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Currently viewing the tag: "body language"
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The WritingReader is on vacation for a week, but while I’m gone, enjoy this visual prompt. Create whatever it inspires in you!
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Photo by JelleS.
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Have you ever had someone go crazy, telling you off, acting like a two year old? Read this great description of a female tantrum:
The whole episode started innocuously enough, but soon escalated into one of those foot-stomping, tear-gushing, guilt-stabbing, man-damning rants which only the female of the species deliver so artfully. -Phil Truman, Legends of Tsalagee
Writing Prompt: Write a scene about a character who goes postal. Write a scene about someone of each gender doing this.
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time when someone told you off. Describe how that person acted and how you reacted.
Art Prompt: Tantrum
Photo Credit: M. Pratter on Flickr
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Sorry about the picture – I couldn’t resist!
akimbo adv. with hands on the hips and elbows turned outwards: she stood with arms akimbo, frowning at the small boy. (with reference to limbs) flung out widely or haphazardly. late Middle English: from in kenebowe in Middle English, probably from Old Norse.
Writing Prompt: Write a poem or haiku with the word akimbo
Journaling Prompt: Write about a time you slipped or fell with limbs akimbo.
Art Prompt: Akimbo
Photo Credit: kaibara87 on Flickr
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Last week we saw one of today’s most charismatic leaders, Steve Jobs, resigning from the company he built with his riveting way of communicating his vision. But was that charisma, or was it a determined professional who spent hours, unseen, rehearsing his presentations. Almost certainly it was the latter.
The research results suggest that charisma is sometimes an illusion. While managers can establish a reputation as a transformational, charismatic leader in a number of valid ways, managers can also gain the mystique of charisma by veiling how they accomplish what they do, like a stage magician. Prof. Morris, who leads Columbia Business School’s Program on Social Intelligence, elaborated on a point elucidated by this area of research, “Winning in business and political endeavors comes not only from performing well, but also from managing the interpretations that others make of your performance.” – Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Just like Steve Jobs, your writing charisma is based on the back story that only you will see. This is a prompt that encourages you to flesh out your characters and the world in which they live in ways that will never appear in your story.
Journaling Prompt: Write about how you use rehearsal (or don’t) to improve your charisma.
Art Prompt: Charisma
Photo Credit: jimbowen0306 on Flickr
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I’m a big fan of the fetal position when I’m in pain, so I was surprised to read this study about how posture affects your perception of the intensity of the pain.
While most people will crawl up into a ball when they are in pain, Bohn’s and Wiltermuth’s research suggests that one should do the opposite. In fact, their research suggests that curling up into a ball may make the experience more painful because it will make you feel like you have no control over your circumstances, which may in turn intensify your anticipation of the pain. Instead, try sitting or standing up straight, pushing your chest out and expanding your body. These behaviors can help create a sense of power and control that may in turn make the procedure more tolerable. Based on previous research, adopting a powerful, expansive posture rather than constricting your body, may also lead to elevated testosterone, which is associated with increased pain tolerance, and decreased cortisol, which may make the experience less stressful. – Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Write a scene about a character dealing with severe pain.
Journaling Prompt: How do you deal with pain?
Art Prompt: Pain
Photo Credit: Unfurled on Flickr
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I love faces with character. And I’ve learned about body language in Toastmasters. Recently my best friend started taking dance lessons, and she has an entirely new way of standing and moving. She’s more self-aware and it shows in her posture.
In the lineaments of a face shine the spirit; in the posture of the body speaks the soul. -Kate Elliot, Shadow Gate: Book Two of Crossroads
Writing Prompt: Write a scene without using any emotional descriptors. Use body language to convey how your character is feeling.
Journaling Prompt: How does your posture change with your moods? Pay attention to that for a day if you’ve never noticed and then journal about it.
Art Prompt: Posture
Photo Credit: NeilsPhotography on Flickr
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I talk with my hands. When I really need to think, I need to have a pen in one of them. I often think better if I walking around, gesturing freely, and talking aloud. It’s good to know that science proves that I’m not crazy.
“Being able to use your body in problem solving alters the way you solve the problems,” says University of Wisconsin psychology professor Martha Alibali. “Body movements are one of the resources we bring to cognitive processes.” -Science Daily
Writing Prompt: Deepen your character sketch. How does your character use body language to help the thinking process?
Journaling Prompt: How do you use your body to help you think?
Art Prompt: Body language
Nonfiction / Speech Writing Prompt: Write about how you use body language to enhance your thinking process.
Photo Credit: mikebaird on Flickr
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I believe that the most important thing about writing is to HAVE FUN! You can worry about things like commas, point of view, tenses, etc., later. Right now, just start writing!
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