The single tear trickling down the cheek. A kiss that leaves one’s knees weak. The grin that stretches from ear to ear. Yawn Oh, excuse me. I almost fell asleep there. Why Readers Hate Clichéd Emotional Responses Clichés in writing are frowned upon because they’re easy; they’re … [Read more...] about How to Avoid Clichéd Emotional Reactions
Search Results for: how to show emotion
Release Day: The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus Is Here (& a Giveaway!)
Another book joins the family today: The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Stress and Volatility! Writing authentic emotional reactions can be difficult when a character is the sort to hide what they feel. Whether it's due to fear, painful past trauma, or personal … [Read more...] about Release Day: The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus Is Here (& a Giveaway!)
10 Reasons Why Emotion Amplifiers Are Good for Your Story
As you may have heard, we recently released The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Stress and Volatility, a companion to The Emotion Thesaurus. If you aren't familiar with this term, let me explain. An emotion amplifier is a special state or condition that can make a … [Read more...] about 10 Reasons Why Emotion Amplifiers Are Good for Your Story
Three Essentials for Engaging Reader Emotion in the Setup
As authors, we all know the importance of engaging our audience within a book’s first few pages. Grabbing the reader: captivating them in a way that makes them want to stick with the story to its end. But Michael Hauge prefers a different term for this phenomenon: No one likes to be grabbed. … [Read more...] about Three Essentials for Engaging Reader Emotion in the Setup
What is an Emotion Amplifier?
Since compiling our original Emotion Amplifier ebooklet in 2014, Angela and I have discovered so much about them. They're way more versatile than we first imagined, and we're stoked to share what we've learned with you in the 2nd edition of The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus. If you're a regular at … [Read more...] about What is an Emotion Amplifier?
The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus (May 2024 Release)
We're adding to our Thesaurus family! It's been a while since our last book as we needed to recalibrate our release schedule from fall to spring (resulting in a year gap), but now we're back in the thesaurus-making saddle. May 13th is coming fast, so it's time to dish some details about our … [Read more...] about The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus (May 2024 Release)
Want to Show Your Character’s Pain? Here’s Everything You Need to Know
For the better part of two months, Becca and I have been exploring pain, and how to write about it in fiction. It's been enlightening for us, and we hope for you as well. So many ways to torture characters, who knew? (Well, we did. And you did. Pain is sort of our bread and butter, isn't … [Read more...] about Want to Show Your Character’s Pain? Here’s Everything You Need to Know
Writing About Emotional Trauma Without Triggering Readers
Trigger warnings are often debated in the writing world. Some opine that readers should be warned if something potentially harmful is included in a book, and others feel the audience shouldn’t be bubble-wrapped and need to chin up if they want to read fiction. Like most things, the answer probably … [Read more...] about Writing About Emotional Trauma Without Triggering Readers
Emotion Amplifiers Master List of Entries
What began as a small ebooklet companion to the popular Emotion Thesaurus is now an expanded second edition. Inside you’ll find fifty-two states and conditions with the power to amplify a character’s feelings. You’ll learn how to deploy them to create friction and conflict. You’ll explore how to … [Read more...] about Emotion Amplifiers Master List of Entries
The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: Pain
DESCRIPTION: While there are different kinds of discomfort a character could suffer, this entry focuses on physical pain, which is most often associated with an injury or illness. For discomfort that continues for a prolonged period, see CHRONIC PAIN. PHYSICAL SIGNALS AND BEHAVIORSPale or blotchy … [Read more...] about The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: Pain
Identify Your Character’s Emotional Triggers
Every one has emotional triggers – are you using this to increase the emotional tension in your story? What Does Your Character Think is Their Strength? What does your character pride themselves on having, being, doing, possessing, needing, controlling, etc? Do they rest their identity in any … [Read more...] about Identify Your Character’s Emotional Triggers
Using Physical Pain to Show a Character’s Past Trauma
There doesn’t seem to be much info out there to tell writers how to realistically capture emotions and trauma while still leaving room for plot, characterization, and genre tropes. The most common problem I see is that the character THINKS about their past trauma—they have flashbacks and … [Read more...] about Using Physical Pain to Show a Character’s Past Trauma