{"id":9263,"date":"2025-07-28T16:03:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T15:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.novlr.org\/the-reading-room\/?p=9263"},"modified":"2025-07-28T16:20:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T15:20:15","slug":"are-casual-character-actions-necessary-or-just-clutter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.novlr.org\/the-reading-room\/are-casual-character-actions-necessary-or-just-clutter\/","title":{"rendered":"Are casual character actions necessary, or just clutter?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“How often should I describe a character’s “casual actions”? For example, when two of my characters are talking, I’ll add in little actions so the conversation isn’t just full of dialogue tags. But then I go back and read it and realize I just made them cross\/uncross their arms and lean against a wall 12 times. Are casual actions necessary or just clutter<\/em>?”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Great Question. Casual character actions include gestures and movements. A character might shrug or grimace, move an object, fidget, roll their eyes, etc. When are these useful and when are they clutter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said, she said<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take the following dialogue: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThere they are!\u201d said Waffles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s what? Those are called chickens. I believe they are a type of bird. Or maybe a reptile,\u201d said Pancake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMonsters. They\u2019re monsters,\u201d said Waffles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook harmless to me,\u201d said Pancake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s staring at me. I think it\u2019s planning to murder us,\u201d said Waffles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As writers, we seem to be allergic to using the word \u201csaid<\/a>\u201d and for good reason. It gets repetitive to read He said\u2026 She said\u2026. They said. It\u2019s an easy word to overuse, especially if the dialogue is a series of brief sentences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actions as world building<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Actions can spice up your writing, giving the reader more information about the characters and the world they inhabit. Let\u2019s add some character actions to the above dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThere they are!\u201d Waffles growled softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s what?\u201d Pancake trotted over. \u201cThose are called chickens. I believe they are a type of bird. Or maybe a reptile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cMonsters. They\u2019re monsters.\u201d Waffles sat down and scratched his ear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook harmless to me.\u201d Pancake yawned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s staring at me.\u201d Waffles yelped. \u201cI think it\u2019s planning to murder us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

These actions give a sense of who Pancake and Waffles are and how they feel about the situation. What isn\u2019t clear is which is the POV character. We may suspect what sorts of animals they are, but it isn\u2019t as clear as it could be. You might also notice that the synonyms for said can feel just as repetitive as just using said. So, let\u2019s add a little more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThere they are!\u201d Waffles growled softly; enough to menace but not enough for the strange creatures to hear. They were, after all, as tall as he was. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s what?\u201d Pancake trotted over, curious about what his young prot\u00e9g\u00e9 was worried about this time. He surveyed the neighbor\u2019s yard. There were four feathered animals strutting around and scratching at the dirt. He had a vague memory of the humans discussing them on the porch last night. \u201cThose are called chickens. I believe they are a type of bird. Or maybe a reptile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cMonsters. They\u2019re monsters.\u201d Waffles sat down and scratched industriously at his ear, then sniffed his paw. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook harmless to me.\u201d Pancake yawned and returned to patrolling the perimeter of the yard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s staring at me.\u201d Waffles yelped as he ran over to hide behind Pancake. \u201cI think it\u2019s planning to murder us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

 It\u2019s clear now that Pancake is the POV character and what his relationship is with Waffles. We get the sense that Waffles worries about a lot of things that Pancake doesn\u2019t see as threats. Waffles\u2019 actions give us a sense of what he is thinking as a non-POV character. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Novlr<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Write more, write better, and achieve your goals with Novlr!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Sign up. It’s free!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Beware distractions and clutter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I also feel that this dialogue might have a little bit of clutter in it. Let\u2019s edit that out. Don\u2019t be afraid of using \u2018said\u2019 as an invisible word and let the conversation flow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThere they are!\u201d Waffles growled softly; enough to menace but not loud enough for the strange feathered creatures to hear him. They were, after all, as tall as he was. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s what?\u201d Pancake trotted over, curious about what his young prot\u00e9g\u00e9 was worried about this time. He surveyed the neighbor\u2019s yard, bringing back a vague memory of the humans discussing them on the porch last night. \u201cThose are called chickens. I believe they are a type of bird. Or maybe a reptile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cMonsters. They\u2019re monsters,\u201d said Waffles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook harmless to me.\u201d Pancake returned to patrolling the perimeter of the yard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s staring at me.\u201d Waffles yelped as he ran over to hide behind Pancake. \u201cI think it\u2019s planning to murder us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I removed Pancake\u2019s yawn. Just returning to his previous action is enough to show he doesn\u2019t feel threatened by the chickens. I also removed Waffles scratching at his ear. While it definitely conveyed his doggy nature, it doesn\u2019t move the scene forward and may even detract from his sense of urgency. Using \u2018said\u2019 there is invisible to the reader and lets us get on to Waffles yelping and hiding, which are better indicators of his fear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actions that set up future plot points<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Character actions can also set up a future plot point. An object casually placed might seem irrelevant in the moment but later justifies its presence at an important plot point. For example, Pancake might be following a specific mystery scent in the yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201dLooks harmless to me.\u201d Pancake returned to patrolling the perimeter of the yard. There was a scent he couldn\u2019t quite place, and it wasn\u2019t chicken. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I might have the dogs notice this scent at various points leading up to the reveal of a new character, challenge, or something more threatening than chickens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summing up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Character actions tell us something about who they are and their relationships with others, provide information about the world they live in, and can lay the foundation for future plot points. When editing and deciding if an action is important or clutter, I ask myself if it serves one or more of the above points. If so, I keep it. Otherwise, it’s just clutter. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“How often should I describe a character’s “casual actions”? For example, when two of my characters are talking, I’ll add in little actions so the conversation isn’t just full of dialogue tags. But then I go back and read it and realize I just made them cross\/uncross their arms and lean against a wall 12 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":9265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1280","footnotes":""},"categories":[108,24],"tags":[67,132,28],"class_list":["post-9263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-novlr","category-writing-tips","tag-character-development","tag-dialogue","tag-writing-tips","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nAre casual character actions necessary, or just clutter? | The Novlr Reading Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to use character actions to reveal personality, build your world, and set up future plot points without cluttering your story.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.novlr.org\/the-reading-room\/are-casual-character-actions-necessary-or-just-clutter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are casual character actions necessary, or just clutter? 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