Does This Describe Your Writing?
- Your characters act like marionettes who nod their heads every few paragraphs, or worse, every few sentences. (Note the strikeout. What else would they nod? Their noses? Their knees?)
- You find yourself typing nodded to indicate approval or to sprinkle action beats throughout dialogue.
In your defense, perhaps you can’t think of anything else.
What Does a Nod Suggest?
To find a suitable substitution, you must know why your characters feel the need to nod.
Nodding can denote a plethora of emotions, including acceptance or agreement, attentiveness or concentration, confidence, eagerness, excitement, greeting or recognition, satisfaction, smugness, support or sympathy, zeal, etc.
Head bobs and tosses signify disapproval in countries like Bulgaria, Turkey, and some parts of Greece and Italy. A nodding protagonist could make a story difficult to understand in these areas.
Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations
Let’s explore body language you could use instead of nods.
Acceptance or agreement
leaning inward
uncrossed arms
unlocked ankles
warm smiles
Attentiveness or concentration
direct eye contact
head forward or tilted
hint of a frown
wide eyes
Confidence
direct gaze
firm handshake
wide stance
winking
Eagerness
animated gestures
fidgeting in one’s chair
finishing a task ahead of time
quick speech
Excitement
high-five or fist bump
hyperactivity
loud speech
trembling
Greeting or recognition
hugging
raising one’s eyebrows
rushing toward someone
waving
Satisfaction
clapping someone on the back
fist pump
puffed-out chest
thumbs-up gesture
Smugness
smirking or sneering
bragging
name-dropping
swaggering or strutting
Support or sympathy
fumbling for the right words
hugging
stroking someone’s back
squeezing someone’s shoulder
Zeal
exaggerated movements
flashing eyes
frequent blinking
rubbing hands together
If you need additional beats, consult a body language dictionary. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
The Writer’s Lexicon series
and additional resources on my Facebook page.
Removing Nodded Can Strengthen Writing
In your quest to eliminate nodded, you can add depth and emotion.
Consider the following unimaginative snippet.
Jennifer pulled her hair off her shoulders. “Can you please zip me up?”
Keith nodded as he reached for the zipper. “Sure.”
“Ouch! Darn thing is too tight.”
Keith nodded.
Besides being downright boring, the above passage repeats nodded twice. Let’s amplify and add some tension.
Jennifer pulled her hair off her shoulders. “Can you please zip me up?”
Keith bit his lip as he reached for the zipper. “I can try.”
“Are you saying I’m fat?”
His face turned a telltale shade of red.
With a bit of reorganization, the second passage employs a combination of show and tell to turn the encounter into something that could develop into humor or drama — depending on where the author decides to take it — without a single nod.
However, if You Need Short and Simple, Try These Nodded Replacements
The following list provides precooked alternatives for nodded. They might bail you out if word count is limited or you want to intensify the pace of your piece.
A and B
accepted, acquiesced, adopted, advocated, affirmed, agreed to, allowed, alluded, approved, assented, attested, authorized, backed, bent the head, bent the knee, bobbed the head, bowed
C
capitulated, ceded, certified, championed, cheered on, chose, complied, conceded, conceded defeat, concurred, confirmed, consented, corroborated, crawled, curtsied
D to G
deferred to, dipped the head, dropped the head, encouraged, endorsed, espoused, facilitated, fancied, favored, gave in, gave carte blanche to, gave one’s blessing, genuflected, granted, green-lighted, groveled
H to P
hinted, implied, inclined the head, insisted, kneeled, knelt, kowtowed, let, lowered the head, okayed, opted, passed, permitted, preferred, proposed, prostrated
R and S
ratified, recommended, relinquished, respected, said yes, sanctioned, signaled, smiled, stooped, submitted, substantiated, succumbed, suggested, supported
T to Y
tilted the head, tolerated, upheld, urged, validated, verified, voted for, vouched for, wagged the head, warranted, waved, yielded
The Writer’s Lexicon series
and additional resources on my Facebook page.
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Can you use a phrase like, nodded his dark head? Or bowed his dark head? Is this not accepted in writing, I have seen authors use this and editor says, both yes and no.
Well, Treasa, if the character has already been described, why would the writer need to say that his head is dark? Something to think about …
Thanks for stopping by, and stay safe!
I have both your Writer’s Lexicons and refer to them often. Great books and extremely helpful when I wrote Against My Better Judgment plus its sequel (in editing) and on another project (also in editing). I have also talked it up to my writer’s guild.
B.T. Polcari
Thanks, Brian. I appreciate your support. May your muse ever be with you, and please stay safe!
How about nodding graciously? I feel like there should be a better way to say this, but I’m drawing a blank.
Also, I love the different lists you have. Saves me from having to google replacement words when I can’t quite get the nuance I want.
Thanks, DMM!
What is behind the gracious nod? It could indicate a number of emotional responses, including:
courtesy
diplomacy
hospitality
indulgence
politeness
tact
thoughtfulness
Ah, yes, courteous. But then isn’t courteously just another adverb? I will have to study this more, but your reply gave me a lot more food for thought.
Courteously is an adverb, but courtesy can be indicated in many ways besides a gracious nod. Is that the emotion behind your nod, or is it one of the others I mentioned?
Nodded graciously? How about bowed.
Excellent suggestion, Ryan.
Ah, yes, that could work, and the emotion is definitely courtesy.
As in the character is in a bad/sullen/snarky mood, feeling vexed perhaps, but not wanting to take it out on the waitress, so nods graciously/courteously. Something along those lines.
“Just bring me a Coke, no ice, please.” Jamie inclined her head graciously, resting her elbows on the table as she watched the dancing throng.
A polite smile would work if you’re writing from Jamie’s point of view. Otherwise just a smile, with context that shows her emotion.
Yes, thank you, but I’m afraid it’s the extent of my vocabulary.
Guilty as charged!
Heh heh. Nice to see you here, Felicia. I enjoy your Twitter feed.
Thank you for this post! I ran a word-count on my novel and found 129 instances of “nodded” in apx. 320 pages…definitely too many I look forward to applying your suggestions! 🙂
I’m glad you found it useful, Steve. 😉 Do you have any other words you’d like me to research? I just posted 400+ Ways to Describe Eyes, and next week will include ways to avoid cursing.
Hey Kathy, I don’t see my post on the board. Does it take time to appear?
No other words come to mind at this point, but I appreciate the offer.
Btw, do you think an acceptable alternative to replacing “nodded” with something else is to eliminate it entirely some cases. (e.g. if it’s obvious that the speaker is, say, agreeing with her friend, but there’s no significant emotion/subtext involved?)
Thanks!
Perhaps try reloading the page and/or clearing your browser cache. You reply is here. Honest. I’m looking at it right now.
Use of nodded depends on context. If agreement is obvious, the word or body language might be superfluous. You, as author, are in control.
Oooh fab, just what I wanted 🙂 Great post.
Thanks for the inspiration, Elise! Next week: sat.
Thanks for the idea of heart pounded! It’s up today at: http://kathysteinemann.com/Musings/heart-pounded/.