April: Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist

Instructor:  Margie Lawson

April 1 - 27;  Fee:  $40

Learn how to write body language and dialogue cues from a kinesics specialist. No more cliched, trite, and overused facial expressions.

Writers will learn how to write more than basic facial expressions, more than basic body lanugage, more than basic dialogue cues, and write them so well, I'd rate them NYT!

Writers will learn how to write fresh:

• Body Language Basics:  facial messages, lips, eyes, chin, full facial expression, flicker-face, gestures, posture, hierarchical zones . . .


• Body Language Clusters


• Avoidance and Deception Cues


• Vibes – beyond spidey senses and hair-raising


• Turning Points driven by subtle body language cues


• Body Language and Dialogue Cues for POV and Non-POV characters


• Body Language and Dialogue Cues with Rhetorical Devices


• Specific Emotion-driven full Kinesics Patterns for anxiety, fear, joy, sadness, lust, shock, surprise . . .


• Body Language and Dialogue Cues that include stimulus and response

Each teaching point will be illustrated with examples from bestselling authors, their excerpts dissected and analyzed.

Bonus Lecture from a Police Detective:  Body Language in the Police and Criminal Worlds -- Interrogations, Spotting Criminals, Hostage Negotiations