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Creating Character Emotions
Sweaty palms. Butterflies in the stomach. Pacing back and forth. There is no doubt this character is nervous. But isn't there a more original, more vivid way to express this emotion? Absolutely. In this unique book, Ann Hood will help you find fresh, creative images, words and gestures to evoke feelings in your fiction. In 36 "mini-lessons, " Hood sheds new light on love, hate, fear, grief, guilt, hope, jealousy and other major emotions. Each lesson offers instruction on rendering that particular sentiment; "good" and "bad" examples illustrating how writers have succeeded and where others have gone wrong; and imaginative exercises for putting the feeling into words.
170 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 1998
14 people are currently reading
464 people want to read
About the author
Ann Hood
73 books1,282 followersAnn Hood is the editor of Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting and the bestselling author of The Book That Matters Most, The Knitting Circle, The Red Thread, Comfort, and An Italian Wife, among other works. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, a Best American Spiritual Writing Award, a Best American Food Writing Award, a Best American Travel Writing Award, and the Paul Bowles Prize for Short Fiction. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
October 4, 2017
Ann Hood does a marvelous job teaching how to write character emotions. In Part I, she talks of writing about emotions. She writes, "Emotions affect every other element of fiction--dialogue, action, character development, plot, theme." Furthermore, when writing an emotion, write the second choice or option. This way you can avoid cliches and melodrama.
In Part II, Ms. Hood provides 36 "mini-lessons." In each lesson is a short discussion on the emotion, followed by bad examples and good examples. Each lesson ends with exercises.
In Part II, Ms. Hood provides 36 "mini-lessons." In each lesson is a short discussion on the emotion, followed by bad examples and good examples. Each lesson ends with exercises.
July 24, 2021
This was recommended to me by a fancy magazine editor. It's full of useful quick info about emotions, what makes each one interesting and challenging to write, and examples of those emotions written badly (to pick them apart) and written well (to show how to do it). Useful book that turns into a good reference at the end for when I want help writing about the difference between fondness and desire or despair and sorrow.
November 28, 2015
“I leave a lot out when I tell the truth. The same when I write a story.” –Amy Hempel
A quick and potentially useful reference guide; one which needn’t be read in order. Each chapter references a single emotion and is made up of an introduction, a listing of bad examples, good examples, and Exercises composed of 3 objectives. (The aim being to successfully evoke emotions in readers with a sort of indirect subtly. )
Despite its age, this book has a number of timeless and valuable contributions to offer. The recurring theme can be distilled down to trusting your characters and following them on their emotional journey—taking care to move up the character development ladder “emotional rung by emotional rung.” The emphasis on avoiding clichés and ambiguity reminded this reader of a Margie Lawson workshop—and I mean that in the best way possible.
Note: The author seemed to have a fondness for the works of Amy Tan, and this reader found it helped my grasp of the good examples to have read The Joy Luck Club prior to picking up this craft book.
The author had particularly good insight into conveying anxiety—something I’m not personally prone to but see often in others to a crippling degree. On the downside, this relatively short read sometimes felt a bit padded. Certain emotions came so close to each other as to be essentially redundant: i.e. Anxiety vs. Worry, Fondness vs. Tenderness, Hate vs. Revenge.
A quick and potentially useful reference guide; one which needn’t be read in order. Each chapter references a single emotion and is made up of an introduction, a listing of bad examples, good examples, and Exercises composed of 3 objectives. (The aim being to successfully evoke emotions in readers with a sort of indirect subtly. )
Despite its age, this book has a number of timeless and valuable contributions to offer. The recurring theme can be distilled down to trusting your characters and following them on their emotional journey—taking care to move up the character development ladder “emotional rung by emotional rung.” The emphasis on avoiding clichés and ambiguity reminded this reader of a Margie Lawson workshop—and I mean that in the best way possible.
Note: The author seemed to have a fondness for the works of Amy Tan, and this reader found it helped my grasp of the good examples to have read The Joy Luck Club prior to picking up this craft book.
