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Search Results for: how to show emotion

Determining Your Character’s Emotional Range

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I firmly believe that while readers sometimes do connect with our stories, they more often fall in love with our characters. If we want to really pull readers in, we’ve got to make each protagonist relatable and easy to connect with. This can be a tall order when you consider that each reader … [Read more...] about Determining Your Character’s Emotional Range

The Emotional Roller Coaster all Writers Experience

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Welcoming Martha Alderson (The Plot Whisperer) today, who is brilliant at digging down to the deepest layers of a story. Martha's new book, Boundless Creativity: A Spiritual Workbook for Overcoming Self-Doubt, Emotional Traps, and Other Creative Blocks (affiliate link) tackles the inner journey of … [Read more...] about The Emotional Roller Coaster all Writers Experience

Conflict Thesaurus Entry: An Estranged Relative Showing Up

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Conflict is very often the magic sauce for generating tension and turning a ho-hum story into one that rivets readers. As such, every scene should contain a struggle of some kind. Maybe it's an internal tug-of-war having to do with difficult decisions, morals, or temptations. Or it possibly could … [Read more...] about Conflict Thesaurus Entry: An Estranged Relative Showing Up

What Is Emotional Context And Why Does Your Story Need It?

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Have you ever had an editor or critique partner say “go deeper”? And you throw up your hands and glare at the screen because you DID go deeper. Deep point of view is a writing technique that aims to create an emotional connection for readers by immersing them in real time in the character’s … [Read more...] about What Is Emotional Context And Why Does Your Story Need It?

Mastering Show, Don’t Tell

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We hear it over and over: Show, don't tell. You can't get away from this advice, not in writing workshops, at conferences, or heck, even when visiting this blog. Writers Helping Writers and the thesaurus work we do is all about strengthening show, don't tell skills. There's a good reason for … [Read more...] about Mastering Show, Don’t Tell

The Emotionally Intelligent Writer

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I’m a psychologist, so I like to believe there are a set of characteristics that can predict author success. Sure, like any subset of the population—and I’m going to define ‘successful authors’ as those who generate a full-time income from their writing—there’s always going to be diversity, … [Read more...] about The Emotionally Intelligent Writer

Three Ways Writers Tell, Not Show (And How You Can Fix Them)

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One of my favorite writing coaches is here with us to dish some helpful advice on Show and Tell. Please welcome Janice Hardy and read on... Show, don’t tell, is drilled into every writer’s head, and most of us have been frustrated over it. In my early writing days, I spent months figuring out … [Read more...] about Three Ways Writers Tell, Not Show (And How You Can Fix Them)

HELP! What Do I Do With My 1st Edition of The Emotion Thesaurus?

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As the expanded 2nd edition of The Emotion Thesaurus hits the shelves, we realize we've created a conundrum for writers upgrading their copy: what should they do with their first edition? We love the original Emotion Thesaurus and know you do too. It (hopefully!) helped you through a lot of … [Read more...] about HELP! What Do I Do With My 1st Edition of The Emotion Thesaurus?

New Release: The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression (2nd Edition)!

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Today's the day: The Emotion Thesaurus (Second Edition) enters the world! Over the years, many of you have written to us about the impact our book has had on your writing. Whenever we hear that your editor is commenting on your improved ability to get emotion on the page or that your readers are … [Read more...] about New Release: The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression (2nd Edition)!

A Mother Lode of Resources on Character Emotion

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As you can imagine, we're pretty amped that The Emotion Thesaurus Second Edition is here. We hope you find those extra 55 emotions and double the teaching content is a big help as you craft stronger character emotion. These posts are packed with help for showing emotion: The Inner Struggle: … [Read more...] about A Mother Lode of Resources on Character Emotion

Announcing The Emotion Thesaurus Second Edition!

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Keeping secrets are hard, especially keeping happy, year-long ones from the people we care about. So you can imagine how terrific it is to finally share with you that the mystery thesaurus Becca and I have been working on this past year is a second edition of The Emotion Thesaurus! It releases on … [Read more...] about Announcing The Emotion Thesaurus Second Edition!