How to Make Readers Care about your Story’s Characters
By Gail Tagarro / 5 September 2018 / 2 minutes of reading
Writers' Resources
Next-level Thesaurus
You've no doubt heard of, and you possibly use Roget’s International Thesaurus. It has been a loyal companion guide to me over the years, whether I'm wearing my editor's or my writer's hat! It's so useful to be able to look up both synonyms and antonyms.
A more recent addition to my reference book collection is The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.
If you want to learn how to make your readers care about your story's characters, this little gem will help you improve that aspect of your writing.
My erstwhile client, David Alomes, who wrote the sci-fi novel First Adult, recommended The Emotion Thesaurus to me a few years ago.
I downloaded the e-Book version (link above). You can also buy the print version: The Emotion Thesaurus.
Show Don't Tell
One of the first sections I came across when I first used the book is an issue I frequently bring to the attention of the lovely writers I work with: showing not telling. The book gives great examples, leaving you in no doubt how to handle this tricky yet easily fixable dilemma. When you get it right, it is immensely satisfying.
Do you want to know how to make readers care about your story's characters but you're finding it a struggle? Then I do recommend you consider this book. As the synopsis says, ‘One of the biggest problem areas for writers is conveying a character’s emotions to the reader in a unique, compelling way. This book comes to the rescue by highlighting 75 emotions and listing the possible body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for each.’
Seventy-five emotions! Well, that's a good start...
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