☂ Silently with occasional sniffles, looking away like they're trying to hide what they're feeling. They refuse to wipe their tears unless they have to because if they do, then they're admitting to crying. ☂ Quietly, staring into your soul with a blank expression while tears stream down their face as if to say look what you've done.

☂ Frustrated sniffles and furious rubbing at their eyes like they're mad about the situation and about crying.

☂ Full on sobbing, wailing, and screaming out years of grief, regret, and anguish, as if it can change the past. ☂ Streams of tears, hiccups, a tightening throat, trembling shoulders, and seizing lungs in a mix between panicked heaves and sobs.

☂ A thin, weak smile pulling at their lips despite the obvious trails of tears running down their cheeks. Like they've already made peace with the outcome.

☂ Dewey eyes, slightly reddened nose, and lines of liquid diamond falling down their face, painting the most devastatingly beautiful picture of sorrow.

☂ It starts unexpectedly, a drop of water landing on a hand, and it takes them a few seconds to register the burning behind their eyes, the stone weighing their heart, and the realization that they're crying.

☂ Broken laughter through blurry eyes and wetness on their cheeks, like they can't quite believe what's happening.

A quick tip for writing powerful emotions. 

We often fall into the trap of having character’s cry during difficult times, crying because of a horrible series of events that’s taking place. And this is realistic and good. But let me offer up an alternative. 

When everything is going wrong, and character A thinks they aren’t going to get out of this, or that nothing will ever be okay again. They think they will never see character B again (this can be a love interest, a friend, family). Yet they have to focus, they have to do everything in there power to avoid that. 

And they do. They avoid it. They make it though, they get out, they get home. And as character B wraps them in their arms around them, relieved they’re even alive, that is when character A finally breaks down into tears. 

When a character cries should depend on each character. I have characters who cry often, who are open about their emotions but can also keep going while they cry. I have character’s who hold back tears as long as possible because they know when they break down they won’t be getting back up for a while. I have character’s who don’t even need to put effort into holding back those tears because they don’t usually cry, but might cry days later as they finally begin to process. 

All of these are valid. But there’s something just so good about seeing a character be honest about their emotions in a safe place after the fact. 

It can be powerful to show different ways of showing emotion. 

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