Yes, I like sighs, specially combined with a smile or a frown to show which kind. Too much, really: one of those things I only see I've got three of in two pages when I read them aloud.

Emma

Isn't this a bit of a horses for courses issue? I can find a lot of writing very dead and if you put endless actions in it can make the text very overwrought and slow. This of course can suit some kinds of writing but for very snappy stuff it can ruin the rhythm, you don't necessarily want the reader to pause to work out how they are saying it - you want it to read fast like a script and adverbs can help. Also making it obvious from the dialogue can also be laboured. Sometimes it is pleasurable to have the dialogue more deadpan and the way it's said do the talking. "Yes" can have many different meanings, depending on how it's said. What's wrong with saying how it's said?

All these methods do add a certain "seriousness" to the writing style and I can see that, but what if you don't want your style to be "serious"? (Says she, looking at her farce.) Anyway...