The author had particularly good insight into conveying anxiety—something I’m not personally prone to but see often in others to a crippling degree. On the downside, this relatively short read sometimes felt a bit padded. Certain emotions came so close to each other as to be essentially redundant: i.e. Anxiety vs. Worry, Fondness vs. Tenderness, Hate vs. Revenge.
September 16, 2009
In the Show, Don't Tell world of writing, having your characters express emotions through good writing can be difficult. Characters can only wring their hands and furrow their brows so many times. Having them express complex emotions through thoughts and actions takes considerable thought, practice and advice from other writers.
This book, however, is not one to read if you're in need of serious help.
I gave this book a quick read-through at my local bookstore and was very unimpressed. Still, when I found it at my local university library I picked it up and decided to give it another chance. Maybe my first impressions had been garnered through the quickness of my read-through and there might be some good advice to be found after all. Not the case, not at all.
The author breaks her book down into short chapters (4 or 5 pages at the most), each one given to a specific emotion. The bad examples are awful examples; the good examples are culled from a variety of sources, but she uses single paragraphs that simply do not do any of the emotions justice. All emotions are treated in an equally breezy, slap-dash way that do very little to help a writer who needs some guidance on having a character express any of them.
Very disappointing.
This book, however, is not one to read if you're in need of serious help.
I gave this book a quick read-through at my local bookstore and was very unimpressed. Still, when I found it at my local university library I picked it up and decided to give it another chance. Maybe my first impressions had been garnered through the quickness of my read-through and there might be some good advice to be found after all. Not the case, not at all.
The author breaks her book down into short chapters (4 or 5 pages at the most), each one given to a specific emotion. The bad examples are awful examples; the good examples are culled from a variety of sources, but she uses single paragraphs that simply do not do any of the emotions justice. All emotions are treated in an equally breezy, slap-dash way that do very little to help a writer who needs some guidance on having a character express any of them.
Very disappointing.
April 22, 2008
An excellent book on writing, with lots of concrete suggestions for writing specific emotions. My only complaint is that the author heavily references her own work, using it as "good examples" of how to write emotion. I've never read any of her novels, and from the excerpts given, I don't feel any interest in reading them. She does reference others' work as well, but I wish she had done more of that, and tooted her own horn a little less. Otherwise, a stellar tool!
June 21, 2016
This book was published in 1996 and some of the examples felt slightly out-dated. I wish there would be a newer version of the book because it's really, really great. I definitely recommend it as a tool for writers looking to grow their 'show, don't tell' skills.
May 9, 2012
In Creating Character Emotions, author Ann Hood makes the argument we’ve heard so many times before (not that it isn’t worth repeating): show your characters emotions rather than telling about them. Each chapter is devoted to one emotion (36 in all). Many reviewers on Amazon complain that the chapters are too brief and lack any in-depth look at the issues.
My complaint: the Bad vs. Good examples she offers — telling vs. showing — hardly distinguish themselves from one another, and often the very things Ms. Hood criticizes in the bad examples show up in the good examples. Take “sadness”. As a bad example she offers this:
“Sadness filled Jessie. She looked at the empty house one last time, then slowly drove away.”
Then, as a “good” example she offers this, from Max Apple’s short story “Bridging”:
“We both think about what might have been as we sit beside her glass coffee pot with out lists of sachet supplies. [...] If she was Barbara Streisand and I was Robert Redford and the music started playing [...] we might just fade into middle age together. When Kay looked at me before going to put alcohol on the mosquito bite, our mutual sadness dripped from us like the last drops of coffee through the grinds.”
Frankly, such hokey similes make me yearn for “Sadness filled Jessie.”
Another problem here is that there is no context provided for the bad examples. What if we know that Jessie is a psychopath and the “empty” house is actually filled with the freshly dead bodies of her own family? “Sadness filled Jessie” would pack a chilling punch in that case.
