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By:
Angela Ackerman,
on 4/25/2016
Blog:
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As writers know, the goal of any book is to make the reader FEEL. We want them to empathize with our characters, feel pulled in by the events and become immersed in the story. When a reader’s experience is emotional, it becomes meaningful, transcending mere entertainment.
Characters are the emotional heart of a story. Why? Because through them, writers can remind readers of their own emotional past. It becomes an intimate, shared experience that bonds them together.
Sure, readers have probably never been terrorized by a serial killer, vampire or demon in their own lives, but they know what it is to feel terror. Likewise, a roguish yet handsome highwayman has likely not pursued them in a roar of love and lust, yet they know what love and lust feel like.
As people, we have an unending spectrum of emotional experiences. We know sorrow and confusion, humiliation, fear and pride. We have experienced satisfaction, confidence, worry and dread. As writers, it is up to us to convey these feelings through our characters so that our description awakens deep and meaningful memories within readers.
Showing what a character is feeling can be difficult for writers. Here are 3 tips to help ensure readers share the character’s emotional ride:
1) Prime your readers
Spend a bit of time early on showing what has led to your character’s emotional sensitivity. Let’s say themes of betrayal are key to your book & the character’s ‘dark moment.’ If you alluded to a past betrayal by the main character’s mother in a scene before this point, then your heroine seeing an old toy from her childhood will become an instant trigger for those past feelings.
2) Focus on what causes the emotional reaction
Sometimes the best way to bring about an emotional moment is to describe what is causing the feeling. For example, let’s say Alexa likes Ethan, the boy next door. She is trying to work up the courage to show him she wants to be more than friends when she spots her rival Jessica at his locker. If you describe how Jessica touches his arm when she laughs, steps closer as he speaks, fiddles with her low necklace to draw his attention to her cleavage, etc. then your reader will feel that jealousy build even without showing Alexa’s thoughts or physical cues.
3) Think about how you might feel
If you are drawing a blank on how to show what your character is feeling, think about how the emotion you’re trying to describe makes you feel. Dig into your past to a time you felt embarrassed, or angry, frustrated, excited…whichever emotion is the one your character is currently facing. What sort of thoughts went through your head? What did your body do? Did you openly show how you felt through gestures and body language, or did you try to hide it? Then, decide if some of your experience can be adapted to your character. Emotion is strongest when it comes from a place of truth.
For more tips on emotional showing, have a peek through your Emotion Thesaurus, or browse the tutorials and expanded Emotion Thesaurus (15 new entries) at One Stop for Writers.
The post How To Share Your Protagonist’s Deepest Feelings With Readers appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™.
I’m reading this fascinating book right now about the human brain (yes, really!) that details how our gray matter works, and how we can evolve ourselves through concentrated intention and awareness. One of the terrific nuggets is the belief that every emotion, good or bad, sends a flood of chemicals through the body, and that repeated “doses” of this cocktail turns our brain into a bit of an addict, making it hard to break an emotional habit should we wish to.
What does this mean? Well, if you are trying to claw past feelings of low self-worth brought on by past trauma, or you’re determined to think positively and fight the cloud of pessimism that always seems to envelope you, your brain may actually work against you. Why? Because you’re denying it the rush of chemicals it’s gotten used to. So, craving a hit, it hammers your mind with defeatist thoughts (you’ll never be good enough, so why try? or, someone else would have handled that better) which encourage you to “give in,” and feel the very thing (emotion/chemical mix) you’re trying to avoid.
Anyway, this is an oversimplification so I recommend reading the book, but it got me thinking about WHY change is so hard for us, and therefore our characters as well.
First off, change is HUGE.
It triggers an emotional response because we need time to process it. In essence, we’re giving up one idea for something else. It’s the death of one thing, and the birth of another.
Because of this, characters facing change may experience the 5 Stages of Grief:
SHOCK & DENIAL:
What? I don’t need to change! Everything’s fine, F-I-N-E.
ANGER:
How dare you tell me I must change! I’ll cut you, I swear.
DEPRESSION:
My life is over–nothing will ever be the same. I am losing who I am. #cuewallowing
BARGAINING:
But…what if I just do X? That’s good enough, right? Come on, help a bro out.
ACCEPTANCE:
Well, this is the new normal I guess. Better get on with it.
And, in some circumstances, characters will skip the queue and go right to Acceptance, because the change represents something they have longed for or really need. They may feel RELIEF, GRATITUDE or even EXCITEMENT.
But much more often, characters resist, creating a beautiful tug-of-war between Inner Motivation and Inner Conflict, which adds story tension.
Here are some of the common reasons people (and therefore characters) fight change:
Comfort Zone Issues (FEAR)
One of the biggest reasons to resist is our need to maintain the status quo. The comfort zone is known and safe. We like it here. Sure, it’s not perfect, and sometimes it may feel like we’re in a rut, but we’re used to it and know how things works. But…out there in the badlands? Who knows what kind of clown-crazy goes on. Maybe it’s better, but maybe it’s worse. We just don’t know, and neither do our characters, and flight-or-fight instincts can push us to pick what we know over what we don’t.
Threats To The Status Quo (RESENTMENT)
Remember that epic party you threw when your parents went out of town, but then the cops came and busted it up? Okay, well maybe you don’t, but either way, no one likes it when someone or something messes up a good thing. If there’s a threat to your character’s dominance, authority, or control, it’s rarely well received. Your character may not only oppose the change, they might fight back, hard.
It Upsets Personal Autonomy (ANGER)
Many of us want to carve our own path, so when someone shows up to tell us we can’t, it causes serious friction. Characters will also naturally resist change if it means giving up freedom or control, unless they are self-aware enough to see it makes sense for the greater good.
It Requires A Leap Of Faith (UNCERTAINTY)
When it comes to our well-being, we want to glimpse the end zone or see data points before making big decisions that affect not only us but possibly others we care about as well. And, like us, if a proposed change has too many unknowns, or could have unmapped side effects, most characters will adopt a “wait and see” mentality and delay decisions, hoping more information will be forthcoming and allow them to make a more informed choice.
A Lack of Confidence (SKEPTICISM)
Sometimes a change isn’t bad, but the plan in place or the person manning the helm is. If a character doesn’t have faith in the leader or feels the plan is somehow fundamentally flawed, they will resist change…especially if they have a better idea on how to move forward.
Painful Past Lessons (RELUCTANCE & DREAD)
Sometimes change is a merry-go-round, and characters who have ridden this particular ride before and it didn’t end well are reluctant to saddle up again. The deeper the pain, the more resistance the character will display. Wounds are powerful and can easily override logic, leaving characters blind to an important truth even if it is staring them in the face.
Change isn’t easy…and often comes at a price
If you’d like help planning your character’s emotional roller coaster as they navigate a change arc, you may find our Story Map tool at One Stop For Writers really helpful. And while you’re there, check out the Emotion Thesaurus and the 15 new entries we’ve added to it.
Happy writing!
How does your hero or heroine resist change? Let me know in the comments!
The post The Emotion Roller Coaster: Why Characters Resist Change appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™.
By:
Angela Ackerman,
on 3/22/2016
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A friend of mine asked me for a list of posts that I would like shared online (how nice, right?) and it prompted me to visit my website stats to see what posts were the most popular with those who visit.
This in turn led to the bright idea that instead of just sending her the list, I should share it here, too!
If you are looking for helpful posts in different areas of writing and marketing, these TOP 5 LISTS are ones visitors seem to enjoy the most. If you find any of them especially helpful, feel free to pass them on to others, too. 
CHARACTERS
The Four Types of Character Flaws
Personality Traits: Building a Balanced Character
Lessons From James Scott Bell: Characters That Jump Off The Page
Finding Your Character’s Weakness
The Subtle Knife: Writing Characters Readers Trust But Shouldn’t
EMOTIONS
Hidden Emotions: How To Tell Readers What Characters Don’t Want To Show
Writing Emotion: Does Your Hero Shrug, Smile & Frown Too Much?
Writing Extreme Emotion Without The Melodrama
Show, Don’t Tell: Revealing True Emotion In Dialogue
3 Steps to Taking Your Character Further and Deeper With…Anger?
EMOTIONAL WOUNDS
Understanding Character Wounds: A List Of Common Themes
How To Uncover Your Character’s Emotional Wound
Emotional Wounds Thesaurus
Why Is Your Character’s Emotional Wound So Important?
How Your Hero’s Past Pain Will Determine His Character Flaws
CHARACTER ARC (MOTIVATION, GOALS, GROWTH)
Planning a Novel: Character Arc In A Nutshell
5 Surprising Ways Regret Can Deepen Your Hero’s Arc
The Importance of Psychological Development in Character Growth
How Your Character’s Failures Can Map A Route To Self-Growth
The Connection Between Emotional Wounds and Basic Needs
STRUCTURE & TECHNIQUE
Writing Patterns Into Fiction: Scene and Sequel
Story Midpoint & Mirror Moment: Using Heroes’ Emotions To Transform Them
James Scott Bell: The “Write From The Middle” Method
5 Important Ways to Use Symbolism in Your Story
Inside One Stop For Writers: Unique Templates & Worksheets
MARKETING
A Book Marketing Truth Few Experts Will Admit
5 Steps To Find Your Book’s Ideal Audience
Creative Book Launches That Command Attention
Need Online Exposure? Asking Bloggers For Help
Marketing For Introverts
OUR TOP POSTS LOCATED ON OTHER BLOGS
How To Research Your Book Smarter, Instead of Harder
Eight Ways To Make Your Character More Plausible
The 7-Step Business Plan For Writers
Flaws, Emotional Trauma & The Character’s Wound
Brainstorming The Hero Before You Start Writing
Hopefully there are a few post here that catch your eye and can help you with whatever you are currently wrestling with.
And what is the #1 visited page on our site?
TOOLS FOR WRITERS
There’s a reason for it too…if you haven’t visited, I recommend you do. There are many free tools and handouts that have been downloaded well over 50,000 times.
Happy writing, all!
Image: carloscuellito87 @ Pixabay
The post 35 Posts To Help Writers Elevate Their Craft And Marketing Skills appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™.
By:
Angela Ackerman,
on 1/26/2016
Blog:
The Bookshelf Muse
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As writers, we all want to encourage a powerful bond to form between our audience and the protagonist so that readers care about the hero or heroine and root for them to succeed. How we do this is through empathy, which is a feeling of understanding and connection that comes about when we successfully put the reader into the character’s emotional shoes.
The Power of Vulnerability
Vulnerability is a necessary element to building empathy, but like all powerful things, it is a blade with two sides. On one hand, as people, we connect to displays of vulnerability because it gives us a glimpse at what lies beneath the mask a person wears day-to-day. When someone reveals a truth, an emotion, a deep belief or their biggest fear, they expose their heart to someone else. The willingness to be vulnerable (a necessary ingredient for love and intimacy, for example) is about saying, “this is who I am. I am sharing this real self with you.” It is self-acceptance and courage at the highest level, the purest form.
But vulnerability means being open, and that means risk. We’re going out on a limb, opening ourselves to whatever comes. Pain. Emotional wounds. Judgement, blame, criticism, rejection, humiliation, exploitation, and a host of other things no one wants to feel. This is why it is human nature for people to try to avoid feeling vulnerable and to act strong, even when we are not.
To create credible characters, we want to mirror the real world. This means that like real people, most characters will resist showing their vulnerable side, too.
Do you see the conundrum here? We need to show readers our character’s vulnerable side to help empathy form, but as mirrors of real people, the character will fight us, refusing to let down their guard and acknowledge their soft spots. What a head trip, right? Here we thought we authors were in charge, but nope.
Luckily, authors tend to be, er, sneaky. (Okay, okay, manipulative.)
When our characters are being all alpha tough and refusing to let people in, we can turn once again to the real world for help. Some situations just make a person feel vulnerable. There’s no choice. So, if we identify “universal triggers” for vulnerability, it won’t matter how stubborn our characters are. Simply by deploying a trigger, we’ll be able to place them in a situation that leaves them feeling exposed.
Through their actions, their thoughts and by making them look within at their greatest fears, readers will see a POV character’s soft side. Better still, because these are real world events, readers themselves will know exactly how the situation can lead to that feeling of vulnerability.
Here are some ways to make your character feel – and appear – vulnerable, whether they want to or not.
Through not knowing what will happen next.
People crave control, of having power over what the future will bring. Take that away and you are left with the feeling of not knowing, of having no influence or say in the outcome. By placing the power in another’s hands through choices, actions and decisions, you rob your character of control. The resulting feelings of frustration, anxiety and even despair are all ones that reinforce vulnerability. Readers have all felt a loss of control at some point and so will deeply identify with the character’s range of feelings.
Through the mistakes they make.
Despite our best efforts, we all make mistakes. Not only do we hate it when one happens, we tend to beat ourselves up about it, growing frustrated and disappointed for not being smarter, stronger or better. Characters who make mistakes feel authentic, and it humanizes them to readers. Besides, mistakes create great plot complications & conflict!
Through personal failures.
Not succeeding at what one has set out to do is one of the most heartbreaking moments an individual can experience, and it is the same for our characters. A hero’s personal failure, especially one that has repercussions for others, is one way to break down those steel walls and show our hero as vulnerable and human.
