• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • About WHW
    • Press Kit
    • Resident Writing Coaches
    • Contact Us
    • Podcasts & Interviews
    • Master Storytelling Newsletter
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
    • Charities & Support
  • Bookstore
    • Bookstore
    • Foreign Editions
    • Book Reviews
    • Free Thesaurus Sampler
  • Blog
  • Software
  • Workshops
  • Resources
    • List of Resources
    • Recommended Writing Books
    • WHW Descriptive Thesaurus Collection
    • Free Tools & Worksheets
    • Free Show-Dont-Tell Pro Pack
  • WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Emotion Thesaurus: Shock/Surprise

Published: February 28, 2008 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

When it comes to emotion, sometimes we need a brainstorming nudge. After all, each character will express their feelings differently depending on their personality, emotional range, and comfort zone. We hope this short, sample list of expressions will help you better imagine how your character might show this emotion!

If you need to go deeper, we have detailed lists of body language, visceral sensations, dialogue cues, and mental responses for 130 emotions in the 2019 expanded second edition of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression.

SHOCK/SURPRISE

· A small yelp, gasp, squeal, or scream
· Tingling skin
· A heavy feeling in the stomach
· A stiffening posture, rigid muscles
· A sudden coldness (dread) that hits at the core
· Reaching up a hand to lightly clasp the throat
· Splaying the fingers out in a fan against the breastbone
· Pulling books or another object tight against chest
· Eyes that water, shine, or form tears
· A sudden onset of anger or frustration (swearing, screaming, acting violent)
· A shaky voice–soft, halting, disbelieving
· Asking simple questions for clarification: who, when, why?
· A feeling of disorientation, dizziness, euphoria
· A shaky or slow smile that builds as the surprise sinks in
· Grabbing someone close by for comfort
· Giving a quick bark of laughter…

Win your readers’ hearts by tailoring your character’s emotional responses so they’re compelling, credible, and realistic.

If you struggle with writing emotions, you aren’t alone. The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression has helped writers all over the globe, and it can help you. To find out more about this bestselling book, please visit our bookstore.

Prefer the flexibility of instant online access and greater searchability?

The Emotion Thesaurus is also at our sister site, One Stop for Writers. Visit the Emotion Thesaurus Page to view our complete list of entries.

TIP: While you’re there, check out our hyper-intelligent Character Builder that helps you create deep, memorable characters in half the time!

ANGELA ACKERMAN
ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Related

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sakina says

    November 21, 2021 at 5:13 am

    Amazing website! I’m 9 years old I’ve been using it for quite a while and I am loving it!

    • BECCA PUGLISI says

      November 21, 2021 at 9:35 am

      I’m so glad you’re enjoying it, Sakina!

  2. Ephea says

    June 20, 2020 at 5:25 am

    Your tips helped me write a perfect composition to win 1st prize for the Primary Composition Writing Competition! Thank you so much1 Hope I can share my prize money with you!

    • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

      June 20, 2020 at 12:39 pm

      Congrats, Ephea! That’s wonderful news. Keep writing up a storm!

  3. Aldrick says

    September 4, 2017 at 5:04 am

    Mrs Ackerman can I send you an e-mail? I need your help with my writings desperately

    • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

      September 4, 2017 at 12:35 pm

      Feel free. 🙂 You’ll find it on our CONTACT US page. 🙂

  4. Malia says

    November 28, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    I’m 16 years old and I want to be a writer after I finish school! This thesaurus is absolutely amazing! It helps me a lot! 🙂

    • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

      November 29, 2015 at 2:22 am

      That is awesome Malia! I wish I had started writing so early. I love that you know you love writing and want to be a writer. You can do it! 🙂

  5. Fernando says

    April 7, 2015 at 9:35 am

    This is an amazing resource. Thank you very much.
    Even though I write in Portuguese, I’ve been using this thesaurus for reference over and over again.

    • BECCA PUGLISI says

      April 7, 2015 at 10:44 am

      So glad to hear that you’re finding it useful, Fernando—even if it’s in a different language :).

  6. Adventures in Children's Publishing says

    May 2, 2010 at 10:51 pm

    Just used this again and had to say thank you. I put the link to our article covering this and your other thesaurus tools on our new Popular Posts section so everyone can see it. Thanks so much!

  7. Sandra Cox says

    February 4, 2010 at 9:10 am

    Awesome.

  8. Most Wanted says

    November 29, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    I used your blog for my first book… Most Wanted by Mark McHugh (available on Amazon) and I am finding it indespensible for the sequel, which I am now writing.
    Happy bursts of screaming, shouting, laughter, squeals, giggles from a devoted fan!

  9. Angela says

    March 12, 2009 at 10:33 am

    Glad to see you here, Roy!

  10. irbuk says

    March 12, 2009 at 10:12 am

    I made it, finally. Just what I needed ladies, as I try to write a new scene.

  11. Unhinged says

    February 28, 2008 at 10:04 pm

    These are great. I know I’ll refer back to them often. Thank you so much, both of you!

  12. Angela says

    February 28, 2008 at 6:07 pm

    *stares at Sera phyn*

    LOL, thanks. Glad it’s helping!

  13. Sera Phyn says

    February 28, 2008 at 3:11 pm

    You took the challenge! That’s wonderful! I’m in the middle of my book and people are starting to stare in shock a lot; I needed a reference like this to fall back on. You guys are great! 😀

    Sera-Phyn.com

Trackbacks

  1. How to Show Surprise in Writing [Tips and Suggestions for Learning] says:
    May 26, 2019 at 6:18 am

    […] simple questions to clarify […]

  2. 4 Tips to Convey Surprise – Kristina Boucher says:
    July 19, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    […] Emotion Thesaurus: Shock/Surprise: this article is from the site “Writers Helping Writers.” They have multiple “emotion thesauruses” to help you out! They also suggest tailoring responses to your character. […]

  3. Emotion Thesaurus Entry: Indignation | WRITERS HELPING WRITERSWRITERS HELPING WRITERS says:
    December 12, 2013 at 7:15 pm

    […] also can lead to Anger responses, or be paired with Shock. You can combine actions from these emotions to convey an even more accurate […]

  4. Emotion Thesaurus Entry Collection (Samples) | WRITERS HELPING WRITERSWRITERS HELPING WRITERS says:
    December 4, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    […] Shock/Surprise […]

Primary Sidebar


Welcome!

Writing is hard. Angela & Becca make it easier. Get ready to level up your fiction with game-changing tools, resources, and advice.

Subscribe to the Blog

Check your inbox to confirm! If gremlins tried to eat it, you might have to check your spam folder.

Find it Fast

Read by Category

Grab Our Button

Writers Helping Writers

Software that Will Change the Writing Game

One Stop for Writers

Join our Writers Helping Writers Newsletter

NO AI TRAINING: Any use of this content to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The legal copyright holder, Writers Helping Writers®, reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models. WRITERS HELPING WRITERS® · Copyright © 2025 · WEBSITE DESIGN BY LAUGH EAT LEARN

 

Loading Comments...