Using Coloring Emotions to Create Unique Scenes

by Susan May Warren, @SusanMayWarren

An aspiring author once asked me about describing a character’s emotional responses in a scene (show don’t tell!) and still be original every time. So let’s talk about it. What is a good way for describing emotional responses with originality?

I love this question because it’s all about going deeper with your characterization, and really drawing the reader into the story in a way that connects. I believe there are four levels to portraying emotion.

Read More

What Sports Photography Taught Me about Point of View (POV)

by Beth K. Vogt @bethvogt

My teen daughter plays volleyball year-round, which means I spend a lot of time at volleyball tournaments. My husband and I are also the photographers for both her high school and club teams. This happened by accident – meaning, when no one else volunteered to take photos, we did. At first, we took lousy photos. Now, we’ve invested in a more expensive camera and lens and after lots of trial and error, we're getting better and better at this whole unexpected sports photography gig.

Read More

If You Don’t Know What To Do, Make ‘Em Sad

by Rachel Hauck

Riding my bike the other day, musing over my work-in-progress while also contemplating the book “The Nightingale” which I’d just finished, I realized that there is a certain sadness to the protagonist in books I love. In books the world loves.

Not morbid sadness. Not depressed. But a certain longing if you will.

Save for Elizabeth Bennett who covered her longing for true love with “snark” and piety.

In The Nightingale, the sister protagonists had a sad upbringing. Left with a minder by their father after their mother died.

Read More

The Emotion Thesaurus--My Favorite Writing Resource

by Pamela S. Meyers

Whenever I’m asked what writing resources I keep at my elbow, the first that I name is The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression (ET) by Angela Ackerman and Becca Publisi.

Several years ago, I was told my main character seemed flat in a particular scene. “What is she feeling? Show us.” I’d just purchased the Kindle version of ET and I used the book to help me deepen my character by showing the emotion she was feeling. By the time I rewrote the scene, I’d gone into a deeper POV than before and received high praises from my crit partner.

ET takes 75 different emotions and gives you the: Definition, Physical Signals, Internal Sensations, Mental Responses, Cues of acute or long-term feelings of the emotion, what other emotions the emotion may escalate to, Cues of Suppressed emotion, and a Writer’s Tip. If nothing gels with you, there are suggested related emotions at the bottom of the page that you can link to which may better fit the scene and character.

The book is available in print and Amazon Kindle, but I highly recommend getting the Kindle version because it is so easy to jump from one emotion to another similar emotion, as they are all displayed as links. I know you can do the same with a print version, but it would be more time consuming to flip the pages back and forth.

Partial List of Information for "Amazement"

Another feature is called "May Escalate To", which takes the emotion to the next level. This feature has gotten my muse going, and I’ve used it very effectively.  

The last link takes you back to the Table of Contents where you can check out the other emotions.

 I haven’t even mentioned the introductory discussion at the front of the book about bringing emotion into your fiction writing. At $5.00, the Kindle version of ET is a writer’s treasure trove of information.

You can find it at Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/jt4uoy2

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago with her two rescue cats. Her novels include Thyme for Love, which has recently been rereleased on Amazon and her 1933 historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Love is All We Need (the sequel to Thyme for Love) will release in 2016, and Second Chance Love from Bling!, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, will release in January 2017. When she isn’t at her laptop writing her latest novel, she can often be found nosing around Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.

Read More