Angela AckermanReseñas

I haven't actually "read" this book as much as I use it for reference pretty much every single weekday. It's pretty insightful, and I've used it to get out of some tight spots where I needed to show, not tell.

Helpful for any writer

A must-have for any writer that wants to expand their characters' emotional range

This book is my Bible for how to describe character emotions. I couldn't write without it.

Puglisi and Ackerman have published eight thesauri for use by writers. Each begins with an introduction of 80-100 pages. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, described in the introductory text and appendices, provides the theoretical framework. Aside from this front material, these thesauri are technical references to consult when addressing particular needs. Although I read the introduction (significant portions of each overlap) and reviewed the information provided for randomly selected traits, a more meaningful way to evaluate these works is to use them with an actual writing project.

Many emotions are covered, as are signs and signals associated with them. However, the same content appears repeatedly for numerous emotions. That is realistic, of course, because human emotions overlap. For example, we feel some of the same sensations when excited or frightened. Writers will find it necessary to combine various emotions to simulate complex reactions in real life. For example, in a story I am writing, a man feels attracted to a woman but questions the appropriateness of his response and fears a romantic overture would be rejected.

Readers seeking a list of plug-and-play examples will be disappointed. Instead, the thesauri provide valuable hints that stimulate authors’ thinking about their characters.

This review provides my evaluation of The Urban Settings Thesaurus and the The Rural Settings Thesaurus.

Puglisi and Ackerman have published eight thesauri for use by writers. Each begins with an informative introduction of 60-100 pages. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, described in the introductory text and appendices, is the theoretical framework underlying the content, but it is not central in these two volumes. Aside from this front material, these thesauri are technical references to consult when addressing particular needs.

The thesis of these thesauri is the setting is an integral part of every scene in every story. Settings have emotional values that can function as a vehicle for steering the story. The setting can provide tests the character must pass or downtime for reflection and recovery. If a setting is important enough to be part of a scene, it should also have a specific identity.

The book provides an alphabetically ordered list of more than 100 settings found in rural (or urban) locations. The topics covered include the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, people commonly found, related settings, and the resulting effects of the setting.

These thesauri function best as references to consult when looking for help or inspiration in describing a setting.

This review provides my evaluation of The Urban Settings Thesaurus and the The Rural Settings Thesaurus.

Puglisi and Ackerman have published eight thesauri for use by writers. Each begins with an informative introduction of 60-100 pages. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, described in the introductory text and appendices, is the theoretical framework underlying the content, but it is not central in these two volumes. Aside from this front material, these thesauri are technical references to consult when addressing particular needs.

The thesis of these thesauri is the setting is an integral part of every scene in every story. Settings have emotional values that can function as a vehicle for steering the story. The setting can provide tests the character must pass or downtime for reflection and recovery. If a setting is important enough to be part of a scene, it should also have a specific identity.

The book provides an alphabetically ordered list of more than 100 settings found in rural (or urban) locations. The topics covered include the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, people commonly found, related settings, and the resulting effects of the setting.

These thesauri function best as references to consult when looking for help or inspiration in describing a setting.

This review provides my evaluation of The Negative Trait Thesaurus and the The Emotional Wounds Thesaurus.

Puglisi and Ackerman have published eight thesauri for use by writers. Each begins with an informative introduction of 80-100 pages. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, described in the introductory text and appendices, is the theoretical basis framework underlying the content. Aside from this front material, these thesauri are technical references to consult when addressing particular needs.

I reviewed The Emotional Thesaurus earlier. However, a more practical -way to evaluate these works is to use them in an actual writing project. I selected two romance novels and used these references in developing character sketches of two male and two female protagonists and one male villain. It would have been useful to include The Positive Trait Thesaurus in this evaluation, but I do not have access to a copy.

Negative experiences have wounded each character, but the entries in the wounds thesaurus are too specific to be helpful. Each entry begins with a problem and, sometimes, a note elaborating the problem. An example, false beliefs underlying the problem, the character’s fears, responses the character may make, and the results follow this. The coverage concludes with lists of personality traits (i.e., attributes) that may result, flaws associated with those traits, triggers that might aggravate the wound and opportunities to overcome this wound. The book lacks an index, leaving it to users to search for specific terms in the text. I found this thesaurus to be of limited use in character development, but it may be more helpful in identifying particular events to embed in the story.

The negative traits thesaurus was much more useful in character development. The book covers 106 traits, but each entry covers the named trait and alternative terms. For example, the entry for cowardly lists fainthearted, fearful, and pusillanimous as similar flaws. The alphabetical index lists all the traits, enhancing the book’s usefulness. Likely causes of the trait and associated behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, and emotions are described, as are positive and negative aspects of the trait. Examples from films are provided, but those will be useful only to readers who have viewed and remember the films. Ways to overcome this flaw (negative trait) and traits in supporting characters that may cause conflict round out the coverage.

I found this thesaurus to be helpful in developing my character sketches. I spent a fair amount of time reviewing the coverage of traits that had not have occurred to me, and my characterizations improved. The section on associated behaviors and attitudes also stimulated thoughts about events I might work into the story.

I anticipate repeated use of the The Negative Trait Thesaurus and plan to buy it for my library. I may take another look at The Emotional Wounds Thesaurus when I create an action outline, but I am not convinced I will find it helpful.

