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    The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression
    Unavailable
    The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression
    Unavailable
    The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression
    Ebook268 pages4 hours

    The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression

    By Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

    4.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    When it comes to writing fiction, emotion is key. In order to capture the reader’s empathy and allegiance, you must convey character emotion effectively. The Emotion Thesaurus is a tool that enables you to accomplish this by

    * highlighting 75 universal emotions and the internal and external cues associated with them.
    * identifying common emotion-related writing problems and how to overcome them.
    * suggesting logical escalations from one emotion to the next.
    * showing cues associated with acute and suppressed emotions.

    Authors, teachers, and students agree that The Emotion Thesaurus is a convenient and helpful resource for reaching past clichéd emotional phrases and coming up with fresh ways to express what their characters are feeling. Its user-friendly list format makes it easy to understand and easy to find exactly what you need.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAngela Ackerman
    Release dateApr 21, 2012
    ISBN9781476212456
    Unavailable
    The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression

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    Reviews for The Emotion Thesaurus

    4.5/5

    123 ratings18 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I am happy that I got this book. I intend to keep it close at hand, especially when writing emotionally charged scenes, as a reminder to show and not tell
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful resource for writers. I keep this book right next to my computer and routinely turn to it for insight and ideas when I am dealing with a character or scene.
    • 4/5
      I got this book quite a while ago and never added it to my shelves because it's not really a book you read. It's a reference tool. Recently though I've found myself recommending it to other writers and I realized that I should really add a review of this on good reads.

      So this is my review: get this book. If you are a writer, you should have this. I know what you're thinking, "Books about writing are usually so useless," and you'd be right. I've read enough of them to know that 99% of them are, in fact, useless. This is not one of those books. Stick this one next to The Writer's Journey and The Elements of Style. It's a keeper.
    • 5/5
      Great writing reference!
    • 3/5
      Helpful. Gives writer ideas how to vary body language.
    • 5/5
      I haven't actually "read" this book as much as I use it for reference pretty much every single weekday. It's pretty insightful, and I've used it to get out of some tight spots where I needed to show, not tell.
    • 5/5
      This is an essential resource that you will want to have with you every time you are writing. Full of good suggestions and ideas to breathe more life and believable variety into your writing.
    • 5/5
      An excellent resource I use almost every day as a novelist.
    • 4/5
      This book begins with several brief chapters emphasizing the importance of emotion in fiction and describing ways writers might convey the point-of-view character’s emotions to readers. However, most of the book is devoted to an alphabetically ordered list of emotions (e.g., agitation, denial, envy, and shame). The coverage of each emotion begins with a definition. For example, amazement is defined as overwhelming astonishment or wonder. That is followed by sections listing physical signals and behaviors associated with the named emotion, external sensations and mental responses characters might experience, acute or long-term reactions to emotions, and signs the emotion is being suppressed. Emotions characters might experience as the feeling escalates or de-escalates are listed. A list of associated power verbs and a writer’s tip conclude each narrative. For example, smell triggers memory, so include olfactory descriptors when a character feels curious.Many emotions are covered, as are signs and signals associated with them. However, the same content appears repeatedly for numerous emotions. That is realistic, of course, because human emotions overlap. For example, we feel some of the same sensations when excited or frightened. Writers will find it necessary to combine various emotions to simulate complex reactions in real life. For example, in a story I am writing, a man feels attracted to a woman but questions the appropriateness of his response and fears a romantic overture would be rejected.Readers seeking a list of plug-and-play examples will be disappointed. Instead, the Emotion Thesaurus is a valuable source of hints designed to stimulate authors thinking and provide suggestions that lead to a broad view of the emotions covered. It’s a helpful reference to keep handy.
    • 5/5
      Excellent resource for writers!
    • 2/5
      frankly I found it useless. YMMV.
    • 5/5
      This is a must for any author – experienced or new – wanting to make the emotional quality of their scenes sore. It is a practical tool that lists emotional states and gives possible reactions to each, both physical and psychological. I wish I’d had a copy of this book sooner!
    • 4/5
      I found this book extremely helpful when I want to get into the head of my character and describe what they are feeling without "telling" the reader. It covers a long list of emotions and how to describe them from various points of view.
    • 3/5
      There is some valuable info for writers here. I especially like the introductory pages (power of emotion, character research, dialogue, subtext, etc.), and the "associated power verbs" with every entry are fabulous as a resource.However, the editor in me wishes the entries were consistently nouns, rather than a mix of nouns, verbs, and adjectives (acceptance, appalled, conflicted . . .). There were some typos and, given that this is a second edition, those should have certainly been caught (e.g., giving "backhanding" compliments; and, in a roundabout "away").For each entry, there is a writer's tip. I wonder why each tip was not paired with the emotion shown on that page when possible (e.g., why is a tip about gratitude on the "pleased" page?). With more effort, many more connections could have been made. And some were simply too obvious (e.g., the reader will notice the difference between a character trudging up the stairs and bounding up, two at a time).At times, lines were repeated (e.g., in the "pleased" entry under "physical signals," we have "making strong eye contact with others" and then "strong eye contact" three lines down). Where are copyeditors these days? And in the case where copyediting jobs are almost nonexistent at some houses, why didn't the authors catch this? I was confused when the same emotion was listed under both "may escalate to" and "may de-escalate to" (e.g., "disillusionment" under both categories for the emotion "discouraged"). Yes, emotions can definitely be nuanced and not neatly fit under any one category, but it still felt odd. In addition, there were several instances where I would have moved a word to the opposite category (e.g., I would move "self-loathing" to escalated status under the "flustered" entry. I don't see how self-loathing would be a de-escalation in that case).There were omissions. Why are the "mental responses" for "longing" only negative? Longing can be positive. Why are the "acute or long-term responses" for "moved" all negative?And the book ended with "worthlessness." What about "worthiness"?Speaking of ending on a more upbeat note, I DID learn an awesome new word from this book: SCHADENFREUDE. Love that! Look it up. :-)
    • 5/5
      Definitely a must for every writer to help with that pesky show, don't tell. Give your characters greater depth by showing their mannerisms and letting the Reader react to the emotional clues.
    • 5/5
      I needed a concise way to look up alternatives to the same old tired:"Whatever," she shrugged. "Do what you want."This book gave me:"Whatever..." She looked past me as though I wasn't even there, her voice as flat and emotionless as a tombstone in winter. "Do what you want."The first sentence is fine when writing your rough draft, but when you're past-deadline and need to edit that chapter that is otherwise falling a little flat, this book will help you quickly add a little zing without going on a word-hunt through an entire library full of classics.
    • 5/5
      This is an essential resource that you will want to have with you every time you are writing. Full of good suggestions and ideas to breathe more life and believable variety into your writing.
    • 5/5
      Highly recommended, excellent guide for creating believable body language in your characters!