Look At Him. If You Even Care Btw

s’more bear macaroon by douglas x

furry hyena by avocatt

Bumblebutt

Katnipp Illustrations on Etsy

Soy Candles

Folke and Fairy on Etsy

Source ~ Tasty Peach Studios

Cocoa the Ankylosaurus DinoS'more

Okay, hey, since this post took off, let me share some other action beats you can use to punctuate the silence when writing a conversation, that isn't sighing.

They… Grimaced. Shrugged. Frowned. Scrunched their nose. Yawned. Fiddled with a loose thread on their sleeve. Ran a hand through their hair. Worried/bit/licked their lips. Hummed. Replied with a rather rude hand gesture. Picked at a hangnail. Gingerly grazed a finger down the length of so-and-so's arm, avoiding their gaze like it would burn. Farted. Kicked a stone. Twirled a lock of hair. Twirled somebody else's lock of hair. Twirled a lock of hair on the disembodied head they'd just plopped onto the dinner table. Stuffed their hands into their pockets. Stuffed their hands into the open cavity at the neck of this dang disembodied head on the table. Feigned interest in their phone. Flipped a page. Flipped the table. Flipped the script and escaped the pages. I repeat, the character has escaped and is in the real world. God have mercy on us all. Pissed themselves.

Their… Shoulders sagged. Brows knit/furrowed. Muscles tensed, tightening and locking up like a key twisting in a rusty lock. (Did you just repeat lock twice in the same sentence? Ew). Muscles relaxed, tension spilling from their skin and pooling like blood at their feet. Stomach dropped. Heart beat slower and slower until it ceased to beat at all, which, frankly, is going to be an issue if they hoped to carry on this conversation. Heart beat faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and wouldn't slow down, aw, shit, please, just slow the fuck down…

And lastly: nothing! Don't write anything. Don't say the character does anything. Not blinking, not sighing, not grimacing, or shrugging. Frankly, you'd be surprised at how little of these small reactions you really do need to write. Allow your readers' imagination to fill in the gaps. Isn't that also part of the fun of reading?

Anywho feel free to add.

Cute Custom Clay Cat Necklace by  sophsdraws