Ways Grief Can Show Up (Without Saying “Grief”)
This is part 2 of my "Show Don't Tell" series—read on the different ways that Fear Can Show Up.
✦ Reblog to keep this for later — writing emotions is hard, and it helps to have references when you’re stuck on a scene.
If you're working on a fanfic, original novel, or short story, I also made a 60-page Novel Planning Template to help organize characters, emotional beats, plot arcs, and scene ideas.
It’s basically the planner I wish I had when I kept abandoning stories halfway through.
You can check it out here if it sounds helpful. No pressure! Just sharing in case it helps another writer finish their story. ✦
When it first arrives:
• Shock — the mind refusing to process what just happened.
• Disbelief — this can’t be real; reality feels slightly off.
• Numbness — emotions shut down like a circuit breaker.
When it settles in quietly:
• Hollowness — something missing from the world’s shape.
• Emptiness — rooms feel larger, conversations feel thinner.
• Loneliness — even surrounded by people, something important is absent.
When memories surface:
• Yearning — the aching wish to see them just one more time.
• Bittersweetness — joy tangled tightly with pain.
• Nostalgia — the past glowing brighter than the present.
When it lingers in daily life:
• Heaviness — every task feels slower, harder to start.
• Fatigue — exhaustion that sleep doesn’t quite fix.
• Distraction — thoughts drifting back to what was lost.
When it turns emotional:
• Sadness — quiet tears or sudden waves out of nowhere.
• Guilt — replaying things you wish you’d said or done.
• Regret — small memories suddenly carrying enormous weight.
When it overwhelms:
• Despair — the future briefly feels smaller than it used to.
• Anguish — pain that tightens the chest and throat.
• Crumbling — holding yourself together until you suddenly can’t.
When it changes you:
• Tenderness — a softer heart toward others’ pain.
• Fragility — old wounds reopening more easily.
• Quiet resilience — learning, slowly, to carry the absence.