Kurt Vonnegut made this point in his essay “How to Write with Style”, in the section “Keep it Simple”:
“[James] Joyce, when he was frisky, could put together a sentence as intricate and as glittering as a necklace for Cleopatra, but my favorite sentence in his short story ‘Eveline’ is this one: ‘She was tired.’ At that point in the story, no other words could break the heart of a reader as those three words do.”
So, “Sadness filled Jessie” is meaningless as an example of bad writing. I think the book suffers from these synthetic examples, and they should have been left out.
Still, Ms. Hood’s book serves a purpose, if unintentionally. As writers — indeed, as human beings — we struggle to understand a character’s emotions well enough to describe them. I think this is because emotion is not a single feeling, but many simultaneous ones, and, after all, there are no clear boundaries between them.
By providing this catalog of 36 emotions — Anger, Anxiety, Despair, Longing, Passion, etc. — she allows the writer to ask him- or herself questions such as “Is this character’s longing colored by passion, or by despair?” “Is this character’s worry rooted in love, or in jealousy?” So, ironically, I have found that this breaking-out of emotions into separate chapters has allowed me to zoom in more closely on a character’s feelings.
Which, after all, is the point of the book.
Bottom Line
Useful, if not in the way the author intended. Beyond the list of 36 emotions in the table of contents, not much content.
jefferycotton.com
My complaint: the Bad vs. Good examples she offers — telling vs. showing — hardly distinguish themselves from one another, and often the very things Ms. Hood criticizes in the bad examples show up in the good examples. Take “sadness”. As a bad example she offers this:
“Sadness filled Jessie. She looked at the empty house one last time, then slowly drove away.”
Then, as a “good” example she offers this, from Max Apple’s short story “Bridging”:
“We both think about what might have been as we sit beside her glass coffee pot with out lists of sachet supplies. [...] If she was Barbara Streisand and I was Robert Redford and the music started playing [...] we might just fade into middle age together. When Kay looked at me before going to put alcohol on the mosquito bite, our mutual sadness dripped from us like the last drops of coffee through the grinds.”
Frankly, such hokey similes make me yearn for “Sadness filled Jessie.”
Another problem here is that there is no context provided for the bad examples. What if we know that Jessie is a psychopath and the “empty” house is actually filled with the freshly dead bodies of her own family? “Sadness filled Jessie” would pack a chilling punch in that case.
Kurt Vonnegut made this point in his essay “How to Write with Style”, in the section “Keep it Simple”:
“[James] Joyce, when he was frisky, could put together a sentence as intricate and as glittering as a necklace for Cleopatra, but my favorite sentence in his short story ‘Eveline’ is this one: ‘She was tired.’ At that point in the story, no other words could break the heart of a reader as those three words do.”
So, “Sadness filled Jessie” is meaningless as an example of bad writing. I think the book suffers from these synthetic examples, and they should have been left out.
Still, Ms. Hood’s book serves a purpose, if unintentionally. As writers — indeed, as human beings — we struggle to understand a character’s emotions well enough to describe them. I think this is because emotion is not a single feeling, but many simultaneous ones, and, after all, there are no clear boundaries between them.
By providing this catalog of 36 emotions — Anger, Anxiety, Despair, Longing, Passion, etc. — she allows the writer to ask him- or herself questions such as “Is this character’s longing colored by passion, or by despair?” “Is this character’s worry rooted in love, or in jealousy?” So, ironically, I have found that this breaking-out of emotions into separate chapters has allowed me to zoom in more closely on a character’s feelings.
Which, after all, is the point of the book.
Bottom Line
Useful, if not in the way the author intended. Beyond the list of 36 emotions in the table of contents, not much content.
jefferycotton.com
August 20, 2021
I've read this book all the way through at least three times now, and who knows how many more in bits and pieces. It's like a comforting presence to have on hand when working on something new. And, as if my gimmick, I've arranged my sentiments into a haiku:
"Opinions may clash,
But when stuck, it can help to
Read hard and fast rules."
"Opinions may clash,
But when stuck, it can help to
Read hard and fast rules."
