Writers, Have You Heard? Angela and Becca have ANOTHER Thesaurus + Giveaway

Congratulations to Erin Ellison who won WOOD, WIRE and WINGS from last week's blog. For those of you who didn't win--you'll get a second chance when I feature Kirsten Larson's publication journey in an upcoming blog.

******

As many of you know, I am a HUGE fan of One Stop for Writers  and Writers Helping Writers, the brainchild of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. (Click here for my behind-the-scenes interview with them.)

You might have thought that seven thesauri would be enough. But not for them! They realized that your character's choice of occupation speaks volumes about him or her. So, of course, they decided to do something about it. The Occupation Thesaurus is releasing TODAY and boy, does it have a lot to offer!

Let's say you are working on developing your protagonist, antagonist, or an important secondary character. A part of what you want to figure out is what your character does to support herself or her family. Their choice of employment will say a lot about who that person is. Here is the list of jobs detailed in this thesaurus; please click on the link and be impressed with the 124 entries! 

Angela and Becca provided a sneak peak into one of those occupations: firefighter. 

You'll see that each occupation includes training, necessary skills and abilities, useful skills or talents, helpful character traits, sources of friction, people they interact with, how the occupation meets the character's internal needs, how to switch the stereotype, and considerations about why a character would choose that job. Just reading through one entry could give you dozens of ideas for a story as well as insight into your character. 

In addition, amazing writers in our community have put together additional career profiles for you, based on jobs they have done in the past. (Shout out to my friend, Jarm Del Boccio who contributed "Children's author"!) This is a great way to access accurate information so you can better describe the roles and responsibilities that go with a specific job, right? To access this list, GO HERE. 

If you're like me, you might like all this information at your fingertips. If you join One Stop for Writers, then this thesaurus-- along with all seven others is right there--waiting for you to browse, brainstorm, and create.  

If you'd rather purchase a print or digital copy of the book, here is a list of e-tailers who have it.

GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the release of their new book, Writers Helping Writers has a giveaway happening July 20th to July 23rd. You can win some great prizes, including gift certificates that can be spent on writing services within our Writer’s Showcase. Stop by this site to enter! FYI, although I love your comments on my blog, this is Angela and Becca's giveaway. So leaving me a comment won't qualify you for entering their contest. 

A NEW Emotional Thesaurus Book is Coming!

As many of you know, I am a big fan of Angela Ackerman's and Becca Puglisi's blog, Writer's Helping Writers, their Emotional Thesauri, and their incredible online tool, One Stop for Writers. Not only is this dynamic duo dedicated to helping other writers--their materials are excellent. (See their Pinterest board for a simple of their resources.)

Their new book is coming out on February 19!

This is the Amazon blurb:

The bestselling Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression (Second Edition), often hailed as "the gold standard for writers" and credited with transforming how writers craft emotion, has now been expanded to include 55 new entries!  

One of the biggest struggles for writers is how to convey emotion to readers in a unique and compelling way. When showing our characters' feelings, we often use the first idea that comes to mind, and they end up smiling, nodding, and frowning too much.  

If you need inspiration for creating characters' emotional responses that are personalized and evocative, this ultimate show-don't-tell guide for emotion can help. It includes:  

• Body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for 130 emotions that cover a range of intensity from mild to severe, providing innumerable options for individualizing a character's reactions.

• A breakdown of the biggest emotion-related writing problems and how to overcome them.

• Advice on what should be done before drafting to make sure your characters' emotions will be realistic and consistent.

• Instruction for how to show hidden feelings and emotional subtext through dialogue and nonverbal cues.

• And much more!

The Emotion Thesaurus, in its easy-to-navigate list format, will inspire you to create stronger, fresher character expressions and engage readers from your first page to your last. Use The Emotion Thesaurus to go deeper to craft compelling descriptions that match each character’s personality and emotional range.

If that's not enough, here's more:

• Euphoria, vindicated, and schadenfreude are just a few of the new entries. You can also browse the Table of Contents to see all 130 emotions in this volume.
• If you already subscribe to One Stop for Writers this thesaurus will be available to you in February.
• Angela and Becca are celebrating their new EMOTION THESAURUS (Second Edition) with FREE EDUCATION! Stop in to grab the link to a recorded webinar on showing emotion: https://writershelpingwriters.net/2019/01/announcing-the-emotion-thesaurus-second-edition/ 
• The instructive portion of the book has more than doubled and includes new material on how to power up dialogue with emotion, use subtext and other techniques to show hidden emotions, what character development is necessary to determine emotional range so actions are authentic to each person's nature, and more.

You can pre-order on Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, and Indiebound. Get read to add it to your stack of Thesauri! 
     
