Adding to Phrases

Dear reader,

When writing, I, like most writers, like to avoid reusing the same words and phrases over and over again. So what do I do? I sit there for ten minutes trying to think of a better way to say whatever it is, and then I lose the flow of writing.
That in mind, I have prepared a list below of commonly used phrases and examples of how to change them.
By adding more description to a action, you can keep things interesting and save yourself from being redundant.

Read on!

Facial actions:

"She furrowed her brow" = "Her eyebrows narrowed as she looked down, her face
                                                     tense as she thought the plan through."

"His eyes widened" = "He took a step back, lips parting as he stared at his friend in
                                           wonder."

"She raised her eyebrows" = "She tilted her head down, raising her eyebrows as she
                                                       looked at him."

"He smirks" = "He gives me a cocky smirk."

"She bites her lip" = "Holding her arm, she turned her face away."

"Tears cut down his cheeks" = "The tears slipped out of his eyes and down his cheeks
                                                          before he could brush them away."

Physical actions:

"He clenches his hands into fists" = "The anger flowed through him, screaming to be
                                                                 let out. The only way he could tame it was to
                                                                 keep his hands in tight fists  at his side."

"She crosses her arms" = "She looks at me indignantly, crossing her arms."

"He pinches the bridge of his nose" = "Resting his finger tips on his brow, he shut his                                                                                         eyes and let out a irritated sigh."

"He runs fingers his through his hair" = "He groans, putting his hands to his
                                                                      face before lowering  his head and letting
                                                                      them slip through his hair."

"She nods" = "She sighed quietly, consenting."

"With a pounding heart..." = "He had never been this aware of his heartbeat before."

"Chills ran up his spin" = "The room seemed to have become much colder now, it
                                                chilled James arms, neck, legs... His hands, resting
                                                on his lap in fists, were sweating, and his icy
                                                breath kept catching."

"She wags a finger at me" = "She points at me, giving me a stony look."

"He lifted his shoulder" = "Shrugging one shoulder, he gave an awkward smile."

Verbal actions:

"She cried out" = "'Wait!' Her cry echoed through the hall as she held her hand out,
                                     as if that would stop anything."

"He exclaimed" = "'You can't do that!' He exclaimed. 'But I have to!' He looked at me,
                                      fear and desperation flooding his face."

"The child wailed" = "The poor baby cried loud and hard as his mother bounced him
                                       on her lap, softly shushing him."

"He chuckled" = "His deep laughter filled the room."

"She stuttered" = "Yes! I... I mean no, or..." Her words tripped over each other as her face reddened."

So there you have it!
Of course, I'm not saying to use my exact wording in the above. They're merely examples of how you can change things up a bit. I've noticed writers often keeping the same phrase, and only changing one word in it.
An example of that would be...

"She (stuttered) stammered", "He (nodded) wagged his head", "She (crosses) folds her arms".

While this works, it seems less creative to me. Besides that, adding more description adds to your word count!

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, I'd love it if you'd tell me what parts you liked. If you didn't, tell me what you didn't like.
Fair well, friends!

Yours,


             
                     Edna