Through a death or loss.
A deep, personal loss is never easy. Often a person only realizes what they had or what something meant when it’s gone. Again, this is a universal feeling, something all readers can identify with. Written well, seeing the hero experience loss will remind readers of their own past experiences. Death is final, but other losses can be potent as well. The loss of hope is particularly wounding.
By having one’s role challenged.
Whatever the character’s role is (be it a leader, a provider, a source of comfort , etc.), having it challenged can be devastating. Roles are tied to one’s identity: the husband who loses his job may no longer be able to provide for his family. The leader who made a bad decision must witness the resulting lack of faith from his followers. The mother who fails to keep her child safe feels unsuited for motherhood. When a role is challenged in some way through choices or circumstances, it creates self-doubt, making the character feel vulnerable in a way readers identify with.
By casting doubt on what one believes.
Each person has set beliefs about the universe, how the world works, and the people in it, allowing them to understand their place in the big picture and instilling feelings of belonging. When knowledge surfaces that puts trusted beliefs into question, the character suffers disillusionment, a powerful feeling that can make them feel adrift in their own life.
Disillusionment is an emotional blow and everyone has suffered one at some point. This can be a good way to trigger that feeling of shared experience of vulnerability between character and reader.
By experiencing fear or worry for another.
This ties into that loss of control I mentioned above, because one directly or indirectly has a lack of influence over circumstances affecting a loved one. Fear and worry can also create road blocks about how best to proceed. It’s one thing to take risks that only affect oneself, and another to take risks that will impact others. The paralysis a person feels over what decision to make when it impacts relationships is an experience readers understand.
By having one’s secrets brought out in the open.
Secrets are usually hidden for a reason and are often the source of guilt or shame. When one’s secrets are revealed, the character is stripped of their security, and they believe others will view them differently as a result. Readers can empathize with this raw feeling of being exposed. (This link has lots more information about secrets.)
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000046_00058]](http://i2.wp.com/writershelpingwriters.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Emotion-Thesaurus-400-border.jpg?resize=211%2C300)
Showing vulnerability is all about emotion, so if you have it, pull out your Emotion Thesaurus the next time you want to find a unique way to show, not tell, that feeling of being exposed.
As you can see, there are many other ways to bring out a character’s vulnerable side. What techniques do you use on your cast of characters?
The post Grow Reader Empathy By Showing Your Protagonist Feeling Vulnerable appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™.
By:
Angela Ackerman,
on 10/15/2015
Blog:
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It’s NaNoWriMo Season, and that means a ton of writers are planning their novels. Or, at the very least (in the case of you pantsers) thinking about their novel.
Whether you plot or pants, if you don’t want to end up in No Man’s Land halfway to 50K, it is often helpful to have a solid foundation of ideas about your book. So, let’s look at the biggie of a novel: Character Arc. If you plot, make some notes, copious notes! If you pants, spend some time mulling these over in the shower leading up to November 1st. Your characters will thank you for it!
Are you excited? I hope so. You’re about to create a new reality!
Can you imagine it, that fresh page that’s full of potential? Your main character is going to…um, do things…in your novel. A great many things! Exciting things. Dangerous things. There might even be a giant penguin with lasers shooting out of its eyes, who knows?
But here’s a fact, my writing friend…if you don’t know WHY your protagonist is doing what he’s doing, readers may not care enough to read beyond a chapter or two.
The M word…Motivation
It doesn’t matter what cool and trippy things a protagonist does in a story. If readers don’t understand the WHY behind a character’s actions, they won’t connect to him. We’re talking about Motivation, something that wields a lot of power in any story. It is the thread that weaves through a protagonist’s every thought, decision, choice and action. It propels him forward in every scene.
Because of this, the question, What does my character want? should always be in the front of your mind as you write. More importantly, as the author, you should always know the answer.
Outer Motivation – THE BIG GOAL (What does your character want?)
Your character must have a goal of some kind, something they are aiming to achieve. It might be to win a prestigious award, to save one’s daughter from kidnappers, or to leave an abusive husband and start a new life. Whatever goal you choose, it should be WORTHY. The reader should understand why this goal is important to the hero or heroine, and believe they deserve to achieve it.
Inner Motivation – UNFULFILLED NEEDS (Why does the protagonist want to achieve this particular goal?)
Fiction should be a mirror of real life, and in the real world, HUMAN NEEDS DRIVE BEHAVIOR. Yes, for you psychology majors, I am talking about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs. Physical needs, safety and security, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization are all part of what it is to be human.
If you take one of these needs away, once the lack is felt strongly enough, a person will be DRIVEN to gain it back. The need becomes so acute it can no longer be ignored–it is a hole that must be filled.
If someone was threatening your family (safety and security) what might you do to keep loved ones safe? If each day you went to a workplace where you were treated poorly by your boss (esteem), how long until you decide to look for a new job? These needs are real for us, and so they should be real for our characters. Ask yourself what is missing from your character’s life. Why do they feel incomplete? The story becomes their journey to fill this lack.
Outer Conflict – THE WHO or WHAT (that stands in the way of your hero achieving his goal)
If your story has an antagonist or villain, you want to spend some solid time thinking about who they are, why they’re standing in the hero’s way, and what motivates them to do what they do.
The reason is simple…the stronger your antagonist is, the harder your hero must work to defeat him. This also means the desire of achieving the goal must outweigh any hardship you throw at your hero, otherwise he’ll give up. Quit. And if he does, you’ll have a Tragedy on your hands, not the most popular ending.
Our job as authors is to challenge our heroes, and create stakes high enough that quitting isn’t an option. Often this means personalizing the stakes, because few people willingly put their head in an oven. So make failure not an option. Give failure a steep price.
The problem is that with most stories, to fight and win, your character must change. And change is hard. Change is something most people avoid, and why? Because it means taking an honest look within and seeing one’s own flaws. It means feeling vulnerable…something most of us seek to avoid. This leads us to one of the biggest cornerstones of Character Arc.
Inner Conflict – The STRUGGLE OVER CHANGE (an internal battle between fear and desire, of staying chained to the past or to seek the future)
To achieve a big goal, it makes sense that a person has to apply themselves and attack it from a place of strength, right? Getting to that high position is never easy, not in real life, or in the fictional world. In a novel, the protagonist has to see himself objectively, and then be willing to do a bit of housecleaning.
What do I mean by that?
Characters, like people, bury pain. Emotional wounds, fears, and vulnerability are all shoved down deep, and emotional armor donned. No one wants to feel weak, and when someone takes an emotional hit after a negative experience, this is exactly what happens. They feel WEAK. Vulnerable.
The Birth of Flaws
What is emotional armor? Character Flaws. Behaviors, attitudes and beliefs that a character adopts as a result of a wounding event. Why does this happen? Because flaws minimize expectations and keep people (and therefore their ability to cause further hurt) at a distance. But in doing so, flaws create dysfunction, damage the protagonist’s relationships and prevent his personal growth. And due to their negative nature, flaws also tend to get in the way, tripping the character up and prevent him from success.
Facing Down Fear
Fear, a deeply rooted one, is at the heart of any flaw. The character believes that the same painful experience (a wound or wounds) will happen again if unchecked. This belief is a deeply embedded fear that blinds them to all else, including what is holding them back from achievement and happiness.
To move forward, the protagonist must see his flaws for what they are: negative traits that harm, not help. He must choose to shed his flaws and face his fears. By doing this, he gains perspective, and views the past in a new light. Wounds no longer hold power. False beliefs are seen for the untruths they are. The character achieves insight, internal growth, and fortified by this new set of beliefs, is able to see what must be done to move forward. They finally are free from their fear, and are ready to make the changes necessary to achieve their goal.
Why Does Character Arc Hold Such Power Over Readers?
This evolution from “something missing” to “feeling complete” is known as achieving personal growth in real life, which is why readers find Character Arc so compelling to read about. As people, we are all on a path to becoming someone better, someone more whole and complete, but it is a journey of a million steps. Watching a character achieve the very thing we all hope to is very rewarding, don’t you think?
Need a bit more help with some of the pieces of Character Arc? Try these:
Why Is Your Character’s Emotional Wound So Important?
Emotional Wounds: A List Of Common Themes
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus
The Connection Between Wounds and Basic Human Needs
Flaws, Emotional Trauma and The Character’s Wound
Make Your Hero Complex By Choosing The Right Flaws
Explaining Fears, Wounds, False Beliefs and Basic Needs
And did you know…
The bestselling books, The Emotion Thesaurus, The Negative Trait Thesaurus and The Positive Trait Thesaurus are all part of One Stop For Writers, along with many other upgraded and enhanced description collections?
You can also access many workshops and templates to help with Character Arc, or take our Character Wound & Internal Growth Generators for a spin.
Are you NaNoing this year? How is your Character Arc coming along? Let me know in the comments!
The post Planning a Novel: Character Arc In A Nutshell appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™.
By:
Angela Ackerman,
on 10/9/2015
Blog:
The Bookshelf Muse
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It’s One Stop For Writers launch week, and we are celebrating up a storm! Have you entered for one of seven 1-Year Subscriptions to One Stop For Writers, or the Pay-it-forward Education Gift for a workshop seat in writing coach Jami Gold’s terrific online class? If not, follow this link for all the details, and good luck!
As some of you know, the heart of One Stop For Writers is our signature Descriptive Thesaurus Collection. Visitors to this blog (and The Bookshelf Muse before it) have watched Becca and I create highly-sensory, real-life description lists for many different areas (Character Emotions, Settings, Symbolism and Weather, just to name a few.) Delving deep to understand these aspects of description allows us to write rich, compelling stories. So, when writers asked us to, we started turning a few into books.
Now we’re writers, and we love books! But the list format we use isn’t always an easy read in digital format, and often requires a lot of scrolling to see an entire entry. We knew there had to be a better way.
Lucky for us Lee Powell, the creator of Scrivener for Windows, is a genius. He could see how the right medium would turn our thesaurus collections into a top notch resource for writers that would be super easy to use.
(click to enlarge)
At One Stop, each thesaurus is neatly organized and entries are easy to view. A Helpful Tip guides writers into thinking about how an area of description can be woven into the story to do more, and show more. There’s a tutorial for each thesaurus as well, helping writers understand the power of specific detail and how it can be used in the story for maximum effect.
(click to enlarge–a partial screenshot)
Setting is a big area of description. So much more than a backdrop for a scene, it is loaded with opportunities to convey mood, foreshadow, and act as a tuning fork for symbolism and theme. And that’s just to start! Using sensory details when describing your character in a specific location is important for pulling readers into the story.
You might be wondering how authentic the description is for each of our Setting entries. Well, whenever possible, Becca and I would visit the location ourselves so we could observe the sights, smells, sounds, textures and tastes first hand. The entire Setting Collection (once it is finished) will be around 250 entries. That’s a lot of research.
It wasn’t easy to visit some locations, but we were determined. As you can see in this photo…well, sometimes we had to go to great lengths to get exact detail.
(In case you were wondering, it is rather terrifying being arrested, even when it involves being set up by relatives with connections so you can get the “full experience” of being handcuffed and put into the back of police car!)
So, let’s just say the details in this particular entry are very accurate. If you like, swing by One Stop and check it out for yourself!
Before you head off with the rest of your day, there’s one more cool thing happening:
March To A Bestseller’s One-Day sale. This is where you can get a kindle copy of many great writing craft books (INCLUDING The Emotion Thesaurus) for .99 cents each. Yep, a buck! There are many great authors participating such as K.M. Weiland, Mary Buckham, Bryan Cohen, Jessica Bell and more, so if you’re looking to beef up on your writing skills, now’s the time.
I don’t anticipate The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression
will be priced at .99 cents again, so if you have a writing partner or critique group who doesn’t yet have our resource, feel free to let them know.
Also-ALSO,
Becca is over at Kristen Lamb’s (she is a national treasure–I hope you are all following this blog!) discussing Making Story MAGIC—How To Bring the Elements All Together. Feel free to check it out!
And I am over at Romance University discussing How Characters Often Resist Attraction in Romance, and How To Show Their Body Language Struggle (plus I’m sharing some great body language cheat sheets for HIM and HER!)
Happy writing,
Angela
The post Inside One Stop For Writers: Our Descriptive Thesaurus Collections appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™.
It’s hard to believe we’re only two short days away from opening the doors to the One Stop library. This is going to sound a bit baffling, but in some ways it hasn’t hit me yet. It’s a bit like a publishing a book: you plan, work, and strengthen your project, and it becomes your life. Then one day, boom, it’s out the door or uploaded and you feel…adrift.
It’s like your brain hasn’t clued in that everything has changed and the piece of yourself that you’ve held onto so tightly is now about to become something that belongs to other people too.
Well, One Stop For Writers is polished and waiting to become the online library it was meant to be. Lee, Becca and I are very excited, and hope it becomes a game-changing tool for a few writers out there. Because this is such a labor of love, we’re looking forward to adding to it over time, bringing even more value to everyone who uses it.
Writing Checklist Nirvana
As the “marketing department” of our little merry band, I created a bunch of imaged-based sharables that provide good value to writers: an assortment of check lists and tip sheets on different areas of writing that can be hard to master. Each one ties into our signature descriptive thesaurus collections and teachings.
