yo :D question: what's your recommendation for writing really tense confrontations without having to use exclamation points? Or at least, not many?
It depends on the character, but when I wanna set the mood as serious, I use the character’s tone and body language.
If the character is usually upbeat and cheerful, having them suddenly go blank-faced and emotionless when they’re angry sets the mood. If a character is furious but not yelling, having them ball their fists, start crying, start pacing, or even laughing can be a sign of extreme negative emotion and seeing the change creates the tension (again, depends on the character you’re writing).
This is an example that came to my mind from my own writings. Please forgive the self-promotion, but I’ve been on a hell of a Fem!Phantom kick soooo, a lot of muse there. Anyway:
In the story “The Thorn and Her Golden Rose”, Chapter 3 has a serious confrontation scene after Erika tells Nadir he’s knocked her up. Here are some excerpts I used to tell the reader the characters are very upset without having a non-stop screaming match:
But he did nothing. Nothing, but stare at her with an unreadable expression.
“Say something,” she quietly ordered. “Say something, damn it!”
Nadir swallowed a knot in his throat. “Do you know this for certain?”
(…)
Averting her gaze to the wall over his shoulder, Erika muttered; “I’m not naïve, you fool. Yes, I’m certain."
A quivering breath left Nadir and his fingers tightened around her bony shoulders.
_____
Nadir clenched his fists until his nails stabbed his palms.
_____
She began to fill her cup, but paused. In one quick movement, she hurled the cup at Nadir’s head. It missed, shattered, and spilled its hot contents over the wallpaper.
Now, after this, there is screaming here and there, as well as exclamation points. There’s nothing wrong with using loud voices or exclamation points to emphasize the overflow of emotion – the explosion the tension leads to – as long as it’s not used from the beginning of the scene to the end.
