Visceral reaction

A visceral reaction is "the body's immediate, involuntary responses to emotion": the stomach drop, the racing pulse, the heat that arrive before thought. The word "originally referred to the body's internal organs," and "the body reacts before the conscious mind fully understands what is happening" (Writers in the Storm). That lag is the technique: readers recognize the responses "from their own lives," so "a tightening throat or sudden rush of heat communicates emotional change quickly and naturally."

Craft gives it a fixed slot: PenUltimate Editorial's four stages of response run physiological, reflexive, emotional, rational, "in that order," the involuntary always first, so "write what happens fastest first." The traps are wear and mismatch: "be cautious when describing the visceral reactions of the head, eyes, heart, lungs, and stomach," the body parts invoked so often they go stale. In deep POV it pairs with interior monologue, body first, interpretation after; it is the inner face of body language.