My intent leading into launch was to offer something that would be shared openly online, and help get the One Stop For Writers name out there. Thanks to the terrific efforts of an amazing street team, the idea worked and we’ve achieved some discoverability. I’m linking to a few here for you to use in case you haven’t yet come across them. There are many more available on our special One Stop Pinterest board, too, along with some dark writing prompts and emotional showing tips.
(click each to enlarge)
Backstory Pin
Motivation Pin
Flashback Pin
Deep POV Pin
Raising Stakes Pin
Worthy Goals Pin
Also, if you go HERE, you’ll find many topic-specific writing boards we’ve put together under the One Stop For Writers banner. With so many articles out there on writing, it can be exhausting to know which ones pack the biggest value punch. This should help make it a bit easier to find the best of the best when it comes to writing advice.
Enjoy & happy writing!
Angela
The post Unique Writing Resources: Helpful Checklists and Tip Sheets appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™.
By:
Angela Ackerman,
on 8/10/2015
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In 2012, I wrote a post at Janice Hardy’s blog, Fiction University. In it, I shared what I believed to be the key to success:
Making your own luck.
Here’s an excerpt:
Make Your Own Luck.
Yes, that’s right. These four words hold the key to your success. Read them again, and cement them into your brain.
Each of us knows how to work hard at writing. We read, we study, we write. We join critique groups, network and find mentors. This is the biggest part of success. But often hard work alone isn’t enough. We can hang there on the cusp, feel the air vibrating with greatness. Yet it dangles just beyond our fingertips.
This is where we need to do something that many of us don’t like. Something that goes beyond our writerly, keyboard-between-me-and-you selves…move out of our comfort zone. We need to learn to Make Our Own Luck.
It would be nice if Success would be decent enough to slide over an inch or two and meet us, but life doesn’t work like that. So we need to grab it. And how we do that is by filling in the blanks:
If I could ____, then it would help me succeed.
If I could catch the eye of an agent, then it would help me succeed.
If I could build up an audience online, then it would help me succeed.
If I could launch my book well, then it would help me succeed.
Whatever your “blank” is, instead of thinking that it’s too hard to do, or something out of your control, I want you to remember to Make Your Own Luck. (Full article.)
I ran across this article on focusing on things we CAN do rather than stressing about things we have no control over, and as I reread it, it was like traveling back in time. We had just released The Emotion Thesaurus. I remember I was so…nervous and worried, I guess, but also determined. Nervous about how my first book would go, worried people would think I was some sort of fraud with no fiction books under my name, determined to do my very best to get over my self-doubt and launch the book well.
In the original article I talked about my fear of public speaking, but how I knew putting myself out there was an important step toward my future. So I had signed myself up to give a presentation at a local conference to follow through on making my own luck.
Now, it’s 2015. How has this idea of “making my own luck” worked out?
—The Emotion Thesaurus
- closing in on 85,000 sold (in English)
- 2 foreign editions under contract, 1 more in the works
–Two more books published, The Positive Trait & Negative Trait Thesaurus, bringing sales up to 126,000. And then a free booklet, Emotion Amplifiers, adding another 14,000
–Becca & I forming a second company to launch One Stop For Writers creative brainstorming software on Oct. 7th, in partnership with one of the key developers of Scrivener
And that public speaking thing? Where did that go?
An invitation to speak in Australia, of all places!
(And next year Becca will come to Canada as we have been invited to teach a workshop together, another cool milestone for us both.)
I am not listing any of this to say, Wow, look at me! I’m sharing this because I absolutely 100% assure you, THERE IS NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT ME. I’m Joe Writer, just a girl with a keyboard. Like anyone else.
And if I can step outside my comfort zone and make my own luck, so can you. In fact I hope you are, right now. If not, I urge you to get out there and do something that scares you, something that challenges you to your core. Not only will you discover you are stronger than you thought, it will be good for you in the long run, and each small step forward leads to another, and another.
Where do you want to be in three years? Let me know so I can cheer you on–I know you can do it.
The post Writer’s Key To Success: Make Your Own Luck (Case Study) appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™.
Writing compelling emotional moments is the lifeblood of any story and the key to building a relationship between characters and readers. Yet steering clear of the show-don’t-tell pitfalls requires practice and skill. I’m reposting this from where it originally appeared at Romance University to shed light on three scenarios that challenge writers as they search for the right balance of emotional description.
Telling
Telling is a big issue, especially when writers are still getting to know their characters. Often they do not yet have enough insight into the hero’s personality and their motivation to really be able to describe how they feel in a unique way. Instead of using a vivid and authentic mix of body language, thoughts, dialogue and visceral sensations, writers convey emotion in broad, telling strokes:
EXAMPLE:
Bill had to steel himself emotionally before entering the church. He’d managed to avoid his family for seven years, but his father’s funeral wasn’t something he could blow off. Anger and jealousy welled inside him as he thought of his two older brothers, the ones who always impressed Dad by being just like him: athletic, manly, hard. Now he would have to face them, and hear once again how he was a failure, a disappointment, an abomination that should have done the world a favor and hung himself from the Jackson family tree.
What’s wrong with this passage?
While the above alludes to an unhealthy relationship between brothers and conveys that Bill is the family misfit, the emotions are TOLD to the reader.
Bill had to steel himself emotionally… What does that look like? Does he sneak a slug of whiskey in his car before going in? Shuffle around on the church step, tugging at his starched cuffs? Something else? With emotion, the reader should always get a clear image of how the character is expressing their feelings.
Anger and jealousy welled inside him… This again is telling, simply by naming the emotions. What does that anger and jealousy feel like? Is his pulse throbbing so loud he can barely think? Are his thoughts boiling with brotherly slurs that show his jealousy: dad’s golden children, his perfect prodigy, etc. Does his chest feel stuffed full of broken glass, and with each thrum of the church organ, the pain drives itself deeper?
Showing and Telling
Another common snag is showing the character’s feelings (thoughts, actions, body language, visceral sensations, etc.) but then adding some telling just to make sure the reader ‘got it.’ This often happens when a writer doesn’t have confidence in their own abilities to get emotion across to the reader, or they question whether they’ve shown the character’s feelings strongly enough for the situation.
EXAMPLE:
Dean Harlow finally called Tammy’s name and Lacy’s breath hitched. Her daughter crossed the stage in her rich purple robe, smiling and thrusting her arm out for the customary handshake. Warmth blurred Lacy’s vision and she swiped at the tears, unwilling to miss a second of the graduation ceremony. Her calloused fingers scraped beneath her eyelids, a reminder of long hours at the laundry, all to ensure Tammy would have opportunities she herself never did.
When her daughter accepted her diploma, Lacy shot out of her seat, clapping and cheering. She had never been so happy and proud in all her life.
What’s wrong with this passage?
Emotion is shown clearly through Lacy’s hitching breath, the warm rush signaling tears, her rapt attention and then finally jumping up to cheer her daughter on. But that last line: She had never been so happy and proud in all her life. This unnecessary explanation of Lacy’s happiness and pride is like hammering a nail long after it’s flush with the board. In the book, Description by Monica Wood, there’s a great rule of writing called RUE: Resist the Urge to Explain. So when it comes to emotion, remember RUE.
Over Showing
Over showing is when a writer gets caught up in the moment and goes too far by showing everything. Too much emotional description can slow the pace of the scene, create purple prose or clichés, and come across as melodramatic.
EXAMPLE:
Finn huddled behind the rusted oil drum, dripping with cold sweat as she tried to control her loud, rasping breath. The sound of Alex scraping the crowbar along the warehouse’s cement floor turned her heart into a jackhammer. A scream built up in her throat and she clamped her teeth tight, converting it into a nearly soundless whimper. Her body trembled and shuddered in the dark, and a cascade of thoughts piled up like shoreline debris– the odd things he said, the strange gifts and creepy poems, his interest in seeing blood—why didn’t these things didn’t send off air raid sirens in her head before tonight?
What’s wrong with this passage?
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000046_00058]](http://writershelpingwriters.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Emotion-Thesaurus-400-border-211x300.jpg)
In some ways, this is a great moment showing fear. Body language, thoughts and visceral sensations all work to bring about intensity, but because there is so much of it, it feels overblown. Emotion doesn’t just build here…it roars. As a result, clichés form (the jackhammer heartbeat) and purple prose emerges from too many fanciful ideas (cascading thoughts, shoreline debris, air raid sirens, etc.) The combination of too much description creates the flavor of melodrama, which can cause the reader to disengage. Showing is great, but in moderation. Sometimes an author can say more with less.
Getting the right balance of emotion on the page isn’t easy, so I hope this helps! And if you would like to read about these common problems in more detail (or the other issues with writing emotion), you can find in depth information in the “Look Inside” sample of The Emotion Thesaurus at Amazon. Feel free to take a peek!
~~~~~~~
Also, Becca’s at Rebecca Lyndon’s blog today talking about characterization techniques writers can steal borrow from the stellar cast of Finding Nemo. If you’ve got time, please stop by and say hello!
The post Emotional Description: 3 Common Problems with Show & Tell appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS.
By:
Angela Ackerman,
on 6/11/2014
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I recently read a Huff Post psychology piece on Turning Negative Emotions Into Your Greatest Advantage and immediately saw how this could also apply to our characters. Feel free to follow the link and read, but if you’re short on time, the rundown is this: negative emotions are not all bad. In fact, they are necessary to the human experience, and can spark a shift that leads to self growth.
And after reading James Scott Bell’s Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between
and attending a full day workshop with him a few weeks ago, I can also see how this idea of using negative emotions to fuel a positive changes fits oh-so-nicely with Jim’s concept of “the Mirror Moment.”
But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, let’s look at what a mirror moment is.
Mirror Moment: a moment in midpoint scene of a novel or screenplay when the character is forced to look within and reflect on who he is and who he must become in order to achieve his goal. If he decides to continue on as he always has, he will surely fail (tragedy).
If the story is not a tragedy, the hero realizes he must either a) become stronger to overcome the odds or b) transform, shedding his biggest flaws and become more open-minded to new ideas and beliefs. One way or the other, he must better himself in some way to step onto the path which will lead to success.
Jim actually describes the Mirror Moment so much better than I can HERE, but do your writing a BIG FAVOR and also snag a copy of this book. (It’s a short read and will absolutely help you strengthen the character’s arc in your story!)
To see how the two tie together, let’s explore what leads to this essential “mirror moment.” Your hero is taking stock of his situation, realizing he has two choices: stubbornly continue on unchanged and hope for the best, or move forward differently, becoming something more.
The big question: what is the catalyst? What causes him to take stock of the situation? What causes his self-reflection?
The answer is not surprising: EMOTION. Something the character FEELS causes him to stop, look within, and make a choice.
Let’s assume this isn’t a tragedy. If this moment had a math formula, it would look something like this:
Emotion + look within = change
So what type of emotions are the best fit to encourage this necessary shift toward change? And are they positive emotions, or negative ones? Let’s experiment!
Common positive emotions, taken right from The Emotion Thesaurus:
Happiness + look within
Happiness is contentment, a feeling of extreme well being. If one feels good about themselves and where they are at, it doesn’t encourage a strong desire for change, does it?
Gratitude + a look within
Gratitude is thankfulness, an appreciation for others and what one has. Because again, gratitude creates contentment, feeling “full” and thankful, it doesn’t make the best catalyst for change. However, if you were to pair it with something like relief (such as being given a second chance), then gratitude over being spared something negative could lead to resolving to change.
Excitement + a look within
Excitement is the feeling of being energized to the point one feels compelled to act. On the outside, this looks like a good candidate for change, but it depends on the type of excitement. Is the “high” a character feels something that distracts them from self reflection (such as being caught up in the experience of a rock concert) or does it inspire (such as the thrill of meeting one’s sports hero in person)? If one’s excitement propels one to want to become something better, then change can be achieved.
Satisfaction + a look within
Satisfaction is a feeling of contentment in a nutshell. It is feeling whole and complete. As such, looking within while satisfied likely won’t lead to a desire to change anything–in fact it might do just the opposite: encourage the character to remain the same.
Common negative emotions, again right from The Emotion Thesaurus:
Fear + a look within
Fear is the expectation of threat or danger. Feeling afraid is very uncomfortable, something almost all people wish to avoid. Some even try to make deals with the powers that be, so deep is their desperation: if I win this hand, I’ll give up gambling, I swear. So, combining this emotion with some self reflection could definitely create the desire to change.
Frustration + a look within
Feeling stymied or hemmed in is something all people are familiar with and few can tolerate for long. By its very nature, frustration sends the brain on a search for change: how can I fix this? How can I become better/more skilled/adapt? How can I succeed?
Characters who are frustrated are eager to look within for answers.
Embarrassment + a look within
Embarrassment is another emotion that is very adept at making characters uncomfortable. Self-conscious discomfort is something all usually avoid because it triggers vulnerability. When one feels embarrassed, it is easy to look within and feel the desire to make a change so this experience is not repeated.
Shame + a look within
Disgrace isn’t pretty. When a person knows they have done something improper or dishonorable, it hurts. Shame creates the desire to rewind the clock so one can make a different choice or decision that does not lead to this same situation. It allows the character to focus on their shortcomings without rose-colored glasses, and fast tracks a deep need for change.
