Writers Helping Writers^®

Posts by Becca Puglisi

Setting Thesaurus Entry: City Transit (train)

February 12, 2011

Setting Thesaurus Entry: City Transit (train)

February 12, 2011

Sight Bench seats, smudged glass windows, folding or sliding doors, leather hand loops dangling from the ceiling, handrails, air vents, posters, ads, graffiti, slumped passengers carefully minding their own business…

Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: Mystery

February 10, 2011

Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: Mystery

February 10, 2011

Every day we interact with objects, places and sensations that affect the way we think and feel. This can be used to the writer’s advantage by planting symbols in the…

Setting Thesaurus Entry: Bowling Alley

February 5, 2011

Setting Thesaurus Entry: Bowling Alley

February 5, 2011

Sights Check-in counter, ugly shoes, racks of bowling balls, bowling bags, bowling merchandise for sale, dim lighting, neon lights (evening), waxed wooden lanes, gutters, inflatable bumpers for kiddy bowling, plastic…

Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: Deception

February 3, 2011

Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: Deception

February 3, 2011

Every day we interact with objects, places and sensations that affect the way we think and feel. This can be used to the writer’s advantage by planting symbols in the…

Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: Violence

January 29, 2011

Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: Violence

January 29, 2011

Every day we interact with objects, places and sensations that affect the way we think and feel. This can be used to the writer’s advantage by planting symbols in the…

Setting Thesaurus Entry: Trailer

January 27, 2011

Setting Thesaurus Entry: Trailer

January 27, 2011

This post has been generously written by Linda Clare, author of the The Fence My Father Built (Abingdon Press, 2009). Linda grew up in Arizona, where trailers are about as…

Setting Thesaurus Entry: Lake

January 22, 2011

Setting Thesaurus Entry: Lake

January 22, 2011

Sight Rocky shoreline, gravel, water lapping the shore, skimmers, minnows scuttling between the rocks, ducks, geese (plucking grass from the lush slope, swimming in the reeds, preening, herding babies) seagulls…

Symbolism and Motif Entry: Bondage/Enslavement

January 20, 2011

Symbolism and Motif Entry: Bondage/Enslavement

January 20, 2011

Every day we interact with objects, places and sensations that affect the way we think and feel. This can be used to the writer’s advantage by planting symbols in the…

How to Write Unforgettable Settings: World Building

January 15, 2011

How to Write Unforgettable Settings: World Building

January 15, 2011

When it comes to unforgettable settings, we’ve touched on choosing the right setting, describing the setting, and maximizing the setting through various figures of speech and techniques. But what if…

How to Write Unforgettable Settings: Adding Powerful Layers

January 11, 2011

How to Write Unforgettable Settings: Adding Powerful Layers

January 11, 2011

You’ve picked the perfect setting, you can describe it so compellingly your readers will want to move there…but have you added powerful layers to make it really stand out? Don’t…