How to describe crying in writing?
Here are a few tips for describing crying in writing:
- Use sensory details:
- crying looks
- crying listening
- crying feels like
- show is better than telling
Describe the outward manifestations of sobbing, such as tears running down a character’s cheeks or quivering in their voice, rather than just stating that the character is crying.
- Use figurative language:
- metaphors
- similes etc
For example, you can say that someone’s tears are “flowing down their face like a river” when they are sad.
- Take into account the character’s temperament:
A character’s personality may be inferred by the way they cry.
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- A character who is usually stoic, for instance, would cry silently
- a character who is more emotional might sob aloud.
- Incorporate dialogue:
Dialogue may make a sobbing scene come to life and assist the reader to understand the character’s emotions.
Examples of describing crying in writing
- “He sobbed in silence as he sat on the edge of the bed with his face buried in his hands.”
- She began to hiccup while her tears fell continuously like a steady rain.
- Â “Her tears of sorrow were soaking the tissue as she clung to it to try to stop the flow.”
- “He failed his examination and had tears in his eyes that had swollen and turned red for hours.”
- “After crying for several hours, he stood in the doorway with his eyes red and swollen.”
- “As she struggled to breathe, she let out a series of hiccups, tears of sorrow still streaming down her face.”
- “He felt lonely as he stood in the corner, trying to gather himself while silent tears silently ran down his cheeks from sorrow.”
- “She let out a gut-wrenching wail, her Tears due to sorrow falling like rain as she collapsed to the floor.”
- “He sniffled and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, his eyes red and swollen from crying.”
- “His tears of sorrow left a moist trail on his skin as he wiped them away with the palm of his hand.”
- “He sobbed quietly as he sat on the edge of the bed with his hands resting against his face.”
- She held a tissue to her face as she tried to stop the flow of tears, which left wet spots on the material.
- “She can’t stop crying and her body trembled as tears of sorrow fell from her eyes like a river.”
- “He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, his Tears due to sorrow leaving a trail of moisture on his skin.”
- “She can’t stop it and she cried so hard that her body shook, her Tears due to sorrow falling like a waterfall.”
- “He let out a strangled sob, his shoulders shaking as he cried into his hands.”
- “Sorrowful tears streamed down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably over her exam failure, her shoulders trembling with the force of her emotions.”
- “She sobbed heartbreakingly, her tears of sadness falling like a shower as she sobbed.”
- Â “He sobbed into his hands with a strangled scream, his shoulders trembling.”
- “Her Tears due to sorrow fell like a steady stream, leaving wet tracks down her cheeks as she cried in her room.”