April 6, 2008
Normally I don’t go for these technique specific books, but this one is really quite good. What makes it good is that Hood breaks the chapters down into recognizable emotions such as anger, frustration, and resentment, and then provides example of what she considers good and bad ways to portray those emotions. It was an eye-opener. Some of the bad examples didn’t seem that bad to me until she explained why they were bad. And some of the good examples didn’t seem that good until she explained why. Suffice to say I learned a lot. The good examples had subtlety or indirection in common. As for the bad examples, well the cliches were easy to spot, but what caught my attention was how clear expression of an emotion often didn’t work. She explains this by reference to the blending of emotions and the progression of emotions, how we often don’t feel just one emotion, or how we move through frustration to anger to guilt. That made a lot sense to me. She offers one general technique: create your character’s emotional arc just like you would create an arc for character development. You can use that technique for an entire novel as well as each scene. The book also has exercises at the end of each chapter to help you write about each emotion, or more usefully, how to write in a way that distinguishes between similar or related emotions, such as feeling alone versus feeling lonely (that’s in the chapter on loneliness).
August 20, 2009
A book for writers, with examples of bad ways and good ways to depict a wide variety of emotions. It was interesting, but when I read several of the examples, I found myself wondering if my son gets even more of his autism from me than I’d thought — I couldn’t see why a particular sample showed that particular emotion, or I got an entirely different emotion from the passage than she did. This one isn’t going to be terribly useful for me, so I’m glad I checked it out from the library.
March 21, 2015
I enjoyed the examples. A good basic book for someone learning to write.
December 25, 2019
The first section of the book presents ideas in general for writing about emotion. The author mentions ways to break through to our own emotions so we can draw on personal experiences. More handy tips fall in the category of writing authentic emotions. We need to remember point of view (POV) when creating character emotions. And the author says we can sometimes best show emotions in characters using dialogue.
The second section of the book deals with specific emotions. From anger and confusion to fear and longing. Included in that section also are exercises to use the suggestions in each section as well as some 'good' and 'bad' examples of showing a character's emotions.
Let's face it, we may not pay attention while reading fiction to how emotions are expressed. But we somehow notice even if just as a weird feeling that something's missing. This book says how important it is to make sure the reader can relate to characters because emotions just can't be denied.
The second section of the book deals with specific emotions. From anger and confusion to fear and longing. Included in that section also are exercises to use the suggestions in each section as well as some 'good' and 'bad' examples of showing a character's emotions.
Let's face it, we may not pay attention while reading fiction to how emotions are expressed. But we somehow notice even if just as a weird feeling that something's missing. This book says how important it is to make sure the reader can relate to characters because emotions just can't be denied.
December 13, 2014
I've read a lot of books on the craft of writing, and most of them mention the value in writing convincing, emotional, characters, but usually only in vague terms. Ann Hood uses this entire book to explore the various emotions a character may feel and gives you both good and bad examples of how to write each one. After a general introduction, the book is split into chapters, with each chapter a different emotion. The chapter starts off with a quick - often comical - anecdote from Hood's personal experience that deals with said emotion. Then you get 3-4 "bad" examples of how to write that emotion, followed by 3-4 "good" examples. The chapter ends with 3 exercises for you to try out yourself to explore writing about that particular emotion.
I loved the "examples" portion of the chapters! I appreciate that Hood took the time to explain why each example was good or bad and think this would be tremendously helpful to any writer - beginner to veteran. Although I didn't do every exercise, I have a lot of them highlighted. These would also work great as writing prompts for anyone who wants to get daily writing in, but may not have a current work in progress.
The only thing I would've liked to see changed was the fact that the emotions were arranged alphabetically. This is a minor thing, but I would've preferred that the emotions be broken up by similar feelings (ie: happy emotions together, sad ones together, angry...etc). Although, I can't argue with the fact that if you're using this as a reference and writing craft tool - which I intend to do, now that I've read the whole thing - the alphabetical arrangement will make it simpler to locate the individual emotion you want to read up on.
If you haven't come across this, yet, give it a try. If you're a writer and have a current work in progress, I dare you to NOT be inspired by this book. I know it's given me some great ideas of how I can bring my character's emotions more to life on the page.
