Have you ever known anyone who when they talk just talk? They don’t gesticulate with their hands. Their eyes don’t roam around the room. They don’t pet their cat or dog. They don’t look through their mail. They just talk. They stare into your eyes and talk, their mind not going elsewhere. That’s just not normal under most circumstances, is it?
People tend to occupy themselves in other ways when talking to others. Even if it’s a serious discussion, they can be caught wringing their hands, pacing the floors, or, during the time when all phones had cords connected to them, playing with the phone cord. So what can you have your characters do when they are talking to another person? Well, that depends on where they are.
You’re a writer. When do you talk to yourself? Discuss things with yourself? Plan a book out loud? Write a scene in your head?
Below are some suggestions on things your characters could do while talking to themselves or another character.
Arrange flowers
Bathe cat or dog
Bounce legs up and down
Braid hair
Brush a cat or dog
Clean gun or rifle
Clean the counters
Clean out purse or briefcase or backpack
Clean the microwave
Clean the stove
Clean off the table
Comb hair
Cook
Count change
Doodle
Drink tea, coffee, wine, beer, etc.
Dust
Eat
Exercise – hiking, walking, aerobics, etc.
Eyes dart around room and focus on specific objects rather than the individual they are talking to
Find items at a garage sale
Fold clothes
Gaze at stars
Gesticulate
Grocery shopping
Leaf through magazines
Listen to soft music
Load the dishwasher
Make a grocery list
Make coffee
Pace the floor
Paint fingernails
Pick up clutter
Plant flowers
Play a game
Play on cell phone
Play with cat
Prepare a cup of tea
Pull weeds
Put clothes in the washer or dryer
Put up Christmas decorations
Rearrange items in purse or briefcase or backpack
Rearrange items on desk or end table
Rearrange what is in the cupboards
Remove fingernail polish
Set out ingredients for a meal
Set the clock on the microwave
Shop
Sit around a campfire
Sort through papers
Sort through mail
Sort through old clothes
Stare out the window
Straighten items on end table or coffee table
Take dishes out of dish drain and put them up
Take dishes out of dishwasher and put them up
Tap foot on floor
Throw a ball, frisbee, or Kong for your dog
Trim your pet’s nails
Wait for the vet to see your animal
Walk in the park
Walk dog
Wash dishes
Watch children play
Watch dog and cat play
Water flowers
Work a jigsaw puzzle
Wrap Christmas or birthday presents
Wring hands
Does your character always pay attention to the person they are talking to? Maybe your character is so intent on scrolling through their cell phone that they only catch a word every thirty seconds or so. How annoying is this for the one speaking to them?
Or maybe there is something else that is taking the attention of the one they are speaking to away. What other things have you had your characters do while talking to themselves or each other?