An excellent resource I use almost every day as a novelist.

This book begins with several brief chapters emphasizing the importance of emotion in fiction and describing ways writers might convey the point-of-view character’s emotions to readers. However, most of the book is devoted to an alphabetically ordered list of emotions (e.g., agitation, denial, envy, and shame). The coverage of each emotion begins with a definition. For example, amazement is defined as overwhelming astonishment or wonder. That is followed by sections listing physical signals and behaviors associated with the named emotion, external sensations and mental responses characters might experience, acute or long-term reactions to emotions, and signs the emotion is being suppressed. Emotions characters might experience as the feeling escalates or de-escalates are listed. A list of associated power verbs and a writer’s tip conclude each narrative. For example, smell triggers memory, so include olfactory descriptors when a character feels curious.

Many emotions are covered, as are signs and signals associated with them. However, the same content appears repeatedly for numerous emotions. That is realistic, of course, because human emotions overlap. For example, we feel some of the same sensations when excited or frightened. Writers will find it necessary to combine various emotions to simulate complex reactions in real life. For example, in a story I am writing, a man feels attracted to a woman but questions the appropriateness of his response and fears a romantic overture would be rejected.

Readers seeking a list of plug-and-play examples will be disappointed. Instead, the Emotion Thesaurus is a valuable source of hints designed to stimulate authors thinking and provide suggestions that lead to a broad view of the emotions covered. It’s a helpful reference to keep handy.

good reference. the lists might be a little too brief.

Excellent resource for writers!

frankly I found it useless. YMMV.

Disappointing.
The approach is quite superficial.
In many cases, common sense would have reached the same conclusions.

I found this book extremely helpful when I want to get into the head of my character and describe what they are feeling without "telling" the reader. It covers a long list of emotions and how to describe them from various points of view.

A solid book. Kicks off with some concrete and succinct advice and then becomes a valuable reference book. I bought it looking for more handholding than it gives, but it's really geared to be a reference versus a huge book of examples. Which is probably more valuable long term. This is an excellent resource. I suspect it will be quite dogeared in no time.

Four stars cuz ... well, I only give five stars to certain rare books, or books that mean something exceptional to me. Depending on how much I use this over time, I can see it becoming a five-star book.

There is some valuable info for writers here. I especially like the introductory pages (power of emotion, character research, dialogue, subtext, etc.), and the "associated power verbs" with every entry are fabulous as a resource.

However, the editor in me wishes the entries were consistently nouns, rather than a mix of nouns, verbs, and adjectives (acceptance, appalled, conflicted . . .). There were some typos and, given that this is a second edition, those should have certainly been caught (e.g., giving "backhanding" compliments; and, in a roundabout "away").

For each entry, there is a writer's tip. I wonder why each tip was not paired with the emotion shown on that page when possible (e.g., why is a tip about gratitude on the "pleased" page?). With more effort, many more connections could have been made. And some were simply too obvious (e.g., the reader will notice the difference between a character trudging up the stairs and bounding up, two at a time).

At times, lines were repeated (e.g., in the "pleased" entry under "physical signals," we have "making strong eye contact with others" and then "strong eye contact" three lines down). Where are copyeditors these days? And in the case where copyediting jobs are almost nonexistent at some houses, why didn't the authors catch this?

I was confused when the same emotion was listed under both "may escalate to" and "may de-escalate to" (e.g., "disillusionment" under both categories for the emotion "discouraged"). Yes, emotions can definitely be nuanced and not neatly fit under any one category, but it still felt odd. In addition, there were several instances where I would have moved a word to the opposite category (e.g., I would move "self-loathing" to escalated status under the "flustered" entry. I don't see how self-loathing would be a de-escalation in that case).

There were omissions. Why are the "mental responses" for "longing" only negative? Longing can be positive. Why are the "acute or long-term responses" for "moved" all negative?

And the book ended with "worthlessness." What about "worthiness"?

Speaking of ending on a more upbeat note, I DID learn an awesome new word from this book: SCHADENFREUDE. Love that! Look it up. :-)½

This is an excellent resource for writers. Sometimes you just have something stuck on the tip of your tongue or you just want to change up your wording and this will give you a range of varied phrasing and bodily reactions for different emotions.

Excellent resource for novelists. I highly recommend it for those moments you're just stuck in a descriptive rut.

Terrific and useful tool for writing.

This is a wonderful resource for writers. I keep this book right next to my computer and routinely turn to it for insight and ideas when I am dealing with a character or scene.

Outstandingly helpful book to help spark ideas for rural setting. Extremely useful introduction on the role and use of scenes in developing plot.

I got this book quite a while ago and never added it to my shelves because it's not really a book you read. It's a reference tool. Recently though I've found myself recommending it to other writers and I realized that I should really add a review of this on good reads.

So this is my review: get this book. If you are a writer, you should have this. I know what you're thinking, "Books about writing are usually so useless," and you'd be right. I've read enough of them to know that 99% of them are, in fact, useless. This is not one of those books. Stick this one next to The Writer's Journey and The Elements of Style. It's a keeper.

Excellent work!

I think that this is a good entry in a field that I have noticed that remained empty for a long time. Is this the birth of a new era for this category of books?
I keep a copy of this book open as I write.