Are You Disappointed?

“Our best successes often come after our greatest disappointments.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

“Don’t let today’s disappointments cast a shadow on tomorrow’s dreams.” ~ Unknown

How do you react to disappointment? How do your characters react? You do create hurdles for them, right? Great — unless those hurdles result in undue repetition of disappointed.

If you’re disappointed by the number of times you’ve discovered disappointed in your WIP, these alternatives might rescue you.

Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations

Body language can show a character’s emotional state. Disappointment might be demonstrated in many ways, including:

• avoiding eye contact
• biting one’s nails
• biting or chewing on one’s mustache
• chewing on one’s lip
• covering one’s face with hands
• crinkled eyes
• exhaling noisily through one’s pursed lips
• frowning or scowling
• gaping
• grinding one’s teeth — probably obvious to POV (point of view) character only
• gripping one’s upper arms (self-hugging)
• holding hands behind back, one hand gripping opposite wrist or arm
• hunched posture
• kicking at someone or something [furniture, pet, rock, wall]
• lowering one’s head
• lowering one’s voice
• moist eyes
• monotone voice
• mustache that droops above downturned lips
• pale, saggy face
• placing one’s arms behind back, and clasping hands
• pressing one’s lips together
• pronounced sigh(s)
• puffy face (from crying)
• rigid expression
• rubbing one’s face with a hand
• rubbing one’s neck
• self-hugging, with a firm grip on one’s elbows
• shaking one’s head
• shuffling one’s feet
• slumped shoulders and upper back
• smiling halfheartedly (halfheartedly = opinion adjective)
• standing akimbo
• swallowing hard
• tightness in one’s stomach — only obvious to POV character
• tightness in one’s chest — only obvious to POV character
• trembling chin
• tucking elbows in while clasping one’s wrist
• twitching nose
• upset stomach — only obvious to POV character
• wincing
• wrinkling one’s nose

For more options, consult a body language dictionary. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Adjectives

Synonyms for disappointed include words like the following. Choose a descriptor that matches the intensity. A minor level of disappointment could be described as disconcerted or unsettled, whereas an extreme level might be better typified as beaten or devastated.

B to U
beaten, blue, chagrined, chapfallen [dated; useful for period fiction], crestfallen, defeated, deflated, depressed, despondent, devastated, disconcerted, discontented, discouraged, disenchanted, disgruntled, disheartened, disillusioned, dismayed, dispirited, displeased, dissatisfied, distressed, down, downcast, downhearted, frustrated, gloomy, let down, melancholy, saddened, unhappy, unsettled, upset

Similes and Metaphors

You could describe a disappointed character as looking like:

• a bride or groom deserted at the altar
• a chef whose soufflé has just collapsed
• a child who discovers that Santa isn’t real
• a dieter who has slipped up on the latest fad diet
• a dog who can’t find its bone
• a kid who has been grounded for _____
• a long-faced lemur
• a loser [at cards, in an election, in love, at pool, of a race]
• a mother whose children have all left home
• a person who catches a spouse or significant other [cheating on a diet, in the arms of someone else, overspending, smoking, sneaking out of the house]
• a poet who has received fifty rejections for a poem
• a priest taking confession
• a student who has received a failing grade on an essay
• a sulking [martyr, politician, puppy]
• a tear-filled teenager who can’t find a date for the prom
• a weeping statue in a cemetery

Or you could parallel a disappointed character with:

• a deflated [puff pastry, tire, windbag]
• the embodiment of frustrated ambitions
• the epitome of unrequited love
• the incarnation of unfulfilled dreams
• the personification of unrealized aspirations
• the picture of bad news

The Versatility of Verbs and Phrasal Verbs

You can show characters’ disappointment by choosing alternative verbs.

For example:

Numerous unsuccessful attempts to quit smoking beat Al. With a trembling chin, he dialed his therapist and made an appointment.

“Nothing saddens me more than hearing about your dilemma,” said Dr. Freuden. “Let’s discuss your options.”

B to U
beat, chagrin, defeat, deflate, depress, devastate, disconcert, discontent, discourage, disenchant, disgruntle, dishearten, disillusion, dismay, dispirit, displease, dissatisfy, distress, embitter, frustrate, let down, mislead, sadden, unsettle, upset

Props

Well-chosen props augment a story by sparking new twists or subplots:

• breaking one’s diet when confronted with [cheesecake, chocolate, freshly baked bread, ice cream, mom’s __________]
• coming down with a cold just before [a first date, a trip abroad, one’s wedding]
• discovering that one is allergic to a much-loved food
• discovering that the toilet paper is one-ply instead of three-ply — after one’s fingers go through it at an inopportune moment
• expecting [beef Bolognese sauce, chocolate-chip cookies, coffee] and being served [meatless spaghetti sauce, raisin cookies, tea] instead
• food that doesn’t turn out the way a recipe promises
• losing one’s [clothes, glasses, keys, phone, shoes]
• a movie that doesn’t live up to the book
• no donations for a fundraising campaign
• rain during [a camping trip, a family reunion, a picnic, a wedding]
• terrible results in the latest political poll

Clichés and Idioms

Trite expressions function well for some narrators and dialogue. However, you might want to avoid expressions such as the following:

Adjectives and adjective phrases
as sick as a parrot
bummed out
burnt out
cast down
choked
cut up
down in the dumps
gutted
run aground
short-changed
unglued

Miscellaneous phrases
to dampen someone’s spirits
to dash someone’s hopes
to fall short of someone’s expectations
to kick someone in the teeth
to nip someone’s hopes in the bud
to put a damper on someone’s spirits
to put someone out
to shatter someone’s illusions

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