So you’ve got your characters, but you’re still attempting to figure out how to make sure they don’t come off as emotionless robots? You’ve come to the right place!
The best strategy I’ve found for making sure your characters don’t come across as completely apathetic without it breaking the veil of the story you’ve created is by telling the characters emotions without explicitly saying the emotion. Your readers are smart, I can promise you they’ll figure it out.
Do NOT say things like; “He smiled happily.”
If he’s smiling, the readers will know he’s probably happy. Your best bet would be to either leave it as “He smiled” or if you want to be more descriptive talk about how he’s feeling other than happy. Is pride welling in his chest? Are there butterflies in his stomach? Can he feel tears forming in the corners of his eyes? Those were very different types of situations that you just thought of, wasn’t it? It also paints a better picture than happy. On average, the more your reader can picture something, the better attached they can get to the story.
His stomach dropped to somewhere beneath his toes, and he felt an instant urge to vomit. (Describes; Dread)
She dragged her feet the whole way, lips pressed into a fine line. (Describes; Reluctance)
They could not quite manage to stifle their yawn, wiping at their eyes languidly. (Describes; Tiredness)
He could feel his cheeks flush as he averted his eyes towards the floor, taking a sudden interest in his shoes. (Describes; Embarrassment)
The easiest way to write emotions is just to think about what you feel when those emotions come to you. If possible, attempt to trigger some of those emotions in yourself. Think about an embarrassing moment, or watch a cute dog video, or a sad movie. If you’re typically unphased by the emotion you’re attempting to write, try to ask a friend what they feel.
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