Body parts not included

Quick tip to make your writing more clear and concise for your readers. If the action being done by a body part is an action that can only be accomplished by a specific body part, you don’t need to include the body part in the description. It’s redundant to include the body part because the verb itself already by definition includes that body part.

Examples will make this more clear.

She nodded her head.

Honestly, what other body part can be nodded? It’s always a head, so remove “her head”:

She nodded.

Side note: I’ve seen some writers use “She nodded her head in agreement.” Two redundancies in one sentence! The verb “nod” already signifies agreement. So again, “She nodded” is the more appropriate sentence here.

How about this one:

He shrugged his shoulders.

Again, only shoulders are shruggable. This should be written simply as

He shrugged.

Now you might have an exception where someone shrugs just one shoulder rather than both, so in that case, “He shrugged his right shoulder” might be okay. But make sure it’s a distinction that is adding something to the character or the scene.

Here’s a list of actions that don’t need body parts.

Nod head

Shrug shoulders

Blink eyes

Wave hand

Step feet

Clap hands (Although if you have someone hitting a knee with a hand or something like that, a distinction might be needed. But if it’s just two hands clapping, leave out the hands)

Do some self-editing and run a search on each of these verbs. If you’ve included the body part, take it out. An easy fix to make your writing smoother for your readers!