[Link] MASTER LIST of Gestures and Body Language!

by Bryn Donovan   

Hey there! Lots of writers liked my list of facial expressions, so I thought I would do a companion post about gestures and body language. Describing these can help readers visualize a scene and get a feel for the characters, and again, they can set up lines of dialogue so you don’t have a string of he said, she said, he asked, she exclaimed, etc., running down the page.

You might want to consider which gestures or what body language is typical for each of your characters. For instance, one of my characters in the novel I just finished tends to hug herself when she’s nervous, while another has a habit of rubbing at his shoulder when he’s uncomfortable. They only do it a few times each throughout the book, but I think details like that make characters feel more solid.

For a great guide to what body language means, I recommend What Every BODY Is Saying, by former FBI counterintelligence offer Joe Navarro and body language expert Marvin Karlins.

Some of the things in my list are not exactly body language or gestures, but are useful for dialogue tags. As with the last list, I’ve included some different ways to say the same thing. There are some longer phrases and sentences, which you can obviously rewrite and adjust as you like, although you don’t have to. Nothing here is proprietary.

Read the full article: http://www.bryndonovan.com/2015/04/10/master-list-of-gestures-and-body-language-for-writers/

[Link] Why Some People Like to Read Sex-Free Romance

by Bryn Donovan

Most readers of my blog know that I write some steamy romance. A few of you even know that in the past year, I got a new job editing “sweet romance,” which is the industry term for romance with no sex at all.

I’ve always enjoyed all kinds of romantic stories and movies as a reader and a viewer, so I don’t find it strange at all to work on both. I’m even in the middle of writing a sweet romance right now.

However, I’ve always known that lots of people, particularly people who haven’t read a romance in twenty years, treat steamy romance writers with derision. They make jokes about the goofy euphemisms romance writers supposedly use for sex organs, although almost all romance writers have discarded these in favor of more direct language.

They also behave as though writers of sexy romance must all be bad writers. Most romance writers are women, and there is some sexism at work here: a discomfort with women authoring sexual content instead of being the object in it.

I’ve known all that for years. What I’ve learned in the past year, though, is that plenty of people also deride sex-free romance.

Read the full article: http://www.bryndonovan.com/2017/12/01/why-some-people-like-to-read-sex-free-romance/

[Link] Writing Dialogue: 50 Things Your Characters Can Do WHILE They Talk

by Bryn Donovan

In the wonderful movie Warrior, a science teacher who moonlights as a fighter talks with his wife late at night while he repairs his girls’ dollhouse furniture. This is a brilliant action that tells you so much about the kind of guy he is, and it makes their conversation about bad financial news all the more compelling.

In fiction, giving your characters something to do while they talk can also add more depth or interest to the conversation. Additionally, it opens up new ways for them to express themselves through movement and body gestures. If someone’s having an argument while he unloads the dishwasher, he might bang the pots and pans around. If she’s jogging with a friend who tells her something shocking, she might stop in her tracks.

If all the conversations in your story consist of people sitting and looking at one another, you might want to mix it up. Here are a bunch of things your characters could be doing while they’re talking. In some cases, maybe only one person is doing the action, while in other cases, both or all of the characters may be doing it.

Some actions may underscore the conversation, and others may provide an ironic contrast to it. I made most of these things pretty normal and everyday, but some of them are more unusual. The list will probably make you think of a lot more things that could work for your characters or your story.

Read the full article: http://www.bryndonovan.com/2015/10/11/writing-dialogue-50-things-your-characters-can-do-while-they-talk/

[Link] Fantasy Publishers 2016 (No Agent Required!)

by Bryn Donovan

Last week I shared a list of agents accepting submissions of fantasy novels, but here are a bunch of publishers who accept unagented submissions. This list is mostly the same as my list of science fiction publishers, but there are some differences, and I figured it’s more convenient to have a list just for your genre.

Clicking on the name of the publisher will take you straight to the submission guidelines. These are mostly novel publishers, but I’ve included a couple of publishers of short fiction.

I’m not endorsing any of the publishers on this list, because I don’t know enough about most of them. The SFWA has a great overview of small presses and how to distinguish them from vanity publishers, and it’s worth checking out.

Read the full article: http://www.bryndonovan.com/2015/12/28/fantasy-publishers-2016-no-agent-required/

[Link] Science Fiction Publishers 2016 (No Agent Required!)

by Bryn Donovan

Hi friends! Last week I published a list of agents who represent scifi, but as I said, you can publish a book without an agent. Here are a bunch of publishers who accept unagented submissions, along with comments from editors on what they’re looking for. All the tweets here date from late summer and fall 2015.

Clicking on the name of the publisher will take you straight to the submission guidelines. I often hear agents and editors say that simply adhering to all the guidelines will make your submission stand out.

I’ve mostly focused on publishers of novels, but I’ve included some publishers of short fiction, too. I’ve noted when a publisher is exclusively digital.

Read the full article: http://bryndonovan.com/2015/11/29/science-fiction-publishers-2016-no-agent-required/