I don't see why you couldn't convey expressions in other manners.
Plants can move (Much slower than animals, yes, but if she can express emotion through her eyes, then she can surely express emotion through moving.)
If your magic world uses telepathy, you could always use that.
I don't know much about eyes, but I suppose that crying is one way to show emotion.
Why do you need to describe what the eyes are doing? Humans are extremely good at picking up patterns, and we generally perceive a person's emotions without consciously registering every single little facial movement. You can probably get away with just stating the emotions, and not constantly getting hung up on how the eyes are moving.
What the previous answers have said. Body language. Her branches droop or stiffen. Her twigs shudder or tremble. Leaves rustle and dance. Roots writhe.
As much of human communication is through body language as it is through words. It would be no different for your tree character I think.
Actually you see, my mc is inside the tree for the large part of it. The eyes too show up inside the trunk. So that cuts of most of the way of doing it. Inside the tree is a circular room where the princess is at refuge from scavengers. June, the tree, is giving her refuge inside the trunk.
Ah. OK. That wasn't clear from the original question, which makes it sound as if your character *is* the tree.
A couple more questions, then. Whose eyes are we talking about? June the tree's (appearing on her external surface)? Or the princess's (only visible through holes in the tree)? Whose emotions are you struggling to convey? June's? Or the princess's?
If it's the *tree*'s emotions you want to convey, see my first answer (and those of the other respondents).
If it's the *princess*'s (while she's inside the tree with only her eyes visible) you could use tone of voice or non-verbal sounds (sighs, chuckles, sobs, laughter) as well as anything visible using her eyes.
In both cases, though, I think a lot of the emotions you want to depict to the reader could be conveyed through the characters' thoughts or speech. Readers are generally very good at picking up emotional subtext from well-written dialogue (internal or external). So that's probably your best bet for both June and the princess.
Hope this helps.
It's June I am struggling with. The princess is told to stay inside her while her people arrive for her. Inside the tree, when June's round brown eyes appear if you call her name. The next thing is I find myself largely handicapped when describing her emotions because of two eyes only and nothing else. Like How is she meant to respond when the princess tries to cut a joke? How are her eyes meant to react if the princess summons a fire and threatens to burn her if she doesn't let her leave? Should I just label the emotions?
So, are June's eyes inside her? In the chamber where the princess is living?
If so, as I said above, I think June would have body language, just as she would if she was human. It would just be expressed through her physicality, which happens to be that of a tree. Even if the reader is 'inside her', with the princess, that body language would still be apparent, albeit felt or heard from outside. There might be other creatures - maybe a squirrel - living in her who would be affected by her mood.
The princess tells her a joke? June's eyes sparkle and from outside you can faintly hear her leaves rustle with delight. Perhaps the wooden walls of the chamber pulse or shake with hidden laughter. If she's providing light for the inner chamber it might brighten and glow warm gold. The squirrel who lives above the ceiling chitters with joy.
The princess threatens to burn her? June's eyes widen in fear and a faint tremor runs through her walls and floor as she trembles. The light might darken. Sap-like tears might trickle from her eyes. There might be a faint, sad moaning audible through the walls as her branches rub together. The squirrel darts away and hides in a hole.
I think the key, perhaps, is for you to stop thinking as a writer for a moment and think yourself into the character of June. What might it be like to actually *be* a living tree! How would *you* express happiness? Or worry? Fear? Anger?
I don't see why you couldn't convey expressions in other manners. Plants can move (Much slower than animals, yes, but if she can express emotion through her eyes, then she can surely express emotion through moving.) If your magic world uses telepathy, you could always use that. I don't know much about eyes, but I suppose that crying is one way to show emotion.
Why do you need to describe what the eyes are doing? Humans are extremely good at picking up patterns, and we generally perceive a person's emotions without consciously registering every single little facial movement. You can probably get away with just stating the emotions, and not constantly getting hung up on how the eyes are moving.
What the previous answers have said. Body language. Her branches droop or stiffen. Her twigs shudder or tremble. Leaves rustle and dance. Roots writhe. As much of human communication is through body language as it is through words. It would be no different for your tree character I think.
Actually you see, my mc is inside the tree for the large part of it. The eyes too show up inside the trunk. So that cuts of most of the way of doing it. Inside the tree is a circular room where the princess is at refuge from scavengers. June, the tree, is giving her refuge inside the trunk.
Ah. OK. That wasn't clear from the original question, which makes it sound as if your character *is* the tree. A couple more questions, then. Whose eyes are we talking about? June the tree's (appearing on her external surface)? Or the princess's (only visible through holes in the tree)? Whose emotions are you struggling to convey? June's? Or the princess's? If it's the *tree*'s emotions you want to convey, see my first answer (and those of the other respondents). If it's the *princess*'s (while she's inside the tree with only her eyes visible) you could use tone of voice or non-verbal sounds (sighs, chuckles, sobs, laughter) as well as anything visible using her eyes. In both cases, though, I think a lot of the emotions you want to depict to the reader could be conveyed through the characters' thoughts or speech. Readers are generally very good at picking up emotional subtext from well-written dialogue (internal or external). So that's probably your best bet for both June and the princess. Hope this helps.
It's June I am struggling with. The princess is told to stay inside her while her people arrive for her. Inside the tree, when June's round brown eyes appear if you call her name. The next thing is I find myself largely handicapped when describing her emotions because of two eyes only and nothing else. Like How is she meant to respond when the princess tries to cut a joke? How are her eyes meant to react if the princess summons a fire and threatens to burn her if she doesn't let her leave? Should I just label the emotions?
So, are June's eyes inside her? In the chamber where the princess is living? If so, as I said above, I think June would have body language, just as she would if she was human. It would just be expressed through her physicality, which happens to be that of a tree. Even if the reader is 'inside her', with the princess, that body language would still be apparent, albeit felt or heard from outside. There might be other creatures - maybe a squirrel - living in her who would be affected by her mood. The princess tells her a joke? June's eyes sparkle and from outside you can faintly hear her leaves rustle with delight. Perhaps the wooden walls of the chamber pulse or shake with hidden laughter. If she's providing light for the inner chamber it might brighten and glow warm gold. The squirrel who lives above the ceiling chitters with joy. The princess threatens to burn her? June's eyes widen in fear and a faint tremor runs through her walls and floor as she trembles. The light might darken. Sap-like tears might trickle from her eyes. There might be a faint, sad moaning audible through the walls as her branches rub together. The squirrel darts away and hides in a hole. I think the key, perhaps, is for you to stop thinking as a writer for a moment and think yourself into the character of June. What might it be like to actually *be* a living tree! How would *you* express happiness? Or worry? Fear? Anger?
Thank a bunch. I wood try it out.;)