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

I'm a very visual person. I love movies. I love bright colors. I love watching people (not as a creeper). So I looooooooove seeing emotion. One of the things I enjoy the most is watching people being human--experiencing emotion. So when I'm writing a scene, I always ask myself, "If I were an actor, how would I portray this?"It's funny how you'll get a pile of books that have similarities that bug you. This week, it's books where the author attempted to show the non-verbal indicators of emotion, but did so using major indicators. Frustration was shown by "flinging her body onto the bed and throwing her stuffed bear across the room with a wild screech". Oh yeah. I got that I was supposed to be frustrated, but I also felt like I was two years old. This particular heroine wasn't immature. She was supposed to be quiet, withdrawn, subdued. That's not subdued.My personal opinion is that these are authors trying to show and not tell, but who are still trying to figure out the best way to do that. I recommend The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglist. I'm not saying this because I'm making any money on the link. I'm not. This book was actually very helpful even to me. I say this with a note of surprise because I am so very visual and I have my own internal journal of visual emotion indicators. This book goes into the physical signs of someone you're watching. This is great for first person and third person limited because you can convey by watching. Let's go to frustration for example.If I had Synn (my mc inFall of Sky City (A Steampunk Fantasy Sci-Fi Adventure Novel) (Devices of War)) talking to Joshua who was frustrated with me, I could have Joshua do the following:-narrow eyes in Synn's direction and pinch the lips together-tap his fingers against the table staring at something that's pointedly not Synn-Give an impatient snort or sneerNow, if Joshua were really hot--because he does have a hot temper--he could do something more dramatic.-swear at Synn-get up and start pacing, gesturing wildly-claw the hands and then relax themThese are all straight from the Emotion Thesaurus. Now, you can scoff, if you like, but if you're one of the authors who hasn't figured this out yet, I'm going to laugh maniacally at you as I review your book. Now, here it is, all put together."Joshua raised his clawed hands, his lips pinched in frustration, before he turned away, his hands relaxed at his sides."The Emotion Thesaurus also goes into the internal sensations and the mental responses, and they go into signs of acute or long-term emotions. It's a really fantastic tool I wish more authors were using!

Writing, as those in this craft know, is about balance and story. Balance the right amount of beats, dialogue, pacing, IM, imagery, description, backstory, characterization, location, etc. Admittedly, I get lazy and fall back on the tried and true in telling...especially conveying emotions. Heck, sharing them to someone else is hard; writing them? Harder yet without sounding corny, overblown, overdone, hoaky. You know, back in the day of daytime soaps and "Jerry Springer" takes their place now, LOL.I found THE EMOTION THESAURUS: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO CHARACTER EXPRESSION quite by accident. Stuck on how my cast should convey their elation, joy, frustration or guilt at different moments in my near-polished first novel, this book puts the intangible emotions in your hands and in your writing in concise, shirtsleeve terms. The section of "Techniques for Nonverbal Cues" is a gem with tips and tricks to not let your writing creep into the melodramatic stage, which I freely admit I sometimes do. Ackerman and Puglisi do a stellar job in showing how to depict guilt ("joking to lighten a mood") we'd rely on; or disgust ("spitting or throwing up") in someone or something.It's about body language, really, and emotions are hard as heck to hide through a physical or verbal motion. This reference, akin to people watching for fascinating verbal and nonverbal cues in a venue like Union Square in NYC or Market Street in Philly, can really nail for your cast their visceral reactions why they react as they do--and letting you take your reader where you wanted them to go. Since having this purchase, I reference this book frequently to convey what the characters' intentions are...and sometimes my own to channel it for them.It's hard work writing this tight and with this level of imagery, but in the end, your job is to churn your readers' imaginations as this book will do yours. My two faults--one technical, maybe, the other content: as a Kindle version, the TOC tends to go capital letters if you go back to the beginning; when you're in the middle of the emotion list you searched for, it reverts to lowercase. I find the latter easier to read in this form, however. The second: numbness is an emotion. If you aren't feeling anything, you're feeling that nonfeeling. And having posted this in the wake of the horrific events in Newtown, CT, Aurora, CO, and the mall in Ore., this reference would've been perfect to find something to nail down for me how my soul felt to this harrowing news. Words can't convey this level of sadness to the point where your soul cries. Sensing a void so spawning within, time alone is its only competitor in length. We've all experienced this, and some have used this for their writing. I have, and will again.Or it could be this level of despair doesn't have words to name it as "Despair" does in this book. It comes close, but even this emotion in your soul needs to not be described, and left alone for time to heal.Excellent book. I highly recommend it, and it's listed for a great price.