* ~ * ~ *
These are only a sampling of emotions, but the exercise above suggests it might be easier to bring about this mirror moment through negative emotions. But, does this mean all positive emotions don’t lead to change while all negative ones do? Not at all!
Love + a look within could create a desire to become more worthy in the eyes of loved ones. And emotions such as Denial or Contempt, while negative, both resist the idea of change. Denial + a look within, simply because one is not yet in a place where they can see truth. Contempt + a look within, because one is focused on the faults of others, not on one’s own possible shortcomings. Overall however, negative emotions seem to be the ones best suited to lead to that mirror moment and epiphany that one must change or become stronger and more skilled in order to succeed.
So there you have it–when you’re working on this critical moment in your story when your character realizes change is needed, think carefully about which emotion might best lead to this necessary internal reflection and change.
(And of course, we profile 75 emotions in The Emotion Thesaurus: a Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, so that’s just one more way for you to use it!)
The post Story Midpoint & Mirror Moment: Using Heroes’ Emotions To Transform Them appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS.
Every time January hits, I am shocked to know that it's been another year of blogging for Becca and I. The same thoughts scroll through my brain:
what did I do before this blog? How did I manage to function before realizing I needed to reach out to the blogging community? I had ties in a few forums of course, and made some wonderful friendships. Heck, Becca and I met at
The Critique Circle, an online critiquing community for writers
(thank you Universe for making that happen!) But really, for both of us, our world grew bigger and brighter when we met all of you! :)
Crazily enough,
we've been at this now for 5 years! FIVE! And in a bizarre twist of fate, we hit
two other incredible milestones this month as well:
The Emotion Thesaurus sold over 20,000 copies
&
The blog had its 2,000,000th Hit!
~~ * ~~
CLEARLY a celebration is in order, yes? We think so too, so we're giving away a Kindle Paperwhite loaded with 10 ebooks (winner's choice) from the selection below:
MG & YA Reads:
Reference:
SO MANY AMAZING BOOKS, am I right? I am sure the winner will be very happy, no matter which 10 they pick. And hey, that could be YOU, so let's talk about how to get into the draw, shall we?
HOW TO ENTER: Becca and I are not big on hoop jumping, and this is about CELEBRATING ALL OF YOU, not us. So while of course we would love your TWEETS, LINKS & SHARES, it's not a condition to win. Just simply leave us a comment. Maybe tell us about someone who has helped you recently, and if they have one, leave a link to their blog so that people can visit them.:)
Yep, that simple. :)
Contest closes on January 31st! Good luck everyone, and thank you for all your support!
By:
Angela Ackerman,
on 10/11/2012
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I’ll admit my mind is blown knowing there are over 10, 000 Emotion Thesaurus books out there in the world. Becca and I are thrilled, and so appreciative to all the writers and teachers who took a chance on it. As aspiring novelists, we know just how hard it is to write and the perseverance it takes to create a book. Providing a tool to help other writers with emotion is nothing short of an honor (sappy, I know, but true. Writers rule and we love you guys!)
In that same spirit of wanting to contribute, we thought it might be beneficial to share our focus as we sent The Emotion Thesaurus into the world. We realize this is a non-fiction book, not fiction. Novels are a harder sell--instead of dealing primarily with what a audience NEEDS like NF, it is more about what they WANT, and personal reading tastes are unpredictable. However, much of the strategy we used with the ET can be adapted for fiction, so hopefully novelists will find value here regardless.
A Bit of History...
As many of you know, The Emotion Thesaurus started on the blog as a 'set' of lists focusing on how to show a character’s feelings. Becca and I struggled with emotion, and when we could not find a good resource to help us, we created one. As it grew in popularity, readers asked us to turn it into an enhanced book version.
We chose self publishing for a few reasons, the most important being TIME. It can take years for a book to find a publisher and then be available to purchase, and writers and teachers needed it NOW. We also discovered someone pirating our content for profit, so waiting any longer to create the book would be foolhardy. We launched The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression on May 14th, 2012.
What We Had Going For Us
PLATFORM. Becca and I have worked since 2008 to build a place within the Writing Community, providing resources through this blog and forging genuine relationships with our audience. Our attitude has always been to contribute and do what we can to add value. It was our hope that our readers would be willing to help raise awareness for The Emotion Thesaurus book.
NICHE. Our book tackled a topic that writers struggle with, yet few resources were available to help. As writers, we knew exactly what type of tool was needed to help with emotion and body language.
What Stood Against Us
LACK OF CREDIBILITY. Becca and I were not authors (yet), nor accredited editors, and certainly not psychologists or experts on emotion. We had a platform, but no ‘book world’ clout. How could we possibly compete with the biggies in the Writing Resource field, names like Donald Maass, James Scott Bell, James N. Frey, The Plot Whisperer, or the dozens of other incredible, best-selling authors/experts?
SELF PUBLISHING. While the stigma is lessening, we all know bias remains. In some ways, creating a how-to writing resource and then choosing self publishing over traditional acted as a strike against us, meaning we would have to really prove ourselves with readers.
CONFIDENCE. This business is often a murky pool of feeling not worthy, not good enough. Without a book deal in place for our fiction to give us credibility or a degree/subject-specific education to hold up, we felt naked. Putting ourselves out there and donning the hat of authority that comes with writing any sort of how-to guide was terrifying.
The Scale Tipper
PASSION, BELIEF & TEAMWORK. As writers, we knew people needed this book. Heck, we needed it! We decided to create the best brainstorming tool we could and put all our effort into making it discoverable to those who might benefit from it. Working as a team allowed us to play off each others' strengths and aided in decision-making.
READYING FOR LAUNCH
- Set up a business
- Paid for a professional edit
- Hired a cover designer
- Outsourced formatting to a HTML goddess because the book is full of links and redirects
- Test-marketed it with a select group of writers & used feedback to strengthen
MISTAKE: choosing a launch date and under-estimating the time it would take for setting up the business (two authors in different countries is a pain), uploading, formatting challenges, fixing last minute typos (again, our formatter Heather is worth her weight in gold!) This created lots of down-to-the-wire stress. Test marketing the book (while super valuable) also meant enabling changes late in the game.
First Hurdle: Launching A Book Without Feeling Like A Timeshare Salesman
For two writers who hate promoting, this was a massive challenge. Look at me! I have a book! Buy it! <---our personal nightmare. We needed a way to let people know about the ET but not be eye-bulging, book-waving maniacs about it. After many facetimes, we realized that to do this in a way that felt right, we needed to return to our AUTHOR BRAND: writers helping & supporting other writers.
“Random Acts of Kindness for Writers” became our secret plan: instead of making our release date about us, we would do something to celebrate & thank writers. This was risky in the sense that to do it authentically, we had to steer attention AWAY from our book’s release. However, we felt the reward was twofold--traffic to our site, and it allowed us a way to pour our flag-waving passion into celebrating people who really deserve recognition and yet rarely get it. This event aligned perfectly with our pay-it-forward beliefs, driving us to do all we could to make it a success.
For brevity's sake, I won’t get into the nuts and bolts of how we set up the RAOK Blitz (but if enough people wish it, I can expand on this in a future post). Suffice to say it drew thousands of visitors and hundreds of writers participated, becoming a huge ‘feel good’ week for everyone that showcased the generous spirits of our Writing Community. :)
Marketing Boost: Becca and I gave away a free PDF called ‘Emotion Amplifiers’ as our RAOK gift to writers. This PDF booklet is a companion to The Emotion Thesaurus and has a similar layout. Our hope was that if a writer found it helpful, they might check the ET as well. (It’s still in our sidebar if you want a copy and helps with describing conditions like pain, exhaustion, stress, inebriation, etc.)
Second Hurdle: Reviews
A self-published book that is also non-fiction? Rough. Many professional reviewers will not take on SP books, and those that do usually only read fiction. So, instead of seeking out review sites, we put out a call out to Bookshelf Muse readers and asked if any of them were interested in reviewing the book. After all, the ET is BY writers FOR writers. Who better to review it? :)
We could not accommodate all the requests that came in, so we chose some reviewers strategically for their audience reach, and others through a random draw.
MISTAKE: We should have arranged for reviews much sooner. Due to not leaving ourselves enough time to get the book ready to go, we were unable to get a decent version out to reviewers until close to launch or after.
LUCK! Many people, after buying and using the ET, were so happy with it they wrote reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
MORE LUCK! These reviews swayed even MORE people to take a chance on the book, and they in turn became avid word-of-mouth spreaders, telling writing friends and critique partners all about The Emotion Thesaurus. This led to better sales, top 20 ranking in several (paid) writing categories for print & kindle, a strong Amazon Best Sellers Rank, and placement on the Top Rated, Best Selling & Most Wished For lists (writing).
Marketing Tactics - Swag
We chose to invest in a postcard-sized bookmark that doubles as a Revision Tool. Many bookmarks lie forgotten in a drawer, or they end up being recycled. We wanted ours to stay right beside the computer during revisions, so we printed a ‘Crutch Word List’ on one side--words we commonly overuse and need to weed out. Our hope was that by making our swag useful, writers would hang onto it!
Spreading the word about a book can be difficult, so we put out a call (again utilizing our blog readers) and asked if people would be willing to take our bookmarks and hand them out to critique groups, or give them out at conferences and workshops. This allowed us to reach out beyond our own circle and hopefully reach new readers.
MISTAKE (?) This was a bit pricey considering the postage involved (some were sent worldwide), and took time to get addresses and mail out. We had no way to track the effectiveness. And while I have heard from people who said they saw them at conferences or were given one by another writer, we are not sure if the ‘mail out’ idea brought a significant return. But, the postcards are super handy to have at events where Becca and I are presenting, and we can pass them out afterward to keep the ET in people’s minds. So overall, this swag was worth it!
Marketing Tactics - Discoverability
The bulk of our marketing energy went into discoverability. Because we have such an amazingly supportive audience at The Bookshelf Muse, we chose a 'grassroots' approach rather than solicit big bloggers/sites for exposure. In our initial blog post asking for assistance from readers, we utilized a sign up form so the people who wanted to help us could, and in a manner that most appealed to them. The results of this was amazing--so many people offered to help get the word out!
One of our biggest needs was bloggers willing to host us for a visit. We were overwhelmed with gratitude to see how many people were willing to do this (have I mentioned how great you all are?) and we actually had to change how our form was worded to include offering book excerpts and reblogging previous TBM posts to accommodate the response. We ended up with over 115 hosts all told.
Attempting so many guest posts caused panic attacks, obsessive chocolate binging, feelings of inadequacy *coughs* was daunting. But Becca organized everything (SHE IS AMAZING!) and put us on an aggressive schedule that would allow us to finish them all within a 4 month window. We created a master list of topics, most centered directly on content that would tie into Emotion & Body Language, so that each post was a planned, quality post. The best thank you to those who offered to help us was to write content that would bring them strong traffic, not just exposure for us.
GUEST POST TIP: We did our best to thank personally every person who hosted and helped. We also shared all links on our social networks to bring new people to their blogs. We truly appreciated their time and energy, and their desire to see us succeed.
MISTAKE #1: biting off more than we could chew. This was an enormous amount of guest posts (with more requests coming in as a result of this visibility) and so it meant we were both unable to write anything but blog content for a good 4 months. We managed to get them done and we have no regrets because of the great exposure, but it also meant other things slipped. There were a few blogging relationships and opportunities we were unable to stay on top of because we were so busy posting elsewhere. We also had a tough time commenting on blogs and getting email written. With such a strict timeline to adhere to, I worried about messing up and forgetting something vital, letting a host down.
MISTAKE #2: not thinking enough about how to keep up with our own blog AND everyone else’s. Luckily as we met new people at different blogs, we found folks who wanted to guest post for us. We were able to give them exposure in return and bring some good content to the blog (LUCK!) So while we made a mistake about over committing, it worked out.
MORE LUCK! These ‘seed’ guest posts led to some writing communities and bigger organizations contacting us. This resulted in book reviews and giveaways that were included in newsletters and offered exposure with bigger audiences. The Discoverability Tour worked!
Marketing Tactics: Giveaways
We utilized giveaways to generate interest in our book and bring attention to some of the blogs we visited. We purposefully did not host book giveaways during the month of May to encourage people to buy, not wait to win. We had a few giveaways in June and then more in July, August and September. Some were bigger exposure opportunities like being featured in a banner at the Writer’s Knowledge Base and as a prize at Ink Pageant (thanks guys--you rock!) We tried to go where our readers would be, and took advantage of opportunities that allowed us to reach beyond the Kidlit & YA writer’s network we know best in order to create inroads with Christian and other Adult genres who might not know us or The Bookshelf Muse.
