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state. For example, as explained by Nancy Kress, "Most characters' frustrated dialogue and thoughts should be slightly incoherent."

BODILY REACTION
As stated by Evan Marshall, in the Marshall Plan for Getting Your Novel Published, "Nothing conveys emotion as strongly as its physical manifestations." According to Nancy Kress, in Writers Digest (August 2004), "An effective technique to dramatize your character's [emotion] is to show how it affects his body. We frequently react to emotion physically before we've had a chance to process information rationally."

Bodily reactions to emotion range from subtle to extreme: goose bumps, blushing, sweating, increased heart rate, laughing, crying, upset stomach, shaking, tingling nerves, vomit, loss of bladder or bowel control. For example:
As Cisco approached the livery stable, his heart pounded and his insides tightened.

ACTION Emotion may be portrayed through physical action. As described by Nancy Kress, ". . . most of your depiction of frustration should be through the character's active and dramatized response . . . ."

Action that expresses emotion may range from subtle to pronounced. An example of subtle action:
As Cisco approached the livery stable, he clenched his jaw. If Black Bart got his way, innocent people could get hurt or killed.

An example of pronounced action:
Cisco approached the livery stable and kicked the door open.

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