                  

If you preorder, send a screenshot of the order to this special email address and you’ll receive a bonus PDF of entries that Angela and Becca completed but chose not to add to the 2nd edition.

The dynamic duo, Angela and Becca, presented together at
the CARWA workshop in 2016.

Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them: An Audio Book Review

As most of you know, I generally review books for children or teens. But every once in awhile I share books for adults. This time, I'm tackling a serious topic in a book by psychologist, Dr. Susan Forward: Men Who Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them.

Before listening to this book, I had never heard the word misogynistic and had no idea that it meant "reflecting a distrust, hatred, or mistreatment of women." Nor did I have any idea how prevalent this syndrome is today.

Originally published in 1986, it was re-released as a paper back in 2002 and is now available in audio format through Tantor Media. The narration by Randye Kaye was clear and easy to follow. 

REVIEW

In Part I, Dr. Forward describes the symptoms of a misogynist relationship through family histories of her patients as well as stories she heard time and again as a talk show host. The women find themselves the recipients of ridicule, are always seen at fault if conflicts arise (and what marriage doesn't have conflict?), and are frequently afraid of the men in their lives because they are threatened either verbally or physically. As a result, these women walk on eggs; not wanting to upset their partner, and often give up important relationships, activities or even their jobs in order to not rock the boat.

Many women ignore early warnings that their relationship has serious problems and fantasize about how they can make things better. Not wanting to ruin romantic dreams, the reality of the trouble these women experience frequently gets shoved into the background. It takes great courage and strength to face these problems--or if the problems go on long enough, the woman becomes desperate to receive help. 

The second part of the book is devoted to advice to women who are in these types of relationships. This comprehensive section includes

clarifying relationships to remove oneself from self-blame, recognizing when a man is emotionally unstable and wanting a woman to be dependent on him (and why), understanding how a woman can't change a man's basic personality but how she can set limits and respond to his threats. It also included reflections on what leads a man to becoming a misogynist. Questionnaires and visualization exercises give the reader opportunities to examine herself, her relationship, and how to create new responses to the man in her life. Dr. Forward handles many tough topics, including how to handle physical threats to the woman or her children.

As a Christian, I thought Dr. Forward made many valid points about setting boundaries and parameters. Her advice to women not to try to fix the other person but instead to acknowledge her own emotions, negative thoughts, and behaviors, frees a woman to take responsibility for herself. I disagreed with Forward's negative use of the word submissive. Although the concept can easily be misused, within the contest of a Biblical and loving marriage submission takes on a positive meaning and direction. 

A NOTE TO WRITERS

As I was listening to the book, I thought how it would be a great resource for writers who are exploring the effects of abuse on men and women. As I have mentioned before, One Stop for Writers, the brainchild of Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman, is a collection of helps for writers including all of their thesauri. I thought particularly of The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, and how it digs deep into many wounds related to destructive female/male relationships. If you are writing a book that includes a misogynistic relationship, I would encourage you to read this book to deepen your understanding of what your characters have experienced.

RECOMMENDATION 

This is a must read for anyone who is involved in a relationship with a man who is very controlling and threatening. No giveaway this time; my copy went to a friend.

AUDIO SNIPPET

To hear a snippet from the book, click here.

A Customized Emotional Wound Created for Half-Truths!

I don't typically blog twice in one week, but I couldn't wait to share some news with you. Remember when I posted about Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi's new Emotional Thesaurus two weeks ago?

A few days later I received this email from Angela:

I am thrilled that you've won a Custom Description Thesaurus Entry from Becca and I for the Emotional Wound Thesaurus. So basically, you can pick any wound we haven't covered in our book or at One Stop for Writers, and we will write it for you. This is perfect if you have a character that you want to dig a bit deeper into.  Just follow the link to see which ones we have, and if there's one you would like us to explore for you, we will. 

I immediately returned her email with backstory about Half-Truths and some ideas. The following week the equally amazing Becca Puglisi (honestly, I don't know if this pair ever sleeps!) posted this on One Stop for Writers. How cool is this?

DISCOVERING HIDDEN INFORMATION ABOUT ONE'S ANCESTRY 

NOTES:

Like all wounds, this one can have varying effects on the individual depending on the circumstances. In some cases, the person may discover something that isn't a bad thing (such as the truth about a racial or cultural heritage) but it rocks their world due to how it reshapes their identity. This could be especially challenging if they grew up being taught specific racist beliefs and now they must reconcile with this new information that places them within that same group. In other instances, they may discover something unethical or unconscionable in their family history that they'll have to come to grips with. Another factor to consider is how the character discovers the information. Was it deliberately kept from them or simply an unknown? Do they stumble upon it unexpectedly or was there suspicion in their minds all along? Do they discover it on their own or is it uncovered by someone who goes public with it, forcing the character to process the information before they're ready to do so? As always, examine the event from many different angles to ensure it has the proper impact.

