Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Hi everyone,

I’m writing a scene where my protagonist experiences a deep anxiety attack. I want to show the anxiety through behavior and sensory details, rather than explicitly stating “She felt anxious.” But I’m struggling to strike a balance between subtlety and clarity: sometimes it feels like the reaction could be misunderstood or too vague.

Does anyone have tips or examples of how to convey anxiety (or internal turmoil) in a way that readers feel it, without resorting to telling or over-describing?

Thanks in advance!

I’ve wrestled with the same thing in my own writing. What’s helped me is focusing on physical cues and sensory distortions rather than piling on adjectives. Readers tend to recognize anxiety when they see the body betraying the character.

To convey anxiety subtly, focus on physical symptoms like trembling hands, shallow breathing, or the feeling of tightness in the chest. You can also describe the character’s disjointed thoughts or difficulty concentrating, which conveys internal turmoil without explicitly stating it.