Marketing Tactics: Distribution Channels
Becca and I talked about going KDP Select but neither of us could see the benefit to doing so right out the gate. In our minds, we wanted to ask a fair price for the books and have it available across as many channels as possible to reach readers where they are, not where we ‘chose’ to be. We distributed widely and included a PDF option for those who did not have ereaders or who felt more comfortable with PDF format. For those who like numbers, here’s the breakdown to 10,000 which we hit in September:
| SW | iTunes | CS-Amazon.com (PRINT) | B&N | Kindle (Amazon.com) | Kindle (Amazon Euro) | Kobo | PDF | Total |
|
May | 17 | 10 | 243 | 62 | 412 | 25 |
| 102 | 871 |
|
June | 13 | 19 | 503 | 66 | 905 | 50 |
| 89 | 1645 |
|
July | 13 | 22 | 887 | 78 | 1334 | 77 |
| 76 | 2487 |
|
August | 13 | 33 | 893 | 56 | 1297 | 103 |
| 60 | 2455 |
|
September | 10 | 32 | 1036 | 53 | 1282 | 151 | 21* | 47 | 2632 |
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Total: | 66 | 116 | 3562 | 315 | 5230 | 406 | 21 | 374 | 10090 |
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*Prior to September, Kobo sales were bundled with Smashwords. Once Kobo created their own distribution, we uploaded direct. Sony sales are under the Smashwords umbrella.
You will notice that Print is quite strong. We believe this is partly because many writers like 'craft' books in paperback. We also have had feedback that some original digital buyers were so pleased with the ET, they later decided to invest in a print version, too.
Pricing: We chose the 4.99 price point for digital, and 14.99 for print. We have not changed the price nor offered the book for free. In the future we may change our pricing, but for now it works well with Extended Distribution, which we sell enough through to make it important to keep.
MISTAKE: not enabling Extended Distribution right from the start. Originally we didn’t think it would do us much good, until we realized without it, we could not get onto Amazon.ca. Seeing as I live in Canada, it is important that the people I meet at events or at my workshops have a way to get the book. Not doing this before May meant a six week lag of fielding emails from Canadians unable to buy the book.
Marketing Tactics: Paid Advertizing
We opted to not invest in any paid advertising. I think this was the right decision for us, but do see us choosing a few select ads in the future.
Where We Got Extra Lucky
- Winning Top 20 Best Blogs For Writers with Write To Done a few months before The Emotion Thesaurus released. This raised our profile significantly, and at a critical time.
- Once sales started climbing, Amazon would send out mailers to people who purchased writing related books, and sometimes The Emotion Thesaurus was listed as a ‘Those that purchased X might also like’ pick.
- A price war between B & N and Amazon. For the last week of September, the two duked it out, lowering the book’s price daily until the discount put it under 10 bucks. Average sales nearly doubled for print (although sales dipped that week for Kindle).
A Few Extraneous Mistakes
- Not soliciting endorsements. We didn’t do this in advance of publishing the ET because we were worried about being turned down, worried about getting the cold shoulder because we were newcomers and new authors. Now more than ever we are seeing an acceptance of SP, and of Traditional authors making the leap. Endorsements probably would have helped us greatly and so moving forward we’ll be seeking them out.
- Not believing in ourselves enough at the start. I think we wasted a lot of energy on doubt because we hadn’t published before (except in magazines) and we were afraid that while we felt The Emotion Thesaurus added value, others would not. The response to The Emotion Thesaurus has been nothing short of phenomenal and knowing that Illinois State University is using it in their Creative Writing curriculum makes us incredibly proud. A self published book going to University...who would have thought?
Thoughts to Leave You With
Looking back, I believe we did two things right that led to everything else:
First, we created a book that readers are very happy with, and it fulfills a need in a way that they are excited to share it with people they know. (We are so, so, SO grateful to this word-of-mouth. Thank you all for doing this!)
Second, we live our brand: writers who help and support other writers. This is who we are! We love writers and have forged genuine relationships with our readers. When we needed help to spread the word, people responded, and more than that, became our advocates. There are not enough thank yous in the world for me to say what this means to us.
If I can encourage writers planning to publish to do one thing beyond the above, it’s to be authentic in whatever you do. When you build your platform, start in advance and think very hard about what your brand will be. Be yourself, be likable, do what feels right and resonates with who you are. Understand your audience, their likes and dislikes, and search them out. Use keywords to find blogs, forum discussions and hashtags that will help you discover people who might be interested in a book like yours. Interact, be genuine and think about how you can add value, not how you can market to them. Focus on giving, not getting. Trust that the rest will come. :)
Do you have any questions about what we did or why? Becca and I are happy to answer if we are able. And again, the biggest, squishiest, bacon-filled thank you for all your support of us and the ET. Your word-of-mouth has allowed writers and teachers everywhere to discover this book!
Happy Wednesday, Musers! I hope like me, everyone is getting back into the rhythm of work, school and writing again, carving bits of time to work on your latest and greatest projects. I am so proud of each and every one of you for your perseverance and dedication to this writer's road!
You Are Awesome
First, a big
THANK YOU to everyone who has so kindly posted a book review on Amazon of The Emotion Thesaurus. Great things have happened as a result--the ET is
#3 on
Amazon's Highest Rated List for
Writing Books and I am sure that the rating helped the book get picked up by the
University of Illinois for their Creative Writing program. Seriously, thank you!
Have you fallen for a book lately?
If so, consider writing a review for it. :) Writers more than anyone know the work behind those breathtaking worlds and characters so intensely original they sweep us right into their stories. I'm sure most of you know about the recent black mark caused by a select few who
paid in bulk for fake reviews, but this should not take away from all the honest reviews out there, am I right?
You Are Awesome, Pt. 2
 |
| The ET Loves You, Too! |
I also want to piggy back on this to also give our
sincerest appreciation to those of who have purchased the Emotion Thesaurus book and then recommended it to other writers on industry listservs, critique groups, teachers and more. You've posted on blogs, mentioned it on forums and even written about it in newsletters. Word of mouth is the most valuable currency and we are overwhelmed by the generosity of our readers. The ET is a success because of you and we are determined to continue to work hard and bring you helpful new content!
And Speaking of New Book Content...
As Becca and I wind up what we've dubbed 'The Discoverability Tour' for the ET, we are turning our attention to the
next Thesaurus Book. *cheers* I can't tell you how excited we are about this! However, in the interest of sharing what we learned from our first attempt at launching a book into the world, we're open to some future posts on Marketing if this would be helpful to readers. So, if you have specific questions you'd like us to answer/discuss about our choice to
launch the book by sidelining it in favor of
Random Acts Of Kindness For Writers, what we did to
encourage discoverability, our
marketing focus or anything in between,
please leave them in the comments!A New Thesaurus On The Blog? Yep!It's time to tuck the
Character Trait Thesaurus into our sidebar and move to a
new Thesaurus! Becca and I have picked something that we believe will help writers in a vital area of description. We'll have the official introduction for it this Saturday, so check back. I will say this: it will help you build your characters!
Oh, I am hanging out at two different places today, so I hope you'll stop in:
@
Seeing Creative:
The Subtle Knife: Creating Characters Readers Trust But Shouldn't@
The Writer's Dojo:
Emotion-Charged SettingsDon't forget to comment if you have any questions or topics you'd like us to cover in future posts regarding what we did to market our book! If something we did might help you, we're happy to talk about it!
How great was yesterday? I loved seeing all the
Random Acts of Kindness throughout the writing community. A big thank you to all the great Bloggers & Tweeters & FBers who made this
secret blitz happen--just another example of why writers are so amazing!
And now, I get to spring another surprise! Today, The Bookshelf Muse is
turning the Random Acts of Kindness Blitz over to the INDUSTRY! All this week, our writing and publishing partners will be offering some amazing RAOK gifts for you to
WIN.
When I explained the idea of celebrating writers to Industry Leaders, everyone wanted to get involved. Our RAOK sponsors loved the idea because they see first hand the hard work and commitment within the community. Not only is there a strong supportive spirit of writers helping writers, but there's the incredible dedication to the craft itself. So tune in each day as they show their RAOK generosity and celebrate the contribution of writers. Who knows, maybe you'll win something that will make your writing path a lot easier!
Today, you have 5 chances to win, so read on!RAOK Gift #1: FOUR Scrivener Software packages (2 PC, 2 Mac)
Scrivener is billed as 'your complete writing studio' and it really is. This software, developed by a writer for writers, is the complete package. How many notebooks do you fill up as you research, brainstorm, outline, create character sketches and finally draft and revise your novel? Well, flipping through that stack of paper or set of binders is a thing of the past with Scrivener! Organize, storyboard, make notes and research all in the same place, and best of all, access it all
as you write. The
index card and cork board system is nothing short of brilliant. Simply put,
Scrivener is a writer's best friend. I love how they
evolve to serve writers in this new world of publishing, like using the compile feature to export manuscripts to Kindle or epub formats!
MORE good news: David and the crew at Scrivener loved the idea of RAOK for writers so much they are giving out software packages
every day this week! RAOK #2: ONE Premium Membership to Query Tracker (1 year)
Many of you are looking for an agent or publisher, and I hope, hope, hope you visit
40 Comments on Random Acts of Kindness Day 2: Win, Win, WIN!, last added: 5/16/2012
Sure, readers have probably never been terrorized by a serial killer, vampire or demon in their own lives, but they know what it is to feel terror. Likewise, a roguish yet handsome highwayman has likely not pursued them in a roar of love and lust, yet they know what love and lust feel like.
Spend a bit of time early on showing what has led to your character’s emotional sensitivity. Let’s say themes of betrayal are key to your book & the character’s ‘dark moment.’ If you alluded to a past betrayal by the main character’s mother in a scene before this point, then your heroine seeing an old toy from her childhood will become an instant trigger for those past feelings.
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000046_00058]](http://i2.wp.com/writershelpingwriters.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Emotion-Thesaurus-400-border.jpg)
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000046_00058]](http://writershelpingwriters.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Emotion-Thesaurus-400-border.jpg)
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Wow. You guys are beyond awesome. Congratulations on another great year!
Lately, I've been studying narrative summary. There aren't many sources out there that explain when narrative summary is best used. Most people tend to overuse narrative summary, and the "show, don't tell" movement is so loud that most people don't realize that not using it at all is an intermediate writer's mistake. However, trying to find when to use it is confusing, and most sources have been vague about it. Then I found Krista von Dolzer's article on using narrative summary like a movie montage ( http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/2011/01/narrative-summary-vs-scenes-at-movies.html ). Her explanation makes perfect sense, and is so understandable that it's quite easy to see exactly where a good bit of narrative summary might be useful. Be sure to see the Homestar Running Strongbad email video referenced in the comments. It fits the subject quite well.
I've used the Emotion Thesaurus nearly every day for not only developing character actions and reactions, but also for developing character personalities and motivations. The other site resources you have developed, such as the physical attribute thesaurus, are very helpful. I enjoy talking with you all over at WANA.
Congratulations on five years of helping authors with your invaluable resources!
Congratulations! Your blog has been an immense help! I am happy I found it through: http://touchinglives4good.blogspot.ch/ who shared your blog with me! Grateful!
Tell the World
You guys have been so helpful to me. I think I've been following at least for two years.
You've made my writing journey more enjoyable and helped me come up with the right word when I need it.
I keep your book on the shelf by my desk.
Rose is a friend of mine who has also been helpful in my writing journey.
http://www.rosemccauley.blogspot.com/
I hope you have another great year, and please toss my name in for the contest.
Thanks for everything!
Jackie L.
joyfuljel(at)gmail(dot))com
Congratulations on five years! You have been such an inspiration and the Emotion Thesaurus has been a wonderful resource I use in writing. This year has been a difficult year and I had to rearrange my priorities, but The Bookshelf Muse is among the blogs that I read every day.
Another writer I'd like to mention is a Nan Lundeen. Through this difficult year her columns, The Moo, have kept me inspired to write. You can find her columns here : http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/books/Nan+Lundeen-275629.html and on Nan on http://www.facebook.com/nan.lundeen.9.
Congratulations again on your success!
Congratulations on your success! I want the Kindle with the Emotion Thesaurus, please. What a magnificent idea! Keep up the great work and all the best to you in 2013.
Congratulations, 5 years is a long time!
congratulations on 5 years and such a wonderful blog. You have indeed helped me with the useful information you have here. :)
What a very generous competition - and I have already gained from learning of other resources shared in these comments (thank you fellow writers!).
As a novice to novel-writing, I absolutely love Roz Morris's "Nail Your Novel" - it's so rich and is like having a personal coach for each "phase of writing" coming around for a cuppa and lending a hand! My copy is a Kindle version on my iPad and has the most highlighted passages (used as personal bookmarks) of any of my books. So glad to see you'll bundle it into one of the prize options!
Her blog is also a wonderful resource https://nailyournovel.wordpress.com/
I am a recent purchaser of the Emotion Thesaurus, which is brilliant, as is this site - and funnily enough I arrived here from a Google search for something related but different (I wanted to show an 11-year-old throwing a haughty, tongue-poking-out "duh look" at her friend, but couldn't work out how to describe what I can do easily with my own face haha!)
I also really like Rachel Aaron's "2k to 10k" book - not just because she shows how to get the word output elevated but not at the expense of quality, but the "unadvertised bonus" in the book for me was her laying out of HER step-by-step process, very pragmatic and very helpful. I don't know of her blog, so if it's OK, here is the link to the book on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS (it's currently a 99c no-brainer too - yes I know I'm starting to sound like a cheap salesman now, but I'm being honest!)
Congratulations on all your success! You guys have been very helpful to me during my writing process. You've helped me through bouts of writer's block and moments where I just couldn't think of a word. This website is very helpful during those times, so thank you!
