The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression

DID YOU KNOW THERE'S A SECOND EDITION (EXPANDED & UPDATED) OF THE EMOTION THESAURUS? Click the authors' names to find it.

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:

• 75 emotion entries 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
• 75 description tips on emotion, dialogue, characters, and setting

Editors, authors and teachers agree that The Emotion Thesaurus, in its easy-to-navigate list format, is a convenient and helpful brainstorming resource for any writing project. Discover the tool that will inspire you to create stronger, fresher character expressions and engage readers from your first page to your last.

In her former life, Becca Puglisi was a teacher-elementary, because six-year-olds are easy to push around and the math isn't too hard. She read roughly a gajillion picture books to her students, and it was her love for these books that originally motivated her to become an author, though she's since moved on to young adult novels. Now, Becca is a YA fantasy/historical fiction writer and co-author of a number of descriptive thesauruses for writers, including the bestselling The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression. She also is co-founder of One Stop For Writers(R), a unique online resource containing many helpful tools, craft tutorials, and the entire Writers Helping Writers thesaurus collection (cross-referenced and searchable!). Becca is an international speaker who enjoys teaching workshops and presenting various writerly topics. Her books are represented by foreign rights agent Marleen Seegers of 2 Seas Agency. During her free time (ha), Becca enjoys playing video games with her kids, watching movies with her husband, teaching Bible studies, baking, and adding to her stash of emergency supplies. She has always enjoyed contemplating the What if? scenario, which served her well when she lived in south Florida and will help her survive the winter now that she's moved to New York.

Angela is Canadian and loves her home near Calgary, Alberta, nestled close to the Rockies. She enjoys traveling with her family, exploring new and unusual places, and is constantly amazed at how the universe seems to bring along the people she needs to connect with at just the right time. The author of 6 bestselling resource books printed in 6 different languages, Angela enjoys sharing her passion for writing craft. She is a writing coach, international speaker, and a firm believer that writers succeed best together. The desire to help writers in new, innovative ways is a love she shares with Becca Puglisi and Lee Powell, and together the three formed One Stop for Writers(R), a unique site filled with custom tools and writing resources built to help writers elevate their storytelling. In the fiction realm, Angela is sowing her wild oats, playing around with darker themes and interesting plot twists. Her audience of preference is middle grade and young adult, but lately she's been toying with trying an adult thriller on for size. Angela's foreign rights are being cared for by Marleen Seegers of 2 Seas Agency.