EXAMPLES:

Learning that...

• One descends from a different race than one has always associated with
• One's family was never part of the heritage or culture it was supposed to have belonged to
• One is part of the family because of an unsavory act (through adultery or rape, when a forebear blackmailed or bought their way into the family, etc.)
• One's ancestors played a part in a genocide (such as the Nazi holocaust or the Khmer Rouge Cambodian genocide)
• One's ancestors were responsible for the oppression or enslavement of others
• One's ancestors were part of a far-reaching political cover-up

BASIC NEEDS OFTEN COMPROMISED BY THIS WOUND:

love and belonging, esteem and recognition, self-actualization

FALSE BELIEFS THAT COULD BE EMBRACED:

I'm not the person I thought I was.

My entire life is a sham.

I don't belong anywhere.

If others find out about this, they'll reject me.

If this part of my life is a lie, then nothing is certain.

My blood makes me guilty by association (if notoriety is discovered in one's family roots).

If I reveal what I've learned to my family members, it will destroy us. So it's best to keep it secret.

THE CHARACTER MAY FEAR:

Losing their sense of identity; not knowing who they are

Being condemned because of their ancestors' actions or beliefs

The family being torn apart by the information

Being ostracized by the family if one shares what one has learned

That, genetically or ideologically, one will become like one's notorious ancestor(s)

That more identity-based falsehoods exist

Rejection by the family when they learn the truth about one's heritage

POSSIBLE RESPONSES AND RESULTS:

Sitting on the information until one can figure out what to do with it

Choosing to protect the secret rather than reveal it

Refusing to accept the truth; living in denial

Becoming conflicted when asked by family members to keep the information to oneself

Rebelling against one's heritage or culture as a way of separating oneself from it

Making excuses for a notorious ancestor's actions

Withdrawing from the family

Feeling confused about one's identity

Examining one's physical features or those of one's family members looking for signs of the hidden heritage

Pulling away from anyone clearly associated with a certain ancestry; preferring racial or cultural ambiguity

Questioning other valued parts of one's ancestry

Lashing out at anyone who knew about the secret

Harboring resentment against family members one believed should have known the truth

Shunning former passions or interests associated with one's family or heritage

Becoming apathetic; losing interest in one's hobbies or activities

Adopting the belief that there is no absolute truth

Becoming skeptical of everything

Falling into depression

Changes in appetite due to stress; rapid weight losses or gains

Difficulty sleeping

Avoiding the truth through drug or alcohol usage

Rejecting everything about one's heritage to distance oneself from the thing one can't come to grips with (throwing the baby out with the bathwater)

Thinking and acting prejudicially against people from one's former heritage or culture

Becoming obsessed with the notorious figure(s) from one's past

Seeking wise and impartial counsel to help one make sense of the situation

Attempting to make amends or restitution for any wrongdoings by one's ancestors

Studying one's true heritage to begin to understand it

Recognizing that one can be proud of one's heritage without accepting the actions or ideology of some of its past members

Empathizing with and reaching out to other people who share one's circumstance

Realizing that one's heritage is only one part of a person's identity

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES THAT MAY RESULT:

ADAPTABLE, APPRECIATIVE, BOLD, COURAGEOUS, CURIOUS, DISCREET, EMPATHETIC, GENTLE, HONEST, HONORABLE, HUMBLE, INSPIRATIONAL, JUST, PENSIVE, PHILOSOPHICAL, PRIVATE, RESPONSIBLE, SOCIALLY AWARE, STUDIOUS, SUPPORTIVE, TOLERANT

NEGATIVE TRAITS THAT MAY RESULT:

ABRASIVE, APATHETIC, CALLOUS, CHILDISH, COWARDLY, CRUEL, CYNICAL, DEFENSIVE, DISHONEST, DISLOYAL, DISRESPECTFUL, HYPOCRITICAL, INSECURE, JEALOUS, OBSESSIVE, PARANOID, PREJUDICED, REBELLIOUS, RESENTFUL, TEMPERAMENTAL, WITHDRAWN

TRIGGERS THAT MIGHT AGGRAVATE THIS WOUND:

A festival, parade, or other celebration of the heritage one thought one belonged to

Learning about other lies—even those with good intentions—told by family members (about the severity of an aunt's illness, covering for an uncle's drunken binge, the existence of Santa Claus, etc.)