Becca and Angela, amazing! Super congratulations on this milestone! Your blog is such a great resource and my print copy of the Emotion Thesaurus travels with me for editing my sequel(and would love an ebook version too)!
I have so many great mentors and friends who support me, but one in particular is Janice Gable Bashman. Not only is she generous with her time but she is a fantastic editor and willing to help you out in any way. Check out her website. She hosts big name authors there and can also be contacted for editing services thru there.
http://janicegablebashman.com/
Onward to another 5 years!
Donna Galanti
donnasgalanti(@)comcast.net
http://blog.donnagalanti.com/wp/
Love your blog, love your thesaurus. And congratulations on your milestones.
Two other blogs that are inspiring to me are literaryrambles.com and fallingleaflets.blogspot.com.
I agree - we can all be each others' best inspirations!
Congratulations on a great run! I've been lurking in a screenwriter's blog for a long time, but his insights have been spot-on. http://cockeyedcaravan.blogspot.com/
Here's to encouragement and inspiration.
Congratulations on a fabulous 5 years! You gals are amazing and your blog is key in my daily writing. I keep it open for quick reference :)
I have my friend and CP, Marisa to thank for linking me to your blog.
Congratulations on five years! It's an amazing milestone!I've only just discovered this blog in the last six months or so but I've been sure to point most of my writer friends in this direction.
Here's to another five years!
First off, congratulations on five years, that's awesome! And what a generous giveaway.
I will mention two people who have been very helpful to me, Lisa L. Regan (http://lisalregan.blogspot.com/) and Nancy S. Thompson (http://nancysthompson.blogspot.com/). Both of them have been so supportive and honest in their critiques of my work, and good friends, too.
Doesn't time fly when you're helping others? I know you two have helped me with my writing. Now, everyone I talk to I mention your book. Thanks for all you do for all of us!
Wow! Congratz on reaching an amazing milestone ;D I'm so glad you and Becca met too - you guys have been such a help and inspiration to my own work. Kudos to you both and keep it up!
(\_(\
(=' :') --<♥ Happy 5 Years!!! ♥>
(,(")(")
You give such hope to newbie writers like myself! Thank you for expressing such a mix of genuine hilarity and wisdom. I especially enjoy Becca's quirky post titles. Keep the blog going for another 2 million hits!!!
Congratulations! The first two million are the hardest!
Congratulations!!!!! Love the Emotional Thesaurus and everything you do for us! This blog has got to be #1 for all writers. Thank you!
I started tagging all of the Emotional Thesaurus posts shortly after finding your blog a few years ago. They've helped me several times when I've gotten stuck with how to have a character express something important. Thanks for all that hard work -- I'm really happy for you that the book is selling.
-- Tom
Congratulations on reaching five years!! In a time when blogs come and go, it's inspiring that you ladies have kept with it and do so much for the rest of us who write. Thank you.
As for someone who is always helpful, Jami Gold is an amazing person and excellent writer helping other writers. www.jamigold.com
You two continue to be amazing!
I'm grateful to have connected with you both. Congratulations on your five year anniversary and your two other HUGE accomplishments!
Your hard word, dedication and talent continue to pay off. Thanks for being such excellent role models.
Off to share this very generous celebration . . .
I'm a relatively new follower. Congrats on reaching those amazing milestones! There are so many inspiring blogs, just can't make up my mind on which one to mention hear. So I will simply join in celebrating your blog. Glad i found you! Keep up the good work! Thanks for your generous Kindle offer!
First off I should say this blog and the Emotion Thesaurus are more than helpful--they are essential! I could use at least 5 more years of your expertise, probably 50.
On a second note, I'd like to encourage the winner (if it's not me ;) ) to add Dremlander to their prize pack. I just finished reading the novel and I highly recommend it. And check out the Wordplay blog for story structure help:
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/
I can't tell you how much help your Emotion Thesaurus and website have been to me. just awesome. Congrats!
I found you on: http://coffeehouse2010.blogspot.com
Congrats Ange and Becca! I am so, so happy for all your success. You more than deserve it, and I am sure that the success is just beginning! Hugs and standing ovations!
Your book is a gift to writers. We love you!
Congratulations on three fantastic milestones! What a fantastic contest, and I'm humbled that you'd include my middle grade. Thank you. :) I agree. I wouldn't trade my time blogging and meeting all my writer friends for anything!
Congrats on your well-deserved dual success—the blog and the book.
Happy Anniversary! I enjoy your posts and have been helped by your emotion thesaurus. There are many writers and publisher's blogs that I read and have been helped by them all. It is hard to separate out one from the rest.
I am going to share one of many, this one I haven't seen referenced much on sites, so thought it would be helpful. It's called conversations with writers:
http://conversationswithwriters.blogspot.com/
One short, snarky, comes out once a week site that makes me laugh is Slush pile Hell. Here is the most recent post.
http://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/post/41275101662
Congratulations and a big thank you for your wonderful blog I follow. I haven't read some of the fiction writing books you posted today. I'm off to look them up on Amazon.
wow - talk about hitting milestones! You guys rock in more ways than you can possibly imagine - and the fact you added my book just ... well ... Angela you and I NEED to celebrate our writing successes over cheesecake one day and Becca ... we need to meet up some time and share some chocolate :)
Angela, you and Becca are super awesome. Hope you celebrate many more such blogoversaries. Hugs to both of you.
Fantastic giveaway! Thanks for running it and for the fabulous critique I won earlier this year. It was so helpful.
Thanks so much for the inspiring blog. I have learned a lot of things here. You've helped me correct mistakes I didn't even know I was making.
You inspire me.
Congratulations on the milestones!
Congratulations on your success! I love The Emotion Thesaurus and use it all the time while writing. Just yesterday, I was looking for a different word for "dark brown" eyes and checked your website. It's such a wonderful reference for writers.
Lots of people have been helpful. My critique partners help polish my books and find those frustrating typos my eyes just skim over. My good writer friend, Margaret Daley, encourages me when I get down and helps me brainstorm new stories. Today, my dh went up to Sonic and bought me a breakfast sandwich. :)
Thanks for your great website and book.
Vickie McDonough
www.vickiemcdonough.com
fictionfan1 [@] tulsacoxmail [dot] com
Congrats on the milestone! And for anyone that's familiar with STGRB, there's an interesting series of blogposts regarding them over the last couple of weeks. Some real yeoman's work done about them.
http://genxpose.blogspot.com/2013/01/stgrb-facts-rumors-speculation.html
What a treat to have found your site. It has already proven helpful on more levels than I could possibly explain in a single comment. Let's just say you've been an inspiration and a delicious resource.
Congratulations on the anniversary and here's to many, many more in the future!
Cynthia
Wow, five years! Congratulations! I hit five years in the fall.
I have been blessed with lots of helpful bloggy friends. :) If you don't know Lenny at http://lennys-world.blogspot.com/ you are in for a treat from this insightful 13 year old. I'm so not good with doing one person. This past year I really have gotten to know Theresa at http://theresamilstein.blogspot.com/ She is an amazing writer! I am so blessed by all the wonderful people in the blogging community. :)
A big congrats on your awesome milestones. So excited for you and appreciate all you do for the rest of us.
Congratulations. Fairly new here but have already found the blog to be a huge help. Thanks.
Wow! Five wonderfully informative and helpful years. Congratulations and I'm sure there will be many more to come.
I'd like to give some love to Cat Scully for helping me with my query. She is uberly awesome and hopefully we will all see her "JENNIFER STRANGE" in print soon. She blogs at
http://wp.me/2FBVp
Thanks again for the contest!
L.N. Russell
Congrats on your 5th anniversary!
Your thesauri are incredibly helpful, even for aiding me with DRAWING the emotions in my graphic novel. I, in turn, have been able to assist my friend Rose Gauss with her blog writing. She hosts www.theDRAWpage.com where kids and their grownups can learn to draw and have fun.
Thank you for the wonderful reference material! Keep up the good work.
Noni Gross
Yay! Congratulations. The Emotion Thesaurus is a huge help. Joanna Penn is also a big help every time I have a blogging crisis :-)
I'll admit that I feel bad for lurking here for so long and finally posting when there are goods to be won!
The artist Keith Draws has been a huge help to me as of late due to his working with me very closely on the new covers for my Everything Theory books. They now look super professional and I think they may add the POP the series needed.
Oh...and numerous posts here, of course.
Congratulations to you both! The Emotion Thesaurus is a fabulous gift for all writers... There are so many helpful people out there that singling one out is almost impossible--but I would like to mention Matt MacNish, first commenter on this thread, a good pal and Project Mayhem buddy who has helped many (including me) get our queries into shape over at The QQQE.
Congratulations! What an accomplishment!
Congratulations on your milestones! What great news!
Great site here! It looks like it is going to be very useful. Congrats on 5 years!
Congratulations! And, I just bought the pdf version of the Emotion Thesaurus. Have been hearing rave reviews! Thanks!!!
big congratulations on all you've done, and all i'm sure you'll love doing in the years to come ;-)
i found you via kim weiland, so i'll have to give her credit - https://www.facebook.com/kmweiland.author
other great creative resources i like are:
dversepoets and studiomothers
https://www.facebook.com/studiomothers?ref=stream
http://dversepoets.com/
all share a sense of openness and acceptance, knowledge and skill, combinations i admire (and need)
best wishes ;-)
Congratulations to you!! Awesome milestones :-) And an awesome giveaway, thank you. I have to thank the gals over at indie-visible.com for all their amazing support these past few months.
Congratulations on five years,
The Emotion Thesaurus for all your sales over 20,000 copies and for the 2,000,000th Hits..I want to say Thanks to my family. They are always there for me..I had rotator cuff surgery and there wasn't a lot I could do and they were there for me..Thanks for a Great giveaway..
Congratulations! I love The Emotion Thesaurus and your blog. I found you via KM Weiland. Her blog is a helpful resource for writers (http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/).
I love the fact that you're providing all your visitors with the opportunity to share links to other writers they've learned from. It creates such a wonderful sense of community among writers and readers.
Congrats on the anniversary, and you guys are awesome for doing this! I gotta be honest (and I'm not bum-kissing here, I promise) but I recently got The Emotion Thesaurus, so it's been my most recent writing helper. I struggle with characterization and believability the most, and the thesaurus has helped me to transform my characters from cardboard cutouts to real people. Thank you so much!
Just grateful to shre in your dream! Congrats!
Congratulations on five years and your wonderful success with both book and blog!
One of my writing friends helped me out by giving me a copy of the Emotion Thesaurus for Christmas - I'm so excited to use it!
There are so many writing blogs I find helpful, but two of my favorites are Writer Unboxed (http://writerunboxed.com/) and Magical Words (www.magicalwords.net)
Congrats! That's so exciting! And this giveaway is just like you, celebrating your own accomplishments by giving to the community! Thank you guys for what you do!
As for someone who has helped me, I have a chronic illness and my family has been better than anyone could even dream. They all chipped in this year to buy me a new laptop because mine was falling apart, and now I can keep writing without using pen and a pad (which I did for a while when my computer was on the fritz).
One of the blogs I like the most, though, is James Scott Bell's Kill Zone. Great thoughts from great authors to help beginners like me along. http://www.killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/
Congratulations on your 5 year anniversary.
I found your blog through K.M. Weiland. Following her has helped my writing a lot! https://www.facebook.com/kmweiland.author?ref=stream
here is my comment for entry :)
K. M. Weiland's Structuring Your Story's Scenes series has been very helpful.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/search/label/structuring%20your%20story%27s%20scenes
I love the Emotion Thesaurus - I'm currently tackling a 30-verse-in-30-days ballad challenge - the thesaurus is invaluable. congrats on the 5th Anniversary too.
www.sueborgersen.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
Thanks for being there for all of us, writers and authors, both green and seasoned. English isn't my first language, and every now and then I run out of imagery and _words_ to describe something with any degree of authenticity. Your site is a ton of help.
Thanks,
Nastia Leach
worldsoutofwords.wordpress.com
Congratulations on all accounts! And wow, there's my book. Thank you!
Will mention this tomorrow on my blog!
Cool! Just found this blog thanks to K.M. Weiland. :)
Oh, Congratulations! You guys are fabulous. It's fun to celebrate with you :)
Congrats! I love the Emotion Thesaurus!
I don't remember how I found you, but I recall thinking what a godsend you were. Among my favorite blogs that I visit often is http://www.vaughnroycroft.com/. Vaughn is a terrific and love his perspective on writing.
Congratulations again!
Whoo hooo! Happy HAPPY anniversary!!!! And as you already know I am a die hard TBM fan!
Hello and Happy Anniversary!
Someone who's helped me? Well, K.M. Weiland and her book Outlining Your Novel. This book has been a great source of info for a complete beginner.
Greetings from Brazil!
Marcos
Found you via A Jo Penn tweet. Great site
Five years! Good work! And work it is :) I discovered you through Jo Penn - she's a wonderful resource for Indie authors. I especially appreciate her optimistic views on writing and publishing. Looking forward to reading your archives!
Here's to another 5 years! Cheers!
Congrats on another year!
I have to say the biggest help to me recently has been my 12 year old daughter. At a time where i was struggling with my art and creativity she reminded me why i do it (and where her talents come from) and has got me writing and illustrating again
Wow, this is awesome! Thanks for doing such a great giveaway!
