How can you show that a character is feeling amazing?
It's easy to show hesitance, fear or angst, you can have a character smoking 5-10 cigarettes in a row, linger for way too long, act out, or something like that. But how can you show a character that is feeling great, has a lot of confidence?
My character is setting sail in a boat on its way out of a harbor (no pirates and no fantasy, just a regular dude in a regular harbor). The best I've come up with is looking at the horizon and smiling but I think it feels a little bit forced.
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1 answer
You use the full narrative pallet that the novel form makes available to you. Different emotions manifest themselves in different ways. Some are very overt, some and entirely hidden from external view. Don't worry about doctrinaire interpretation of show vs tell; Use whatever techniques are useful in conveying to the reader.
If you want a brilliant example of how to show that a character is feeling amazing, I can think of none better than the description of Mole at the beginning of Wind in the Willows: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/289/289-h/289-h.htm#link2H_4_0001
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