I loved the "examples" portion of the chapters! I appreciate that Hood took the time to explain why each example was good or bad and think this would be tremendously helpful to any writer - beginner to veteran. Although I didn't do every exercise, I have a lot of them highlighted. These would also work great as writing prompts for anyone who wants to get daily writing in, but may not have a current work in progress.
The only thing I would've liked to see changed was the fact that the emotions were arranged alphabetically. This is a minor thing, but I would've preferred that the emotions be broken up by similar feelings (ie: happy emotions together, sad ones together, angry...etc). Although, I can't argue with the fact that if you're using this as a reference and writing craft tool - which I intend to do, now that I've read the whole thing - the alphabetical arrangement will make it simpler to locate the individual emotion you want to read up on.
If you haven't come across this, yet, give it a try. If you're a writer and have a current work in progress, I dare you to NOT be inspired by this book. I know it's given me some great ideas of how I can bring my character's emotions more to life on the page.
July 5, 2016
Ann Hood's book serves as a guide for writers, journalists, and playwrights on how to capture and express in words even the most complex emotional states. Wow. I'm keeping this book in the reference section of my book shelves for easy reach. I have heard Ann Hood speak at writer's conferences and she is just as impressive in person as in this fine book at teaching the finer points of characterization. Thank you, thank you, for this labor of love.
August 21, 2012
This book helped me think more creatively about the emotions of my characters in "Rising Hope". The author provides 36 "mini-lessons" on how to convey characters' varied emotions such as love, hate, fear, grief, guilt, hope, and jealousy. Hood's book helped me zero in on my main character's primary emotion of loneliness/loss, and how to use this emotion to move the story along.
January 17, 2014
This is an excellent book that gives great tips for how to create real emotions and avoid the cliches. I don't follow the exercises rigidly but it's a great tool to help you get started. It's also a good device to use when you are writing a story and need help when trying to write "melodramatic" scenes without actually coming off melodramatic.
October 12, 2016
Excellent resource that I'll be keeping nearby when I write. Made me consider aspects of certain emotions I'd not thought of. Time wise, I only picked up the book a couple of times to read so it could've easily been read faster.
December 18, 2009
I recommend this book frequently. It's a starting point, a primer rather than a manual, on how to use action and other narrative elements to suggest character emotion.
January 9, 2010
A re-read. One of the pivotal books from when I was learning to write. Still good.
May 1, 2011
excellent how-to primer
June 26, 2018
I usually don't post a review when I dislike a book, but I wanted to pass on one comment. All through this book, I could not escape the feeling that it was written with middle school beginning writers in mind. In fact, if it had been marketed as such, I probably would not have read it in the first place. That being said, the author's approach is as follows: 1) she tells you a little about the emotion, 2) she cites examples of bad writing expressing that emotion, 3) she gives you examples of good writing expressing the emotion, and 4) she gives you a writing assignment using the emotion. All four parts of each section are so simplistic as to be funny in many places. In addition, some of the bad examples are actually better than some of the good examples. Some of the good examples make you cry out in ***frustration***
May 3, 2022
I've had this book for years and return to it over and over again for inspiration. It's fairly short, but the book is so much more than just a quick, one time read. Hood's examples are a treasure trove of show-don't-tell passages from literature. They teach creativity through example. For instance, whenever I find myself returning to the same old cliches to describe a certain emotion I'll pick up this book, reread her examples of "good ways" to show that emotion, and before I know it the dormant creativity inside me will spring to life, inspiring new scenes and episodes for my characters. A few years ago when we moved, I cleared my writing shelf of all but a handful of writing books. This is one of the few I kept.
January 12, 2019
This is a pretty good book, especially for beginning and/or intermediate writers. Lots of information with easy to follow exercises at the end of each chapter.
I do use actual psychology text books for more accurate, detailed descriptions of character and their emotional life, but this is nice reading, too.
