Let the story breathe a little. Open things out. Let the text breathe a little, and let the characters’ emotions come through in ways that give the reader a chance to feel things for themselves.
A light touch goes further than a heavy one, for emotions as much as for description.
The protagonist of my current reading-in-progress finally did stop whining and wallowing in his emotions around page 100, when he was attacked by bandits (yaaay, bandits). The next 100 pages seem to be dedicated to everyone else worrying about his emotions instead. Because, apparently, the reader cannot be allowed for a moment to forget that he has them.
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Yesterday’s run was one of those where my lungs, rather than my legs, were the speed-limiting factor–it varies day by day which it is that tells me when to slow down. I blame the rain and all the molds and blooms the rain encourages. And, okay, also the fact that I haven’t run in a week.
Even so, the guy running in front of me on the indoor track kept looking back, as if to see if I was catching up. Sometimes, when I was getting close, he’d speed up a little.
To which I say, hah! You can still beat this overweight asthmatic runner in a race, dude, but now, you’re gonna have to work for it. 🙂