Congratulations! I think I've been following you for at least 4 of those years. Before the book, I studied each emotional thesaurus entry. It's also the first site I recommended to my nephew who wants to write a novel. I told him he'll end up buying the book!
My writing wouldn't be where it is at without Bookshelf Muse. Thank you so much for your Emotional Thesaurus. I can't wait for the next one to come out!
Congrats on the 2,000,000 hits! I just started a blog and cannot even imagine how I would feel if it became that popular.
The Emotion Thesaurus was a big help when my beginning-writer self needed help with both variety and showing-not-telling. Thanks, and congratulations on 5 years!
Can it be five years already??? Wow, congratulations! I mostly lurk, but I've gleaned so much great info here.
Another blog I visit regularly is author Jody Hedlund's. She's a great encourager, her posts are always informative, plus she has a page filled with links to wonderful writing helps: http://jodyhedlund.com/for-writers/
Congratulations on 5 years...and may there be many more to come!
Congrats on the 5 years! What a way to celebrate. I enjoy this blog and often tweet posts.
I follow a number of blogger whom I find especially helpful. Most recently, I discovered Sarah Nego from Sarah Nego Writes. She's an intern/PR specialist perspective for Marisa Corvisiero and writes about an insider's perspective. Here's the link to her blog: http://sarahnego.blogspot.com/
Woot! Congratulations, and thank you for the epic giveaway! Fabulous books. The Emotion Thesaurus was/is a beautiful idea, something writers needed. Thank you for putting it out there!
I'd like to give a shout-out to Kristal Shaff, Month9Book author of THE EMISSARY (cover to be revealed soon).
Not only has she been my CP for a few years, but she's just been all-around there for me. She knows how to pay it forward.
Here's her website: http://www.kristalshaff.com/
She's also at Scene 13 blog: http://scene13ers.wordpress.com
Five years. Wow! That's amazing. I'm not surprised you've had over 2,000,000 hits.
Over 20,000 copies of ET sold? That's amazing. :) Here's to many more sales. :)
You two ladies have helped many authors, me included.
I originally met you both at CC as well. One of the best decisions I've ever made was joining CC.
One of the ladies I've learned the most from this year was Janice Hardy over at http://blog.janicehardy.com/
She offers lots of valuable tips for writers, all the way through the revision phase and what words to avoid using, and why.
Here's to many more years of wonderful advice from the fabulous BookShelfMuse and it's very "Pay-It Forward" hosts. :) *clinks glass*
Thanks for everything you've done, and continue to do for the writing community as a whole.
~KittyB78
[email protected]
Congrats on 5 years -- that's so exciting. The Emotion Thesaurus has been insanely useful to me. When my Nook went missing for a couple weeks, I went and downloaded the Nook app to my iPhone specifically so I wouldn't be without that thesaurus while I was writing. :)
How gracious!! Thanks so much. :) Another reason to love this blog!
As far as writing goes, Juliana Brandt has been an excellent CP and figured out why my first 50 pages weren't grabbing agents' attention. A HUGE helpmeet for me. She's over at julianabrandt.com.
Oh my goodness. What a milestone! :) I am so, so proud to call you both my friends. Congratulations!
Holy cow! Congratulations, guys! :D That's amazing! Your blog deserves it. I can't list the number of times I've come here to help with my book or characters.
Someone who has helped me a TON recently (and since August last year) is Joe Bunting at thewritepractice.com. He has helped me SOOOOO much just by letting me write a monthly post on his website. He's great, the website's great, and the community's great. Thank you so much, Joe!
Very cool. What a great contest. Two folks that helped me a great deal, and kept me from nearly giving up writing:
Dean Wesley Smith: deanwesleysmith.com
Kristine Kathryn Rusch: kristwrites.com
AHHHH, you guys! All these lovely things you are saying is going to make me bawl. Seriously, wailing is about to commense!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the beautiful words. What a great community we have here--I am so proud of it and I know all of you are too!
Thanks for sharing your favorite haunts--some of these are new to me and so I look forward to checking them out!
Have a happy week, and thanks so much for celebrating with us!
Angela
K.M. Weiland's advice has always been valuable to me. This is a great contest.
Congrats ladies! That's amazing!
I've recommended your Emotion Thesaurus to many writers. Congratulations on 5 years!
Congrats on the five years. I've been loving this blog and all the helpful information.
I can well imagine The Emotion Thesaurus selling over 20,000 copies, it's a great resource. ^_^
Wow, congratulations! Considering how many recommendations I've seen for your Emotion Thesaurus, it's hardly surprising. As for a helpful blog, it was great to be featured on Ellie Garratt's recently: http://elliegarratt.blogspot.com/2013/01/shevi-arnold-speculative-fiction-writer.html
It's wonderful that you guys are making this such an open ended celebration. Congrats to you both for great sales and such a wonderful blog.
I'd like to give a personal Big Hug to you both and to Gwen Gardner who has been the most wonderful Partner in ParanormYA. She listens to me rant, get all hot and bothered with me when I don't understand what I'm doing with trying to promote my novel, shares her thoughts with me about things on her mind and has become my second set of eyes for my work because I know she'll be honest with me on how to make it better.
Yeah, Gwen's pretty alright with me and I hope others visit her just to say howdy and get to know this great gal pal of mine :-)
http://gwengardner.blogspot.com/
You guys are so AWESOME! You've helped SO many writers, including me, and I'm so thankful.
Great milestone and great giveaway to others to celebrate! I'd like to invite you to visit my friend Jackie Layton's blog at www.jackiesbackporch.blogspot.com She is an encourager to me as a writer and is great at plot points and turns and twists! Also a great photographer. If you check it out you can see scenes of Southport, NC where she and her hubby recently went and where Safe Haven, the movie based on Nicholas Sparks' latest movie was set.
I'd love to enter this contest
Congrats to the blog, its creators and to the writers reading it who never give up!
Wow, what a great accomplishment. Beaucoup congratulations to you both. And, what a sweet offer. I have your Emotion Thesaurus and love it to death. Thanks for all you do.
Well now. Angela and Becca, you deserve a big shout-out and congrats! You've come so far and yet I can see you still have lots to accomplish and share. Thanks for the Muse site, the Emotion Thesaurus, and everything you do for writers. You guys rock!
I too am a Critique Circle fan. Because of CC, I cyber-met Angela & Becca. Because of CC, I found out about six sentence sunday through which I met Teresa, my awesome beta reader.
Much to be thankful for. :D :D
Kindle giveaway? Heck yes!! I love this blog, and I'm loving all the new physical attribute thesaurus entries. You guys help my writing so much!
Congrats on those amazing milestones :) I love the Emotion Thesaurus, one of my best purchases to help with my writing
The information that you provide has been invaluable to me. I read Wordplay every day as well as the Muse blog. What a help for the beginning writer. Thanks so much.
I've promised a review of the Emotional Thesaurus for my writer's group, and once it's complete, I'll come back and post a link to the blog post where it resides.
Congratulations! As far as one of the people who helps me with my writing, you're giving away one of her books. I love K.M. Weiland's posts, and really enjoy her "Outlining Your Novel" book.
I use The Emotion Thesaurus regularly. I come here often to check on character traits too.
Congrats on five years.
Wow,that's awesome but not surprising! The Emotion Thesaurus is amazing!I refer to it often.
And what a great contest too! *crosses fingers* And to answer your questions as to who has helped me recently - the bookshelfmuse. I've been using your site to help flesh out scenes in my YA paranormal. Setting is still my weakest point.
Congrats. Thanks for all the helpful posts!
Wow! 5 years? That's amazing!
I was recently helped by my mom, who is a reader for me. She just likes to read things and give ideas of what can improve the story. It was really great to hear her perspective.
Thank you for your amazing help, since I have been writing an emphat your blog has been an amazing help-
Also my cp Stacey Nash was an inmense help with heping me grow as a writer, and encouraging me all the way.
Her blog: www.staceynash.com
Congratuations on your first five years!
This site has been a fantastic resource for me as I've developed my skills as a writer over the past few years. Angela's influence and input over on the Critique Circle site is an added bonus, like getting the whole pie instead of a slice! Thanks, Angela! And CONGRATULATIONS!
LOVE how those small moments can cause a whole shift in our lives. I'm also so glad you 2 met - thank you both so much for the last 5 years! Thanks as well for the giveaway! :)
I am one of your 20,000 purchasers of your emotion thesaurus, a truly useful writing tool! Thanks for putting it together and congrats on the sales!
You guys always have the best parties. :D
Wow, congratulations! I always look forward to seeing you guys pop up in my RSS feeder.
More awesomeness from you awesome women! Congrats on 5 years and thanks for the contest!
Congratulations! What a success story! I'm fairly new to your on-line family, but I most enjoy your posts! Thank you, and keep up the amazing work! I'm doing my best to share your site with all the writers I know! Peace!
Congratulations, Becca & Angela!!!! THREE amazing milestones! So awesome!!! *throws confetti*
Congratulations! What great stats! 5 years, 20,000 copies, and 2 million hits. Amazing. And to think, I helped you out just a little, I hope. Back in March 2011, I gave you guys a blog award when you only had just over 1600 followers. Even then you guys were awesome. Congratulations on still being awesome. (Hope I'm the lucky winner...)
Wonderful contest; thank you. I didn't know about this site until I clicked on a link posted by a Facebook friend today.
My body helped me by giving me a pinched nerve that radically cut down my ability to use a computer and mouse. This forced me to re-evaluate everything. It was emotionally (as well as physically) painful, but I finally stopped resisting the message: "Stop doing things that look creative but aren't your real passion."
I've made the inner and outer changes and now I'm starting 2013 with a blank slate. Feels good. Thanks, body. Sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind. :~)
CONGRATULATIONS!!! So happy for you two!
Someone who helped me recently was Elana Johnson, http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/ when she talked me down from a ledge. ;)
Yours is a great blog and this is a generous contest. I gladly shared your post with my readers. Congratulations!
Recently, I'm focusing on just achieving the goals I'm setting myself.
For example, I'm trying out binaural beats to see if they will let me sleep a couple of more hours.
Ok, here is a link to an Indie author/ publishing group on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/117510274996874/
Congratulations!
I've been enjoying this podcast. The hosts are a little nuts but every episode has been helpful:
Selfpublishingpodcast.com
Thanks for the giveaway. I use your Emotion Thesaurus ALL THE TIME!
Especially love your physical attributes thesaurus. :D
Yay you guys! Congrats on Five Years!
Wow. Those are both awesome accomplishments! Wishing you much success in the next five years as well.
Congratulations on five years!
Two blogs I cannot live without are yours and that of K.M. Weiland.
Keep up the good work.
Yay! Way to go!!! And thank you for celebrating with us~<3
Outside of this fantastic site I spend a lot of time in the archives of http://kidlit.com because I love Mary's advice. Sometimes things just don't click until I read examples from there!
Thank you so much for the lovely giveaway and congrats again on reaching so many milestones!
Congratulations on another fabulous year! Besides your own blog, I've also been helped so many times by the advice of Joanna Penn on her blog http://www.thecreativepenn.com/
Hello, I read your post & it a really good one. Congratulation for your long term success. Thanks for this blog…
Jungle Island Tour
Wonderful idea!! I'm having SO much fun editing right now thanks to tips I've discovered at The Other Side of the Story (www.janicehardy.com).
Congratulations on five years! That's crazy! You guys have helped me out a lot and I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for everything you do!
alyssaxchen14 (at) gmail (dot) com
Congrats on all the years! There are too many people to list them individually but I love my writing website Compuserve. I definitely wouldn't be were I am without them.
Congratulations Angela Ackerman! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this exciting information. Click Here
Wow, congratulations! I love Writer's Digest for their help and guidance.
I found this on K.M. Weiland's Page. Thanks for introducing me to another excellent Blog. I look forward to reading it!
I have used the Emotional Thesaurus for so long. When I saw I could buy it on Kindle, I didn't hesitate. I keep it open on my Kindle PC reader while I write. It's an incredible resource.
I've gotten tons of great information from Roz Morris's site: nailyournovel.com
Always good stuff.
You guys think we're being all generous with these contests, but really we just like to hear all the nice things you have to say :). Seriously, thank you. You all have been so good to us. Best of luck!
Congratulations! The Bookshelf Muse has been incredibly helpful to my writing and when I'm trolling for ideas, your site is one of the first I head to. here's to many more years to come!
Congratulations from a fellow CCer. It's nice to see you're being rewarded for all the help you've provided to writers.
One of my favorite sites is Wordplay, which offers tips on writing. The series on crafting scenes (ongoing as of now) has been especially helpful.
WOW! CONGRATS on 5 years of blogging! CONGRATS on the other milestones, too!
This is such an AWESOME blog! Thanks for all you do for the writing community!
And thanks for this most awesome giveaway! : )
Congratulations! My own blog is only a few weeks old so it's nice to hear success stories, it fills me with hope for the future.
One of the things I have been really working on with my fiction writing at the minute is improving my descriptions and I have found your site an invaluable resource.
I do a weekly post that includes snippets from my writer's notebook and in my last one I made an entry about a character discovering someone was lying because their hands didn't fit with the job they claimed to be doing. I then included a link to your site for any of my readers looking for a way to describe people's physical attributes.
