Review by Marlene Cullen. I have heard about this book, read about this book, seen posts about this book for years. So, I bought “The Emotion Thesaurus” by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi. Yes to this book! From the introduction: “What we [recognized] was our own difficulty conveying character emotion in a way that would engage readers. This problem was a big one, because only when the character’s emotions are clearly shared can readers become more involved.” I have often thought about how to “show” body language when writing. As you know, when we interact with others, there is much about body language that conveys our mood, emotions, reactions. How to show these things? The Emotion Thesaurus to our rescue! “We wanted to ensure that our character’s feelings would trigger the reader’s own emotional memories, encouraging empathy that would draw them deeper into the story.” Tips on how to write…
Tag: Becca Puglisi
What killed it for me. — Becca Puglisi
Guest Blogger Becca Puglisi, co-founder of Writers Helping Writers, talks about clichéd characters. It’s hard to come up with characters who are believable yet don’t sound like every other character out there. It’s especially easy to fall into this trap with certain archetypes, like witty sidekicks or wise old mentors. Unfortunately, a recent book that I started had a whole cast of clichés: the jaded, super-sarcastic teen girl hero; the loving but confused single parent; a villain in the form of a Queen Bee Mean Girl. As for the love interest and sidekick…I didn’t stick around long enough to meet them. But even one clichéd character may be too much; you don’t want to give readers a reason to lose interest or roll their eyes when they’re introduced to a character they’ve seen a dozen times. Character creation is one of our passions at Writers Helping Writers, thanks to the research…