Angela Ackerman

Becca Puglisi

"One of the biggest problem areas for writers is conveying emotion to the reader in a unique, compelling way. When showing our characters' feelings, we often grab onto the first idea that comes to mind, and our characters end up smiling, shrugging, nodding, and frowning far too much. Need some inspiration to get you beyond the basics? Inside The Emotion Thesaurus, you'll find: emotion entires that list body language, thoughts, and visceral responses for each, a breakdown of the biggest emotion-related writing problems and how to overcome them, body language and action cues that address both acute and suppressed forms of emotion, suggestions for each emotion that cover a range of intensity, from mild to extreme, description tips on emotion, dialogue, characters, and setting. Now expanded to include 55 new entries"--

A Writer's Guide to Character Expression

The Emotion Thesaurus

"So how can writers figure out which flaws best fit their characters? Which negative traits will create personality clashes and conflict while making success difficult? Nothing adds complexity like character flaws. Inside the Negative Trait Thesaurus you'll find a vast collection of flaws to explore when building a character's personality, advice on building layered and memorable characters from the ground up, an in-depth look at backstory, emotional wounds, and how pain twists a character's view of himself, and his world, influencing behavior and decision making, a flaw-centric exploration of character arc, relationships, motivation, and basic needs, tips on how to best show a character's flaws to readers while avoiding common pitfalls, and downloadable tools to aid writers in character creation."--

A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws

The Negative Trait Thesaurus

Of all the formative experiences in a character¿s past, none are more destructive than emotional wounds. The aftershocks of trauma can change who they are, alter what they believe, and sabotage their ability to achieve meaningful goals, all of which will affect the trajectory of a story. Enter The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, which explores over 100 possible traumatic experiences from a character¿s past and how they can impact the character in the present. Armed with this unique resource, authors will be able to root their characters in reality by giving them an authentic wound that causes difficulties and prompts them to strive for inner growth to overcome it.

A Writer's Guide to Psychological Trauma

The Emotional Wound Thesaurus

Within the pages of a book lives a place of a writer's imagining, one that has the ability to pull readers in on a visceral level. But the audience's emotional fascination will only last if the author is able to describe this vibrant world and its inhabitants well. The setting is the unique story element that brings together characters and events. So much more than stage dressing, the setting is able to evoke mood, provide unique challenges that force the hero to acknowledge his faults and fight for what he wants, and hold a mirror up to his emotions, peeling back the layers of his most intimate feelings, fears, and desires.

A Writer's Guide to Personal and Natural Places

The Rural Setting Thesaurus

Making readers care and feel like they're part of the story should be the number one goal for all writers. Ironically, many storytellers fail to maximize one of fiction's most powerful elements to achieve this: the setting. Not only can the right location become a conduit for emotion, it can also provide conflict, characterize the story's cast, reveal significant backstory, and trigger the reader's own emotional memories through sensory details and deep point of view. Inside The Urban Thesaurus, you'll find: A list of the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds for over 120 urban settings Possible sources of conflict for each location to help you brainstorm ways to naturally complicate matters for your characters Advice on how to make every piece of description count so you can maintain the right pace and keep readers engaged Tips on utilizing the five senses to encourage readers to more fully experience each moment by triggering their own emotional memories Information on how to use the setting to characterize a story's cast through personalization and emotional values while using emotional triggers to steer their decisions A review of specific challenges that arise when writing urban locations, along with common descriptive pitfalls that should be avoided Downloadable tools to help you plan each setting so you can choose the right one for a scene, providing the biggest storytelling punch The Urban Setting Thesaurus helps you tailor each setting to your characters while creating a realistic, textured world readers will long to return to, even after the book closes.

A Writer's Guide to City Spaces

The Urban Setting Thesaurus

A Writer's Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles

Conflict Thesaurus

Every story starts with a character who is motivated by a need and has a goal that can resolve it. Whether their objective is to find a life partner, bring a killer to justice, overthrow a cruel regime, or something else, conflict transforms a story premise into something fresh. Physical obstacles, adversaries, moral dilemmas, deep-seated doubts and personal struggles…these not only block a character’s external progress, they become a gateway for internal growth. The right conflict will build tension and high stakes, challenge characters as they traverse their arcs, and most importantly, keep readers emotionally invested from beginning to end. Inside Volume 1 of The Conflict Thesaurus, you’ll find: * A myriad of conflict options in the form of relationship friction, failures and mistakes, moral dilemmas and temptations, pressure and ticking clocks, and no-win scenarios * An analysis of each scenario that maps out possible complications and catastrophes, internal struggles, and the stressful impacts on a character’s basic human needs * Guidance on using conflict to influence your protagonist's character arc through opportunities for failure and success * Master class instruction on internal conflict: what it is, why it's important, and how to incorporate it at the scene and story levels * Information about the role conflict plays in generating high stakes that are personally significant to the character, upping the tension for readers * A breakdown of the various adversaries your character might encounter along the way Don't give your character a break. Keep the hits coming with a variety of obstacles that will force them to work harder to get what they want. With over 100 entries arranged in a user-friendly format, The Conflict Thesaurus is the guide you need to write intense and satisfying fiction readers won’t forget.

