There's a 'Writing Advice' post that I've seen several times claiming that 'Real people don't smirk that much' and every time I see it it drives me nuts, because what about people with naturally crooked smiles (not their teeth, the shape of their mouths and how the muscles pull) the people who end up smirking slightly no matter how sencere their smile? And I get that this advice is to lessen the 'over confident hero with a constant cocky smirk' and 'little imp always smirking mischievously' tropes, but what about the characters who are both or even all three?
In my WIP the main characters are all cocky, mischievous little brats and because they're all related their mouths are genetically predisposed such that almost any smile appears as a smirk. (And no, this wasn't simply a stylistic choice on my part, I based most of the characters off of real people in my life, and this is a trait my family has). Of my narrators Rann, Xan and Lyne in particular have the kind of lopsided smiles that always make them look like they're upto something (and they usually are, but thats besides the point) And as I'm writing these books I'm trying desperately not to overuse phrases such as 'She smirked mischievously' and 'A cocky smirk crossed his face' But Xan in particular refuses to have any expressions other than a smirk, and if I'm really lucky a crooked grin with her tongue poking out from where she's biting it. And I'm fine with this, because that's who they are, but I know this is gonna drive readers and editors nuts.
