Writers Helping Writers® books have become a go-to resource for fiction writers and editors, not only for their ability to strengthen description with show-don’t-tell techniques, but also for the ‘thesaurus’ format that becomes a constant source of ideas.
Part how-to, part list, each book helps creatives write incredibly realistic characters and vivid, tension-filled scenes.
With 14,000+ five-star reviews and a reputation for helping authors level up their storytelling, this Thesaurus series is trusted by creatives across the globe.
What Writers Are Saying About Our Books
We’ve gathered a few reviews below so you can see what others think, but if you’d like to explore more feedback from writers just like you, visit our bookstore and find the volume you’re curious about, or head over to Goodreads.
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression
One of the challenges a fiction writer faces, especially when prolific, is coming up with fresh ways to describe emotions. This handy compendium fills that need. It is both a reference and a brainstorming tool, and one of the resources I’ll be turning to most often as I write my own books.
James Scott Bell, International Thriller Writers Award Winner
The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Stress and Volatility
Angela and Becca have once again proven why they’re trusted authorities in character development. By leaning into the complexity of emotional amplifiers, they’ve created a resource that not only informs but also inspires, empowering writers to create more authentic, emotionally resonant characters and stories.
Stuart Wakefield, Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach and Podcaster
The Conflict Thesaurus, Volume 1&2: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles
If characters drive the story, then conflict operates as the engine to every tale. Keeping this tenet in mind, writing experts Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi return with their most ambitious, hefty thesaurus yet, examining conflict in multiple dimensions and on multiple levels. Every writer should keep this volume handy as they work.
Ekta R. Garg, editor and author of The Truth About Elves
The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws
I have long used the authors’ fabulous blog The Bookshelf Muse as a go-to source for on-the-spot inspiration whenever I need a unique synonym. When I heard they were compiling their wisdom into a book, I was thrilled! This is a one-of-a-kind resource for the writer. Offering synonyms (and more) for emotions of every stripe – as well as some sound writing advice throughout – this is just the sort of tome to have sitting within reach of the keyboard. A quick flip through the pages is sure to offer a plethora of new ideas and story possibilities.
K.M. Weiland, author of Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way To Success and Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story
The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Attributes
In these brilliantly conceived, superbly organized and astonishingly thorough volumes, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have created an invaluable resource for writers and storytellers. Whether you are searching for new and unique ways to add and define characters, or brainstorming methods for revealing those characters without resorting to clichés, it is hard to imagine two more powerful tools for adding depth and dimension to your screenplays, novels or plays.
Michael Hauge, Hollywood script consultant and story expert, author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read
The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Personal and Natural Places
Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have done it again! I’m a huge fan of The Emotion Thesaurus and use it all the time when writing novels. One thing I didn’t realize until reading this book was how important Setting is in addition to Character Emotion. This book is part thesaurus and part workshop where the importance of setting is explained with great examples to further enhance your writing. The sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and textures of many urban setting are explored to make your novel unique and memorable. This book needs to be in your writer’s toolbox.
Kate, writer
The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to City Spaces
Another practical how-to book from Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, this time to help you flesh out your descriptive writing of rural settings. No more driving out to the countryside to bait the bull so you can describe their shape, size, and smell. It’s all here, right down to the flies. While not a replacement for soaking up the atmosphere when you can get there yourself, this book will help you flesh out all five senses.
Anna Erishkigal, writer
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Psychological Trauma
This is far more than a brilliant, thorough, insightful and unique thesaurus; this is the best primer on story — and what it is that REALLY hooks and holds readers — that I have ever read. What good is “writing well” if you haven’t zeroed in on the essence of the story you’re telling? This book peels back the layers to reveal not only where the beating heart of your story lies, but how to then get it onto the page. It won’t just make your writing deeper, richer and more gripping, it very well may transform how you see the world – it doesn’t get better than that.
Lisa Cron, author of Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)
The Occupation Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Jobs, Vocations, and Careers
Each and every thesaurus these authors produce is spectacular. The Occupation Thesaurus is no different. Full of inspiration, teachings, and knowledge that are guaranteed to take your writing to the next level, it’s a must. You need this book on your craft shelf.
Sacha Black, best-selling author of fantasy and the Better Writing series
29 Comments. Leave new
Hi, Folks – After having written stories and a couple of novels featuring a character with a rich and complex (okay, scary) inner life, I was excited to come across your books/resources via a Jane Friedman post on Substack. But, in due diligence, I have to ask: how did you “earn” the guidance you’re sharing? I don’t see a list of successfully published fiction in your About Us section authored by either of you, which, to me, would lend a great deal of credibility to your content. I guess a reinforcing parallel to this might be the MasterClass writer’s series where each of the instructors is an expert in the topic they teach (i.e., “Joyce Carol Oates teaches the Art of the Short Story.”) That, because of her long, immersive and successful journey in short story writing, is something I buy immediately. I also don’t see any blurbs from fiction authors I’ve heard of endorsing WHW content, or case studies/examples of how your guidance solve real character problems in successfully published fiction. I hate to be skeptical, but the Internet is rife with “tech and/or publishing platforms” masquerading as something else. Any help? What am I missing? (Change my mind and I’ll be next in line for the Emotional Wound Thesaurus.).