Also, writers don't have to complete the exercises right away or all at once. Just choose the emotion(s) that is needed to suit a particular character at a particular time in the story.
I do use actual psychology text books for more accurate, detailed descriptions of character and their emotional life, but this is nice reading, too.
Also, writers don't have to complete the exercises right away or all at once. Just choose the emotion(s) that is needed to suit a particular character at a particular time in the story.
August 29, 2018
Hood's complaint about the "bad" example in the "Forgiveness" chapter that features the characters Spalding and Hank is that it begs for context. There is no rational reason why she would have taken a scene out of context and then complained that it begged for context. The only logical reason for this is that that must have been a self-contained scene that one of the students in her creative writing classes must have written in response to a prompt that she had written on the board--presumably asking her students to write a scene in which a character experiences forgiveness of another character.
In fact, to me, it read as though all of the "bad" examples had been drawn from her student's responses to this assignment, with the prompt being whatever emotion she discussed in the chapter in which she included them. I found it difficult to believe that many of the bad examples could have been taken from an actual full-fledged story that anyone had written. It's considerably easier to portray an emotion in a character that you have spent a whole story building than it is to just pull one out of thin air. I felt that many of the bad examples were too bad to learn very much from, and that critiquing them was like shooting fish in a barrel. So that was a part that could have been made more pedagogically effective for the people reading this book.
However, I did learn a good deal from the good examples that the author used, hence my three stars.
In fact, to me, it read as though all of the "bad" examples had been drawn from her student's responses to this assignment, with the prompt being whatever emotion she discussed in the chapter in which she included them. I found it difficult to believe that many of the bad examples could have been taken from an actual full-fledged story that anyone had written. It's considerably easier to portray an emotion in a character that you have spent a whole story building than it is to just pull one out of thin air. I felt that many of the bad examples were too bad to learn very much from, and that critiquing them was like shooting fish in a barrel. So that was a part that could have been made more pedagogically effective for the people reading this book.
However, I did learn a good deal from the good examples that the author used, hence my three stars.
March 19, 2019
This book is very thorough, and very worth reading a second time, and then going back through each set of emotions with your Work In Progress, to edit scene by scene for the desired effects in each scene. So, that is exactly what I plan to do when I finish my first or second draft of my current WIP.
October 23, 2017
Emotion thesaurus is better.
January 6, 2016
I’d recommend this book for anyone that struggles with putting their character’s emotions into writing. It’s easy to grab cliches and it’s easier to tell verses show, but what sets great writers apart is their ability to help the readers feel and experience what the characters do. We can do for easy writing or we can go for life-impacting writing. The choice is ours to make each time we sit down to pen or type our next novel. While I didn’t care for all the examples used (not my reading preferences), I do believe that Creating Character Emotions can help you achieve a better level of writing from page one to the end. My rating for this book is 3.8 stars. For my full review please visit http://p413life.com/book-review-creat...
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July 20, 2022
I found this book by surprise at a library sale, and it's become an unexpected but valuable resource for me in my writing process. I refrence this book constantly. When I get stuck, or a scene I'm writing just isn't working, it's often because I can't tune in to what my characters are feeling or how that emotional tension should be expressed. This book is a life line for me in those moments. It covers a wide variety of possible emotions coupled with good and bad examples. Every section explains how to write each emotion without defaulting to clichés. Truly an underrated and excellent read.
August 14, 2007
This book covers about twenty basic emotions, from love to fear to hate, explaining the essence of each and providing several passages as examples. Unfortunately, as you can usually feel the emotion of a passage only in the larger context of a story, it is a little difficult to appreciate what each example is trying to achieve without that context in place. Nevertheless, you can glean some clues about creating character emotions from them.
August 2, 2012
It's been a while since I've done a lot of writing, but I know enough about writing to know that this book is almost completely useless. Several of the things on the "bad example" lists can be correct, if done properly, and a lot of the things on the "good example" lists are really not that good. The one thing that MAY be useful about this book is the writing exercises, but even those are kind of meh. In conclusion - worst book about writing I've read yet.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews