It’s a great day here at Writers Helping Writers, because Becca and I can finally write the words that we’ve been wanting to type out for over two years now: The Setting Thesaurus books are coming. In fact, they are almost here, and we couldn’t be happier. The sights, smells, tastes, sounds and textures for two hundred and twenty-five settings…and that’s just the start. Take a gander at these back jacket blurbs:
The Rural Setting Thesaurus:
Making the Story World Rich, Layered, and Unforgettable
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.
USE DESCRIPTION TO PLACE READERS AT THE HEART OF EVERY SCENE
Within 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 Urban Setting Thesaurus:
Drawing Readers in Through Emotion-Driven Imagery and Realism
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.
MAKE YOUR DESCRIPTION WORK HARDER FOR YOUR STORY
- 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 Big Question: WHEN?
June 13th, 2016! If you would like to receive a notification when the books are available, just leave us your email.
Becca and I are so pleased to bring you this set of books. The sensory detail within required a lot of travel, investigation, and time to collect. We hope these two volumes help you level up your sensory description to better pull readers into each moment, making your story and characters both compelling and memorable.
Want to sneak-a-peek at one of our entries? Just go here to see “Police Car.”
Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.
I can’t wait. I have all your books on kindle and in paperback. They are wonderful. I will also share with a number of writers groups I am in. One lady recently asked should she buy your books? My answer was along the lines of how are you writing without them???
Very best of luck with the launch. I am sure it will be fantastic.
Rach
Count me in. I’ll publish your promotional post on my website.
Thank you Dave–you are the bestest! Just fill out that form so I have your email (if you haven’t all ready) and I’ll be sending out a note today 🙂
Of course. I use these books. Looks like I have more to buy.
You are wonderful–thank you Winona!
Hey, you know you’re always welcome to guest post on Helping Writers Become Authors! Congrats on the nearing launch. Can’t wait!
You’re on our list, Katie ;). We’l be in touch. I hope things are going well for you!
I’d love to help by publishing your promotional post on my blog!
Thank you, Jarm! Angela will be in touch in a little while with the details :).
I have been looking forward to this. I’m not a blogger, but will definitely talk it up with writing friends. I can’t begin to tell you how much The Emotion Thesaurus helped my writing!
Thank you, Nancy! Every little bit helps :).
I have the Emotional Thesaurus and use it when developing my characters. Just doing that little bit sparks ideas for showing emotions while I write the story. I’ve been looking for books to help me with descriptions of my settings. These two to do just fine.
So glad the books are coming in handy!
I am stoked that you guys have developed so many awesome books on writing. This entire series is wonderful. For me, the most difficult thing to overcome was learning how to show not tell. It SOUNDS easy but it wasn’t for me. I have read countless books in recent years with intriguing story ideas, plots and characters, but the writing was awful because of 1) a lack of editing 2) excessive telling v. showing. I have spent years learning the hard way, on my own without help like this. So THANK YOU. This entire collection will be extremely beneficial to all writers everywhere. I filled out the form for the launch party info. Can’t wait.
I’m so glad to hear that our books have helped you, particularly with the show-don’t-tell aspect. That’s such a hard one to grasp. Thanks for signing up to help!
I’m dying to get my grabby hands and these two babies.
I’m all signed up.
You’re awesome, Stina. Thanks for helping!
What a lot of work you put into these! I’ve filled in the form and hopefully will be at home so I can host a blog post!
Thanks, Rosemary! It was a lot of work but I believe it will be worth it :).
Would love to help! Your books are the best for any writer.
Thank you, Sheila!
Oh boy, this will be exciting! All my writer friends and I adore your books. These sound particularly good–for instance, having never been arrested, I had no idea what the back of a police car was like. 🙂
Aw Kessie, what a nice thing to say! And yes, being arrested…*cough cough* I took one for the team on that one, lol.
Wow, these books sound fab! Can’t wait to add them to the other ones. 🙂 (Oh, and I’ve signed up too.)
Thank you so much Annette! We are very excited to finally turn this thesaurus into books. We hope they help a ton. 🙂
You know I’m in! Just left my name on the form.
You are the very best Carol! Thank you!
When you said “donate a post to the visibility cause,” did you mean that you’re looking for bloggers who are interesting in hosting a guest post that you and Becca have written? Or that you’d like us to guest post here, at your site? (I’m assuming it’s the former, and please excuse my sleep-deprived brain for confusing me…)
Hi Sara! A guest post that we will write for your blog that will share information about our launch week event, something that can easily be cut and pasted by you, so it’s easy-peasy & hassle free. 🙂