A reunion or holiday gathering where the family heritage will be honored

Hearing news stories about a regime or corporation covering up the truth

Seeing others struggling with important facets of their identities (i.e., cultural, sexual orientation, religious, etc.)

OPPORTUNITIES TO FACE OR OVERCOME THIS WOUND:

Seeing someone of the heritage whose people were oppressed by one's ancestors and wanting to help him or her

Being asked by one's child about their ancestry and having to decide what to tell them

Having a chance to right a wrong by telling one's story though it means making it known to the world

Uncovering a secret at work or in a trusted organization and having to decide what to do with the information.

Didn't Becca do an amazing job? Trust me, I'll be pouring over this entry and mining every nugget!  By the way, if you haven't checked out One Stop, here is my blog post giving you a window into how I use this comprehensive writing resource. 

The Setting Thesaurus Books Are Here: Help Becca And Angela Celebrate!

Readers of this blog are no strangers to one of my favorite online writing resources, One Stop for Writers.  Now, the co-creators of that marvelous website, Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman, have added two more thesauri (yes, that really is an acceptable form of the plural!) to their awesome collection of self-published books. (Here is Becca's post on Setting through Personification. It'll give you an idea of the expertise these ladies offer the writing community.)

Now, in their own words, this is what you can look forward to in these thesauri:

"As we storytellers sit before the keyboard to craft our magic, we're usually laser-focused on the two titans of fiction: plot and character. Yet, there's a third element that impacts almost every aspect of the tale, one we really need to home in on as well: the setting.

"The setting is so much more than a painted backdrop, more than a stage for our characters to tromp across during the scene. Used to its full advantage, the setting can characterize the story's cast, supply mood, steer the plot, provide challenges and conflict, trigger emotions, help us deliver those necessary snippets of backstory...and that's just scratching the surface. So the question is this: how do we unleash the full power of the setting within our stories?


"Well, there's some good news on that front. Two new books have released this week that may change the description game for writers. The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to City Spaces and The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Personal and Natural Spaces look at the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds a character might experience within 225 different contemporary settings. And this is only the start of what these books offer writers.

 "In fact, swing by and check out this hidden entry from the Rural Setting Thesaurus: Ancient Ruins.
 
"And there's one more thing you might want to know more about....


"We are celebrating our double release with a fun event going on from June 13-20th called ROCK THE VAULT.

"At the heart of the Writers Helping Writers site is a tremendous vault, and we have been hoarding prizes of epic writerly proportions.

A safe full of prizes, ripe for the taking...if the writing community can work together to unlock it, of course.

"Ready to do your part? Stop by Writers Helping Writers to find out more!"

Angela and Becca are encouraging their readers to post fanciful pictures of their favorite thesaurus. Here's my first attempt:

What are you cooking up
with your thesaurus?

These two awesome ladies plan to encourage people to share their love of all books thesaurus in nature. Take a picture of your favorite thesaurus and post it online with the #myfavoritethesaurus hashtag.  If they get to 500 original pictures they'll give away all the prizes locked in the vault. It's free to enter, but the more people who post pictures, the more prizes can be won. 

Here is one of the many resources you'll find on their Pinterest board: 

If you are a One Stop subscriber, don't panic. All the material found in these two new thesauri is right at your fingertips. Just used it myself last week!

One Stop for Writers: An Online Library Like No Other

As writers, we know how much blood, sweat, tears and perseverance it takes to "birth" a book. Countless hours of research, writing, and revising are behind every well-honed book. 

Every once in a while, something comes along that makes this process easier. I'm happy to share a brand new resource with all of you. 

Last week, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, authors of The Emotion Thesaurus, (as well as other great writing resources listed below) and Lee Powell, creator of Scrivener for Windows, unveiled their new powerhouse online library, One Stop For Writers. It is filled with one-of-a kind descriptive thesaurus collections, tools, tutorials and much more. Each one is geared towards providing the resources you need to strengthen your prose and help you write more efficiently. 

For more information, please go to Writers Helping Writers (which by the way, is a terrific blog that you should subscribe to. Their weekly posts are outstanding). Find out about One Stop and sign up for prizes. There's even a 50% coupon for any first time subscriber. 
Here's another link to their time-worthy blog.

To whet your appetite, here are some of the resources you'll find there:

Go to their Pinterest boards for more freebies and to their Dark Writing Prompts  for, well you can guess what you'll find there.

And check out this fun video!

The internet writing community is a very generous place. Thank you Angela, Rebecca and Lee for being outstanding examples. 

******

For more writing resources, here's a list of books co-authored by Angela and Becca:

The Emotion Thesaurus

Emotion Amplifiers: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression 

The Positive Traits Thesaurus 

The Negative Traits Thesaurus