Hi Ashley,
I appreciate due diligence. I believe every person should take care with whom they take advice from, and how they spend money (if that person is looking to invest in paid knowledge). But if, to you, recognizing someone as a thought leader in the space of strong story craft comes down to “Did they publish fiction or not” then I’ll save you loads of time and tell you neither Becca or I have any published fiction available. The reason is quite simple – in pursuit of being fiction authors we discovered we were great teachers, and this part of our lives took over. It’s been a rewarding career to help as many people as we have.
I’m sorry you were unable to find enough testimonials from ‘writers you’ve heard of’ or that the ones on this very page did not suffice. I’m not sure what it is that you are looking for exactly as the tens of thousands of book reviews readily available on Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub or any other book provider/reader platform literally share the opinions and endorsements you seem to be searching for. If you’re expecting a list of authors we’ve helped, editors and agents who recommend us, or the list of MFA papers we’ve been sourced in, I won’t be providing one, but Google will help you find information on us, our books, and any other criteria that you need. If you have a specific interest in the Emotional Wound Thesaurus, Amazon has a handy look inside feature, and of course thousands of reviews to check out.
Wishing you all the best,
Angela
Hello, I have recently self-published two poetry books and nearly finished my third collection. Would it be possible to get a review from you guys? I loved this write up and purchased the “The Emotion Thesaurus” on Amazon. I have to say it is a very clever book and refer to it often. Thanks!!
Hi, David. I’m so glad you were able to pick up a copy of The Emotion Thesaurus. I hope it comes in handy for you :). Unfortunately, Angela and I just don’t have time to do reviews. We love to help others, but we can’t do everything that comes our way, and this is one of those areas where we’ve just had to draw a firm line. Best of luck to you, though!
Hi, I read the Korean trans. version of The Emotion Thesaurus.
And I am turly surprised how you collected and analyzed all these datas.
If can, I would like to hear about the process of collecting these information and how you sorted them.
Thank you in advance.
Hi, Lily! The Emotion Thesaurus began out of a need Angela and I saw in our own writing. Our characters were always smiling, frowning, clenching their fists, shuffling their feet, etc. to show certain emotions. We wanted to figure out how to show emotion in different ways but didn’t know how. So we started making our own lists of emotions and what happened in the body when that feeling hit. We paid attention to our own emotions and what was happening when we felt them. We watched movies and made notes about what actors were doing when they wanted to portray a certain feeling. And we noted how other authors were expressing emotions in their writing.
This is how we created the content. The entries in the Emotion Thesaurus are by no means comprehensive; we encourage authors to use the same techniques to make their own notes and add to the lists. We also encourage them to not use our suggestions verbatim, since each character is different and will express emotions differently; it’s important to personalize these cues to your character. In this way, hopefully you can use this resource to come up with ways to show your character’s emotions in fresh and individualized ways that will ring true with readers.
how do I join your group
Ive just published a book called “The cat with 29 lives” about my life and how ive survived 29 near death experiences
I heard this is a good place to get help and reviews and Id like to get involved to work towards more visibility of the book
Hi, Howard! Congrats on your recent publication. Writers Helping Writers isn’t a group; rather, it’s a blog that provides writing tips and advice via posts. To receive notifications of new posts (so you don’t have to keep checking in), you can sign up using the box in the left-hand sidebar of the home page. We also have published a number of books to help writers with various aspects of writing; you can see what those are all about on our Bookstore page (https://writershelpingwriters.net/bookstore/). While we do offer practical help via these tools, we aren’t able to help with reviews and visibility, unfortunately. But hopefully you can get lost of help on the craft of writing here. Best of luck to you! We’re so glad you found us.
I would be fascinated to read your book Howard, as I survived one near death experience, just one. How on earth did you manage 29?
Thanks for all the GREAT information. I’ll check it out!
“The Emotion Thesaurus” has become a valued tool I carry with me when writing. These helpful descriptions not only help put flesh on bone on the characters, greatly enriching the story, but it is also an omnipresent reminder of “show, don’t tell” and acts as a teaching aid to drum that concept home until it becomes second nature. The breadth of description for each emotion gives ample flexibility so that I am not enticed to repeatedly use one description.
William, thank you for taking the time to write in and tell us how this book is helping you–I am so glad to hear that it is providing the right amount of brainstorming when you need it!
