BOOK REVIEW: The Emotion Thesaurus, Writer's Guide to Character Expression
BOOK REVIEW: The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
Emotion vs. feeling. As writers of fiction, we need to understand the difference when creating character expression on the page. In Ackerman and Puglisi's second edition of The Emotion Thesaurus, they address the power of emotion in fiction. The whole point of the book is that 'readers don't want to be told how a character feels; they want to experience the emotion for themselves.' This book is a great addition to any writer’s resource library. It's a how-to and in-depth book on how writers can craft emotion on the page. The advice here is professional and precise, easy to follow, and explores some 130 emotions. For example, for the emotion of dread, they list all the physical signals and behaviors, internal sensations, mental responses, acute or long-term responses, signs of suppression, escalation, de-escalation, and associated power verbs. The authors cover dialogue, vocal cues, body language, thoughts, visceral reactions, backstory, emotional wounds, and subtext. I have other thesauruses by Ackerman and Puglisi, but this one is really their finest. I prefer the print version to the Kindle because it's great to have the book open on my desk for a wide view of the lists to jump-start me in exploring character motivation/reaction to discover the precise behavior that fits. Highly Recommended!
https://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2019...
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression
Emotion vs. feeling. As writers of fiction, we need to understand the difference when creating character expression on the page. In Ackerman and Puglisi's second edition of The Emotion Thesaurus, they address the power of emotion in fiction. The whole point of the book is that 'readers don't want to be told how a character feels; they want to experience the emotion for themselves.' This book is a great addition to any writer’s resource library. It's a how-to and in-depth book on how writers can craft emotion on the page. The advice here is professional and precise, easy to follow, and explores some 130 emotions. For example, for the emotion of dread, they list all the physical signals and behaviors, internal sensations, mental responses, acute or long-term responses, signs of suppression, escalation, de-escalation, and associated power verbs. The authors cover dialogue, vocal cues, body language, thoughts, visceral reactions, backstory, emotional wounds, and subtext. I have other thesauruses by Ackerman and Puglisi, but this one is really their finest. I prefer the print version to the Kindle because it's great to have the book open on my desk for a wide view of the lists to jump-start me in exploring character motivation/reaction to discover the precise behavior that fits. Highly Recommended!
https://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2019...
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression
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