The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Volume 1)

Making readers care and feel like they’re part of the story should be the number one goal of all writers. Ironically, many storytellers fail to maximize one of fiction’s most powerful elements to achieve this: the setting. Rather than being a simple backdrop against which events unfold, every location has the potential to become a conduit for conveying emotion, characterizing the cast, providing opportunities for deep point of view, and revealing significant backstory. Inside this volume, you will find: • A list of the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds for over 120 urban settings • Possible sources of conflict for each location to help you brainstorm ways to naturally complicate matters for your characters • Advice on how to make every piece of description count so you can maintain the right pace and keep readers engaged • Tips on utilizing the five senses to encourage readers to more fully experience each moment by triggering their own emotional memories • Information on how to use the setting to characterize a story’s cast through personalization and emotional values while using emotional triggers to steer their decisions • A review of specific challenges that arise when choosing an urban location, along with common descriptive pitfalls that should be avoided The Urban Setting Thesaurus helps you tailor each setting to your characters while creating a realistic, textured world your readers will long to return to, even after the book closes.

The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to City Spaces

Within the pages of a book exists a world drawn from a writer’s deepest imaginings, one that has the ability to pull readers in on a visceral level. But the audience’s fascination will only last if the writer can describe this vibrant realm and its inhabitants well. The setting achieves this by offering readers a unique sensory experience. So much more than stage dressing, the setting can build mood, convey meaning through symbolism, drive the plot by creating challenges that force the hero to fight for what he wants, and trigger his emotions to reveal his most intimate feelings, fears, and desires. Inside this volume you will find: • A list of the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds for over 100 settings revolving around school, home, and nature • Possible sources of conflict for each location to help you brainstorm ways to naturally complicate matters for your characters • Advice on the many effective ways to build mood, helping you steer both the character’s and readers’ emotions in every scene • Information on how the setting directly influences the plot by acting as a tuning fork for what a character needs most and by testing his dedication to his goals • A tutorial on figurative language and how different descriptive techniques can bring settings alive for readers while conveying a symbolic message or deeper meaning • A review of the challenges that arise when writing description, as well as special considerations that apply specifically to rural and personal settings The Rural Setting Thesaurus takes “show-don’t-tell” to new heights. It offers writers a roadmap to creating fresh setting imagery that impacts the story on multiple levels and keeps readers engaged from the first page to the last.

The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Personal and Natural Places

It’s a writer’s job to create compelling characters who can withstand life’s fallout without giving up. But building authentic, memorable heroes is no easy task. To forge realistic characters, we must hobble them with flaws that set them back while giving them positive attributes to help them achieve their goals. So how do writers choose the right blend of strengths for their characters—attributes that will render them admirable and worth rooting for—without making it too easy for them to succeed? Character creation can be hard, but it’s about to get a lot easier. Inside The Positive Trait Thesaurus, you’ll find: * A large selection of attributes to choose from when building a personality profile. Each entry lists possible causes for why a trait might emerge, along with associated attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions * Real character examples from literature, film, or television to show how an attribute drives actions and decisions, influences goals, and steers relationships * Advice on using positive traits to immediately hook readers while avoiding common personality pitfalls * Insight on human needs and morality, and how each determines the strengths that emerge in heroes and villains alike * Information on the key role positive attributes play within the character arc, and how they’re vital to overcoming fatal flaws and achieving success * Downloadable tools for organizing a character’s attributes and providing a deeper understanding of his past, his needs, and the emotional wounds he must overcome If you find character creation difficult or worry that your cast members all seem the same, The Positive Trait Thesaurus is brimming with ideas to help you develop one-of-a-kind, dynamic characters that readers will love. Extensively indexed, with entries written in a user-friendly list format, this brainstorming resource is perfect for any character creation project.

The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes

Crafting likable, interesting characters is a balancing act, and finding that perfect mix of strengths and weaknesses can be difficult. Not only does a well-drawn protagonist need positive attributes to help him succeed, he must also have flaws that humanize him and give him something to overcome. The same is true of villains and the rest of the story’s supporting cast. So how can writers figure out which flaws best fit their characters? Which negative traits will create personality clashes and conflict while making success difficult? Nothing adds complexity like character flaws. Inside The Negative Trait Thesaurus you’ll find: * A vast collection of flaws to explore when building a character’s personality. Each entry includes possible causes, attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and related emotions * Real examples from literature, film, or television to show how each flaw can create life challenges and relational friction * Advice on building layered and memorable characters from the ground up * An in-depth look at backstory, emotional wounds, and how pain twists a character’s view of himself and his world, influencing behavior and decision making * A flaw-centric exploration of character arc, relationships, motivation, and basic needs * Tips on how to best show a character’s flaws to readers while avoiding common pitfalls * Downloadable tools to aid writers in character creation The Negative Trait Thesaurus sheds light on your character’s dark side. Written in list format and fully indexed, this brainstorming resource is perfect for creating deep, flawed characters readers will relate to.

Becca Puglisi

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