The ability of some people to 'read' body language is much contested. However, as writers, we can ignore anyone who says that body language isn't inherently readable and say - yes it is, because we wrote it!

Body language, like voice or facial expressions, is a hugely important marker of how a character feels. Whether they're happy, sad, angry, wistful, confused, desperate, hiding the truth, or intending to do something bad – their body can speak the words that their mouths won't, giving us a lot to play with in the development of a scene.

We can also use body language to help build a character. Tics, certain stances, certain movements, these all contribute to a character's silhouette in the reader's mind. This may help you skip some exposition: if your brave soldier walks with a clear limp, it shows that they used to be an adventurer like you (before the arrow to the knee). We don't need to be told.

Thinking about the human body

In order to be able to write great body language, we need to break up the body into its individual components. That way we can go beyond the simple "his body was tense" and into a far more visually impactful description of what 'tense' actually looks like on this person. Maybe their shoulders freeze, or they hunch, or they play with an object.

Let's break up the body now:

Head position & facial expressions

Neck

Shoulders

Arms

Hands

Fingers

Interactions with held or nearby objects

Torso – chest, stomach and stomach contents, back

Hips

Legs

Feet, toes

Stance, standing or sitting

Movement style, speed, and repetitiveness

Other elements: wings, tails, misty auras, skin colour

Writing with body language

It's most common to add descriptions of body language to dialogue sequences. That said, you can add it in anywhere where a character's intentions, emotions or silhouette are important for the reader's visual picture. This may be dialogue, or it could be as the protagonist watches someone from across the road, the initial description we see when we first meet them, or to help us understand how they are reacting to the dead body they've just found.

Plus, like facial expressions, the more you focus on describing someone's body language, the more emphasis it will receive in the reader's mind. You can use longer descriptions to strongly portray a particular emotion or intention, and shorter descriptions for quick little check-ins about how someone is feeling.

A note on first-person/internal body language

This body language is everything that a character can feel within their own body, but which might not necessarily be visible. We can write about it in third- or first-person narratives, so long as your  narrative allows for an internal glimpse into someone's mind.

First-person body language includes:

Thoughts - whirling, racing, slow, calculating, distracting, etc.

Body temperature

Feelings of strength or weakness, particularly in the limbs

Heart rate

Blood bumping

Energy levels, or lack thereof

Feelings on the skin, including goosebumps and heckles

The sixth sense, like you're being watched

Examples

Anxious: Marcus tried to sit up straight but couldn't stay in one position for more than a few seconds. His foot drummed a quick rhythm on the floorboards, his eyes darting constantly to the clock on the wall.

Angry: Big Boss Billy roared a curse, standing up in a flash, his chair shooting out behind him and toppling over. He loomed above the desk, fists clenched, face going red, looking like he was about to leap across and strangle Cat Man to death. [note: the way a character interacts with their environment can help our description of body language]

Ready: Jennifer narrowed her eyes, knees bent, feet sliding apart, hand coming to rest on the hilt of her blade.

Bored: Hector felt the yawn coming but couldn't stop it. He did his best to keep his mouth shut, feeling his throat tense and his nostrils flare, eyes welling with tears, but it forced its way up and out of his face regardless [note: because he's trying to stifle the yawn, we also learn that Hector is, perhaps, trying to be polite, or maintain an image. We didn't need to be told "Hector wanted to be polite" – he just was]

Disgusted: Detective Thornbury cracked an amused half smile as Sally unzipped the tent with such confidence, such flare, only to recoil away with a gasp, turn on the spot, bend ninety-degrees, and vomit onto the pavement [note: in one sentence, we've learned a huge amount of information – no exposition, no dialogue. Sally was clearly overconfident, but not prepared for whatever was in the tent. Detective Thornbury, meanwhile, maintains an air of amusement, suggesting he knew what was coming or at least finds it slightly funny (but not super funny)]

Excited: Claire literally jumped for joy, giving no thought to the volume of her laughter. She felt her heart thudding in her chest, knees going weak, thoughts racing with new possibilities.

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EXERCISE: Watch a scene from a movie or TV show with the sound muted and captions off. How much character development and emotion can you follow with body language alone? For an additional exercise, rewrite one of your own dialogue-heavy scenes with only body language (no words). It will help you practice translating words, emotions and intentions into body movements.

EXERCISE 2 (for if you're having trouble): Over the next few days, as you interact with people in real life and watch movies or TV shows, examine how everyone moves. What do they do with the different parts of their body? What do their hands do? Their face? How do they sit? And, what emotions were they feeling at the time? Write it down later in a body language journal that you can refer to later.

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