Imagine yourself driving a car and and spotting someone on the sidewalk. You stop the car beside him and want him to get in the backseat. You say something like "Hey, get in." with a nod of head that indicates that you want the person to get in the back. It is 'the nod' that I am stuck with.

Also I know the same kind of gesture and motioning can be done with just eyes too but I don't know how to write it.

What I really want the reader to imagine is someone just briefly jerking their head in the direction of the back door. But that is not really possible if the person is driving the car. But it happens! In real life! I don't know if you even understand the question. But if you do, please help me write the scene.

I am including the actual piece that I wrote ( that I am sceptical about) below:

The car came to a halt beside me.

“Let's go for a ride,” he said, throwing a glance over his shoulder to the back. “Get in.”

  • 4
    Welcome to Writers Stack Exchange, @vedant! I'm sorry, but we do not accept questions asking "what to write" or reviewing. I've edited your question to make it fit SE standarts. Also, I heartily recommend you edit the question yourself and include a gif or link to a video of the gesture. It will make the question a lot easier to answer.
    – FFN
    Jan 7 '18 at 12:37
  • A hand gesture would be "waving in". For a head only move, I would rather call a "tilt" than a "nod".
    – Alexander
    Jan 8 '18 at 20:46

I'm glad you've included the "characters" tag, as that was the way I read the question and it makes it more a "how to write" than a "what to write".

"Throwing a glance" is fine, but you could also play with some other ideas :

Indicating the rear seat with a nod

or, if you don't like "nod" :

Inclining his head to indicate the rear seat


Twitching his head to indicate the rear seat

Which of those is best depends on Chirag's character and whether the head movement was slow or fast.

Tangential point, but it might add something to describe the way Chirag opened the rear door. If he reached around from the front seat to find a handle this might look ungainly, while if he got out of the car and held the door open it would look more polite - which might add another layer of menace. The way he did this - and the way he indicated the rear seat - will tell us something about his character.

[The last paragraph refers to the original form of the question - I agree that FFN's edit has made it more appropriate for the site.]
