: Re: What is one way to write about feeling someone's sadness? For example: I sensed as if he became sad from the way he spoke after telling him that I would go with her.

@Fox6458700

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This is a question of show vs tell.

It's easy to say that he became sad, but if you write it like this it also easly sounds cold and distant. If that's what you intend - good, keep it that way.

You can create a more emotional approach if you show his reaction, like

I saw his eyes widening as I told him that I would go with her. He mumbled something that sounded slightly like 'okay'. But the way he avoided looking at me afterwards, fiddling around with the pencil he always carries in his pocket, gave me the sense that he might not be okay with it.

With the details of his reaction you can in a way control the emotional reaction of your reader because sadness shows different in each one of us. Some react angry, some apathetic, some immediately begin to cry and others don't show any immediate reaction but become quiet and withdrawn into themselfs if they have a moment without external stress.

Use this situation to build up the characters. How does the one being told react, how the one telling. It is a good opportunity to let the reader know something about both of them and their relationship.

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