Why Do Your Characters Shrug?

Perhaps you rely on shrugs as action beats to differentiate between speakers in dialogue; or maybe you’re on an early draft, and you write the first thing that comes to mind.

A shrug should be more than an action beat. People shrug for many reasons. If you understand their motivation, you can substitute alternative verbs or body language.

Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations

Some emotions that might cause a shrug include:

confusion, deception, defensiveness, denial, determination, disbelief, doubt, indifference, insecurity, resignation, skepticism, sympathy, uncertainty, worry

Consider a few ways to show these emotions.

Confusion
rapid blinking
rubbing one’s chin
scratching one’s head
wrinkling one’s nose

Deception
changing the subject
hesitating when answering questions
lack of eye contact
shifty eyes

Defensiveness
holding something in front of one’s body
leaning away from someone
licking one’s lips
squinting

Denial
locking eyes with someone
raising one’s palms in a not me gesture
shuffling backward
sweating

Determination
cords or veins of neck standing out
hard jaw
leaning forward
pressing on with an activity even if one is in pain or uncomfortable

Disbelief
slack jaw
unfocused stare
wide eyes
covering one’s ears as though trying to block bad news

Doubt
avoidance of eye contact
biting one’s cheek
rubbing one’s chin or the back of one’s neck
running fingers through one’s hair

Indifference
blank gaze
speaking, with one’s hands in pockets
turning away from someone who is speaking
attention focused on other characters or objects

Insecurity
biting one’s nails or lips
fidgeting with one’s hair or clothing
forced smile
red face and upper torso

Resignation
hanging one’s head
poor personal grooming
slumped shoulders
trembling chin

Skepticism
mumbling
rubbing one’s eyes
tsk-tsking through crooked mouth
unrestrained smirk

Sympathy
fumbling/at a loss for words
patting someone’s back or hugging them
speaking in a soothing voice
stroking someone’s hair

Uncertainty
halting dialogue
pacing
puckered forehead
repeated swallowing

Worry
dark circles under one’s eyes
thin smile
thumbs clenched inside fists
trembling

If you need additional beats, consult a body language dictionary. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Practical Application

Let’s review how we could include appropriate body language in a few short passages.

Dale shrugged. “I don’t know what happened. One minute Hayley was smiling at me, and the next thing I knew, my shirt was drenched with the glass of wine she threw on me.”

Why did Dale shrug? Was he confused? Consumed by disbelief? Let’s assume both.

“I don’t know what happened.” Dale blinked. “One minute Hayley was smiling at me,” he continued, his eyes wide with disbelief, “and the next thing I knew, my shirt was drenched with the glass of wine she threw on me.”

The second version contains a few more words, but it provides a better visual of Dale’s reaction.

Ready for another?

Irene shrugged. Ten days since the interview, and still no callback.

Is Irene worried? Perhaps she has accepted what she considers the predictable result of a bad interview.

Irene flipped her greasy hair out of her face and scraped at a dried blob of ketchup on her pajamas. Ten days since the interview, and still no callback.

Her poor personal grooming is a good indication she has resigned herself to the inevitable.

What about Wade in the next example?

Wade shrugged. “That’ll never work, you doorknob!”

Wade’s dialogue shows his skepticism. However, if you need an action beat, how about something like the following?

Wade’s smirk stretched so wide he looked like a crude caricature of the Cheshire Cat. “That’ll never work, you doorknob!”

Review This List for More Alternatives

Many of the following will tell rather than show, which isn’t always a taboo.

A to D
apologize, belittle, brush aside, brush off, criticize, defy, delay, denigrate, deride, disdain, dismiss, disobey, disparage, disregard

E to M
express regret, face-palm, give the cold shoulder, goad, hesitate, ignore, insult, jeer, make light of, mock

O to R
overlook, pause, pay no attention to, pay no mind, plead ignorance, pooh-pooh, procrastinate, provoke, rebuff, ridicule

S to V
scoff, scorn, simper, slouch, sneer, snigger, snort, snub, stick out one’s tongue, taunt, tease, twitch, vacillate, vilify

A Final Set of Practical Examples

Bobby shrugged when Mommy told him to clean his room.

Lukewarm. Can we make his reaction stronger?

Mommy told Bobby to clean his room. He ignored her, continuing to play with his new video game.

We could give Bobby some attitude and set him up for a timeout or grounding.

When Mommy told Bobby to clean his room, he stuck out his tongue.

Time to revisit Hayley.

Hayley shrugged. “I’m sorry, Dale. I didn’t mean to throw the glass of wine at you. It just slipped out of my hand and launched itself into the air, you insensitive jerk.”

Using apologize as a verb wouldn’t work. Although Hayley says she’s sorry, she doesn’t mean it. This might be a good place for a facial expression that shows her true emotions.

“I’m sorry, Dale,” Hayley said. Her ensuing simper sent all the bystanders into a cacophony of nervous giggles and outright guffaws. “I didn’t mean to throw the glass of wine at you. It just slipped out of my hand and launched itself into the air, you insensitive jerk.”

Do You Need an Action Beat or Dialogue Tag?

Excellent dialogue should be able to stand on its own. If you make it clear who’s talking, untagged speech often speeds the narrative.

Dale shrugged. “It’s all right.”

Hayley shrugged back. “Really?”

“Sure,” Dale replied. “I own three drycleaners and twenty men’s clothing stores.”

“Well in that case,” Hayley said as she threw the rest of the wine at him, “let’s keep them in business.”

The two main characters in this scene are Dale and Hayley. There’s no reason to repeat their names. Once we know who’s talking, we don’t need to re-establish their identities in every paragraph.

Time for a rewrite to eliminate the shrugs and add some detail.

Dale sneered. “It’s all right.”

“Really?” Hayley squinted at him.

“Sure. I own three drycleaners and twenty men’s clothing stores.”

“Well in that case, let’s keep them in business.” She sploshed the entire bottle of wine over his Armani suit, Rolex watch, and Berluti shoes.

Better?

Try These Story Prompts

Remove all instances of shrugged in the following, developing them into micro-fiction or longer stories.

Prompt 1. The policeman shrugged. Three robberies at the same jewelry store in the last week, and now a fourth?

Prompt 2. No time like the present. Muhammed shrugged. It was now or never.

Prompt 3. Francine stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror. She shrugged. White had never been her favorite color.

Prompt 4. The loud argument in the neighboring apartment ceased as abruptly as it had begun. Harold shrugged. Another night, another spat. When would they ever —

A sharp crack decimated the blessed silence.

Prompt 5. Twenty-four balloons. Not twenty-three. Not twenty-five. One for each time Tod had asked. He shrugged. Was he destined to reach twenty-five?

Prompt 6. “I can’t do this,” Helen said.

Maxwell shrugged as he pushed her. “Sure you can. Look. You just did.”

She screamed.

Prompt 7. Bernie’s white-knuckled fingers clung to the steering wheel. He shrugged. “I swear, officer, I was going five under the speed limit.”

“More like fifty over, sonny boy.” The cop shrugged. “But I could be persuaded to ferget this. Ten bucks fer each mile over should do it, I reckon.”

Bernie reached for [choose or invent a phrase: the glove compartment, his gun, his wallet, his cell phone, a breath mint, the GPS, the map light]

Prompt 8. Freddy shrugged. “I wasn’t cheating, Miss Martin, honest I wasn’t.”

She glowered at him. “Then why were you staring over Susan’s shoulder?”

“Because she has my cell phone, and [zany excuse].”