My son gave it to me THE EMOTION THESAURAS for Christmas I am just starting to read it how do you find out about
how to write about writing about things that happen in the past.
Hi Sue–so glad you are finding the book helpful. You can run a search on our blog here for “backstory” and then I have this post as well:writersinthestormblog.com/2016/06/how-to-deliver-critical-backstory-using-the-setting/
My son gave me THE EMOTION THESAURUS for Christmas this year I am working on writing my first book and trying to get all the grammar stuff
right can you help me
Grammar is a tough one–I recommend visiting the site “Grammar Girl” http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl as there’s lots of great help there. 🙂
Wow! This book sounds like the saving grace I’ve been looking for. How do i get it in Nigeria? Is it available online?
Hi, Christy. All of our books are available for purchase on Amazon, iTunes, Nook, and Kobo. The PDF can also be purchased at Gumroad. You’ll find links to all of the book pages at the various distributors on our Bookstore page.
I have written numerous children and youth musicals over the past 30 years. When asked if I would re-release some of the early ones, I knew going back into the studio and recording all the tracks & vocals would be cost prohibitive (originals are on cassette tape). So, I decided instead to write them as novels. It sounded like a simple task. But “show don’t tell” was driving me crazy. The more I read on the internet the more confused I got.
When I wrote the musicals, I had a group of 100 kids and wrote character parts based on the kids who would have the main roles. I could simply write “Angry, stomp foot”, knowing exactly how that child would do it, including all the body language. Not so with converting them to novels. I could not just say “Amy got angry and stomped her foot” it just sounded lame (which it is).
Anyway, I walked to the library to find a book that might help. I checked out “The Emotion Thesaurus”. As I began my four mile walk home walking home I started reading. In just a few pages “show don’t tell” made complete sense. Exactly two blocks from the library I rushed into a bookstore and bought my own copy. I have a lot of books on writing but only one that sits on my desk all the time. “The Emotion Thesaurus” is my #1 reference book. When I get my next check I will be ordering both the Positive and Negative Trait Thesaurus books.
Thank you SO much for writing these and making them available to beginning novel writers like myself.
God Bless,
Jerry Doty
Phoenix, AZ
Wow. What an awesome story and an amazing testimonial! I remember “Show don’t tell” being the first big light bulb for me as a writer. I was struggling with it, too, and one of my critique partners explained it in such a way that I finally understood what she meant. I’m so glad that our books were able to clarify this are for you. And what a great idea, to turn your musicals into novels. You’ve already written the stories; now it’s just a matter of turning them into a different format. Best of luck with your project!
Hey, long time! I’ve just written a book review. Your tips were helpful. I’ve shifted to wordpress from blogger so it’s been a while.
I lucked into finding one of your books and I cannot tell you how pleased I was to find that there were the three of them. I was asking myself “this is too perfect, is there more than one?” thankfully yes there were. I knew right away I had to have all of them. I know they will be very helpful in the future. What a great idea for a book. Although I have been trying to wean myself off of paper books, I will be getting them in both formats. Sadly did not see the Emotion Thesaurus in paper form. Thank you for these great books!
I’m so glad you found your way to our books, and I hope you find lots of good writing advice and tools available right here, Kimberly. And fear not, we have paperbacks for all our books, including The Emotion Thesaurus. We actually find that we often sell more print than ebooks, so I think many writers still prefer paper for their writing craft books. You can buy the paperbacks through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository or any other major online retailer. Also, any bookstore should be able to bring it in for you if you provide the ISBN number so they can order it. You can find a ton of links to book retailers for these right at our Writers Helping Writers Bookstore: https://writershelpingwriters.net/bookstore/
Happy writing!
Angela
So glad that you guys have a website! After downloading your books to my kindle I was thrilled to find out that you have a website too! Thank you so much for the wonderful guides that have helped me become a better writer and to feel more confident about how I write. Thank you and I hope you carry on being amazing!
Charlie, great to hear from you, and so glad you discovered this site, because we have a ton of tools and articles that might also be a help. Please explore the site, and don’t forget the Writing Tools page! Wishing you all the best!
I bought the kindle version of the Emotion Thesaurus – its amazing. In fact its so good I just bought all three books in paperback and am eagerly awaiting my delivery from Amazon. I found this site today, excellent resource. Thanks very much for all your hard work.
Best wishes
Ellie
I’m so glad you found us, Ellie! It’s feedback like this that keeps us going :).
I bought “The Emotion Thesaurus” along with other books on words for authors from Amazon. I use it as a great reference tool.
Being able to visualize things, we all know a sad person on the edge of crying may pucker their lips. However this book also gives physical and mental descriptions of suppressing tears, allowing the author to write what is not obvious.
Well worth the money.
Suzanne, so glad the book is helping you brainstorm better visuals for emotion!