for writers. This made my morning as I prepare to perform a first edit on a novel today. Thanks again!

By: Barb DeLong

Barb DeLong — Mon, 24 May 2021 16:23:50 +0000

Super post, Tiffany! I'm guilty of using non-verbals but then feel the need to explain them in some small way in case the reader didn't get it. It's one more edit issue on my long list.