A member of my critique group recommended a book “The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writers Guide to Character Expression,” she found in the library. It was written by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. I was anxious to get my copy. It is available as an e-book for $.99. Any writer who is starting out or even already published should have this book for reference or memorize these emotion traits for their characters.
For example: I looked up the word “anxious” that I used in the paragraph above. This little helper includes physical signals, internal sensations, mental responses, cues of acute or long-term anxiety, and cues of suppressed anxiety.
So if I rewrite the sentence “I was anxious to get my copy,” it might read:
“I glanced at the clock to see if I had time before work to sit down and order it. My breathing increased and I was dizzy. Would this help me in my writing or just be another waste of money? I closed my eyes in an attempt to stay calm, while I pressed the ‘purchase’ button. Too late now, it was done.”
This certainly increased my word count. This is almost too dramatic for me! I’m more the straightforward kind of writer, factual and maybe a little flat. I hope to change that with this helper.
Of course, the book has a range of descriptions of emotions so we can show and not tell. Some are more intense than others. I certainly would not have been “wringing one’s hands” or have the “inability to eat.” There are many degrees of emotions. We have to think about each character and what state they are in.
There are similar books by the same authors I will check out another time. “The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Attributes” and “The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws.” I recommend these to you do also.
In the meantime, happy writing and editing, and editing, and editing!
Kathy
Email me at kathy@kathymckenzierunk.com
Visit my site www.kathymckenzierunk.com
From Junior Journalist to Mystery Writer 