Keep up the good work.
Wow! that is amazing. But I can understand all the hits, because the post on my blog where I posted about The Emotion Thesaurus gets the most hits of any on my site. I'm glad to be able to send people your way, you deserve every hit you get. And, congratulations on having 20,000 copies sold. Woo hoo! I'd love to win, thanks for the give a way!
Hi, I came here via Liana's blog.
Congrats on blogging for 5 years, for selling over 20,000 copies, and for having over 2 million hits. All worthy achievements.
Somehow, I don't think it will take you another 5 years to double those numbers. :) Maybe 2 years, maybe less.
Anyway, glad to have a link to your site. Looking forward to seeing more.
Dang...I'm crashing the party a little late, here, but still in the fashionable range.
ALL the reference books! I'm loving my ET. Bought it for Christmas.
I love that you and Becca met at a writing site and then collaborated. It is amazing how God works and the people He brings into our lives.
My bestie and I met much the same way...at a prompt site. She inspires me everyday with her talent, kindness, welcoming nature, and so much more. It's great to have a buddy like that. Her site is:
http://www.athoughtgrows.blogspot.com
She always has wonderful observations on life.
This is a great contest!! And congratulations!! Wow, 5 years...
So, one blog I have started following recently and that has tremendously helped me in my writing is CS Lakin's http://www.livewritethrive.com/.
Thank you for sharing your success!! :)
And here is to another 5 successful years! Or 10!! Or... well, put the number you like :)
Armelle
Thanks for all your hard work!
I recently purchased The Emotion Thesaurus and have referenced it quite a bit. Thanks for you work.
Congrats on 5 years of blogging!
Five years of blogging is worth celebrating! Congratulations to you both!
I just picked up a copy of the Emotion Thesaurus (just now, 30 second ago!) because honestly, there's no excuse not to have it.
Thank you for putting together such a great book :D
And congrats on such awesome readers!
What a fabulous run so far! Congratulations and here's to another five years! Your great book is part of my writer reference library and very helpful. Thanks for all you do for the writing community!
Donna L Martin
I keep my Emotional Thesaurus within arm's reach, and I have one on my Kindle Fire, too. Congratulations on your fifth year anniversary!
I frequent Julie Coulter Bellon's blog http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com where the aforementioned wonderful writer not only does book reviews, she has a First Page Friday critique done by a national editor friend of hers that anyone can enter. Julie's such a sweet lady that I want to give her, and her blog, a huge shout out!
You're more than wonderful. What a full year 2012 was and it seems you're about to start filling 2013 up to the brim with this so very generous giveaway. I'm proud to have my book included. Thank you.
Looking forward to another great year!
Congratulations! That's impressive. This is a real nice giveaway you're doing, too!
Congratulations, and thank you for such a fantastic resource! Here's to your continued success!
Five years of blogging? What an amazing accomplishment! Thanks for all you do for the writing community. Cheers to you both!
A BIG congratulations to you both!!
Huge congratulations to you both on such amazing milestones! And what an awesome giveaway, thank you for the opportunity to enter! :)
Congratulations to the both of you! The Emotion Thesaurus has been a big help for my writing, as well as the other material you have on your blog.
One, whose advise has helped me a lot in my writing is, K. M. Weiland. http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/
Again, congrats and many, many, many more post expected from you two in the years ahead.
Congrats, you guys! I love the book. It's been a great help!
Yeah! You go! I've been using the crew at Calgary NaNoWriMo to inspire and help me out in my writings!
What a terrific way to celebrate!! I have to say that JM Bell of startyournovel.com has been such an inspiration to me - creatively and social media smarts wise too!! In fact, following him is how I found you!! :)
Angela, your site has been hugely helpful since I started this journey, I was lucky to find it and the Emotion Thesaurus so early.
I'll also give props to the completely wicked Chuck Wendig at http://terribleminds.com/ramble/ - making writing vulgar and fun since whenever he started.
Congrats to you guys! Katie Klein has been a great help to me :)
Congrats to you both! Here's to many more!
LOVE LOVE LOVE your book and I use it every time I write. Every time.
Wonderful news on the amount of books you've sold and hits the blog has! Great job.
Heather
Hokey Dinah, I'm the 180th commenter. I think that's the longest list yet.
Anyway, congratulations on five years of blogging, the successful sale of your book (which I keep handy), and for the hits on your blog.
How very kind of you both to offer such a great prize.
Two other bloggers I follow and that deserve recognition are...drum roll, please--Marcy Kennedy at www.marcykennedy.com and Janice Hardy at www.janicehardy.com
I think I put my post the wrong place. Anyway Congratulations on five years. The Emotion Thearus has been of tremendous help to me and many other groups that I have suggested.
WritersDigest.com has many blogs and this site has been helpful in my writing life.
Now pull my name for the Kindle plus books I could do with one
Congratulations! What a milestone and what a generous giveaway!
Someone who has recently helped me (a ton!) is my CP, Steph. Too many words, not enough time - but she does have a new blogging venture I'd love to plug: http://thepenpunks.blogspot.ca/ - introducing us to all things punk in writing! We write such different stories but having another writer who loves and improves your own work is invaluable.
Wow! I love finding awesome new websites. Especially those that help writers.
IF you're querying, the only place to go (for me) is agentqueryconnect.com. Don't believe me? I got 20% request rate thanks to them. Yeah. Out of hundreds of queries. Didn't get an agent, which should just show you that they are that awesome and it wasn't just me.
Congratulations on all the great celebration! You two are setting records that most can only dream of.
Five years... Wow! Congratulations! And as to helpers, the lovely Ilana Waters has been extremely supportive lately! - over at www.ilanawaters.com
Five years! That's massive. Congratulations to you both. And may you have another excellent 5 years (and more, of course).
Congratulations!!! What an amazing milestone :) I have so many incredible writing friends I just couldn't live without, but one of them, Toni Kerr, just recently got into the blogging game so I'd love to send some peeps her way :)
http://tonikerr.blogspot.com/
Thanks so much for the contest! All of my beta readers and crit partners help me so much! Spreading the word: https://twitter.com/KimberlyAnnNJ
https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.a.miller.180
Wow, look at the response to this - and well deserved. I've had so many recommendations for the Emotion Thesaurus, I have to get my hands on it one way or the other!
And here's a shout out to my wonderful CP who has her first book coming out in May - congrats Eliza. Visit her blog at http://girlspwn.blogspot.com/ - she's always on top of some great contests too.
Congrats on five years. Thanks for the giveaway!
5-years, wow, you guys have helped a lot of people in that time. I am most certainly looking forward to your next five. I learn from so many, the list is long, but this weekend I'm thinking of the end of a fav. www.SixSunday.com is running their last list tomorrow. A fabulous, fun time for writers started by Sara Brookes http://www.sarabrookes.net/
Thank you, Sara.
Wow, congratulations, girls!! Although I'm thankful for all the writing/critiquing help we've gotten, I have to say my son's teacher has been my savior lately. She won't see this, but trust me - I thank her in person A LOT!
erica
I'd like to thank you guys! I recommended The Emotion Thesaurus to my writer's group. We all use it now and follow you. It's a great book! Congrats on your big celebration.
Congratulations on your 5th year!!!!
Thanks for The Emotion Thesaurus, and congrats on 5 years! If you're looking to take your writing to the next level, I highly recommend Margie Lawson's deep editing analyses:
www.margielawson.com/deep-editing-analyses
Your blog as been very helpful to me! Thank you!
This one too:
https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/
Congratulations on 5 years!!! And thanks for the giveaway :D :3
Awesome! Emotional Thesaurus has been a huge help to me. I know it's helped my writing, and I can't thank you enough for it! Congrats on the wonderful milestones, and I look forward to many more.
Wow! Congratulations!
I love The Emotion Thesaurus. I love your blog. It's helped me so much. As for folks that have helped me, there are a few. For berivitiy's sake, I'll name the ones that have helped me the most: R.S.Guthrie (http://robonwriting.com/) and Kevin Rau (http://kevinrau.blogspot.com/) have helped me with advice and encouragement.
Fab Surya (http://thewritingbean.wordpress.com/) and Jennifer Kemp (she doesn't have a blog yet) are my invaluable readers and critiquers. They see my stuff even before Critique Circle dot com does. Jen and Fab are always ready with cyber hugs and encouragement (or the occasional scolding when I want to stop writing). I love them a great deal.
How exciting for you! Congradulations.
Your book, The Emotion Thesaurus, is two feet away from my workstation at all times. Best reference book EvArrr
Marcy of http://mainewords.blogspot.com/
helped me through a writing rough patch. She is my muse and good friend.
This is an awesome contest. Lately I've made a lot of contacts of fellow bloggers who are willing to mention my books. It's a great community.
Http://www.susangourley.blogspot.com/
Love the Emotion Thesaurus and my favorite CP, Kimberly of The Art of Infiltration!
First off Congratulations. This is amazing and you have given so much to the writing community - Your character enhancements, your emotional thesaurus all of it has helped a great deal. Thank you - now for someone who has helped me Suzanne Lieurance - her website is her blog http://www.suzannelieurance.com She's amazing, a children's writer and more...
Thanks so much for your awesome blog! Congrats on your success.
I've gotten a ton of help from the Writing Excuses team. Here's their podcast: http://www.writingexcuses.com
Hope the New Year is twice as nice!
Wow! Congrats on another successful year. I adore your blog and find myself often checking it to get inspiration for my novels. Such a service you provide!
Congratulations! Leaving this comment was easy, not only because you made it easy for us to do but because your book, Emotion Thesaurus, is my favorite writer's resource (even better than a regular thesaurus! I love your blog, too and you and Becca are amazing to share it with the rest of us. May God continue to bless you both. :)
Wow. You guys are two of the most generous people in all of cyberspace.
Congratulations on all your milestones. You've worked hard, and they are richly deserved.
Congratulations! I hope you guys are around for a long time :)
Congrats on Year Five! Wonderful news! I've been a long-time follower and a purchaser of the Emotion Thesaurus ~ which I love lots!
I'm happy to spread the word about your terrific giveaway. Thanks for all you do!
Congratulations, ladies! Your success is well deserved. Appreciate all that you do for us. Have I mentioned lately that I really like The Emotion Thesaurus? :D
Congratulations on the blog anniversary! Your site has helped my writing life immensely!
As for other inspiration, I came across a link on twitter that has made me think of outlines in a completely different way.
Anne Greenwood Brown wrote an article all about creating great pacing in your story from the first draft. And how to get that first draft out fast to get to the real work in revisions.
And it is AMAZING!!!
Check out the article on Writer Unboxed here:
http://writerunboxed.com/2011/06/29/kicking-out-a-fast-first-draft-2/
Thanks for hosting this giveaway!!!
Wow, this is great! Keep up the good work.
Congratulation!!!
But I gotta say, ladies, you *EARNED* this. Emotion Thesaurus is never more than two feet away from my workstation and your blog link on the top line of my browser.
Thank YOU for a great book and service.
Wow stiff competition here but that's cuz yall are so awesome. :)
Congrats on all your achievements!!
Yippee, I'm comment number 5,000,000,000,000! *wink* Great contest you guys. My biggest help?? Emotion Thesaurus. xoxo Congrads you two. (((hugs)))
This blog is worth every bit of adoration it's accrued over the last 5 years! It has almost singe-handedly (single-bloggedly?) gotten me through writing my book, and I don't know where I'd be without it!!
I love your blog. I always learn new things. Thanks for the opportunity to enter the contest! Amazing!
Congratulations on your 5 year blogging anniversary!
I'd love to leave a shout out to my lovely writing mentor Lori M. Lee who is about to celebrate her own 2 year blog anniversary!
http://lorimlee.blogspot.com/
Over the past two months she has given me a most excellent and revealing critique of my current MS, gave me advice to perfect my pitches and query, helped me get 3 full requests from agents, and gave me a super boost in writerly confidence. I adore her! <3
Awesome giveaway from AWESOME Authors :D Thank you for sharing your talents and gifts with us.
I was helped by my Hollywood Schmooze group when they shared your book. Now I have a copy of my own.
You totally amaze me! I've followed your blog, then my dear husband got me the Emotion Thesaurus for Christmas.
Now ... the 30th is my birthday. Winning this prize would be a very nice present :)
Thanks for the fun giveaway, and congratulations on reaching so many great milestones!
Janice Hardy's blog, The Other Side of the Story (http://blog.janicehardy.com/), has been a great resource for me as I grow as a writer.
Looking forward to exploring your site.
A fellow CWer
Gerry O'Brien
www.gerryobrien.ca
Thanks for your Emotion Thesaurus. I bought the PDF version and it's been invaluable in my writing!
Thanks for letting us share the celebration!
First, I enjoy your physical attributes posts on the weekends. I print those out and add tem to my copy pf THE EMOTIONS THESAURAUS.
Second, Jodie Renner is one of our bloggers at Crime Fiction Collective, and does a fabulous job distilling one editing concept down to a well written post. Her latest:
http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-slash-your-word-count-by-20-50.html
Congratulations! The years go by faster and faster!
Congratulations! I love your Emotion Thesaurus & all the similar posts on the blog! Thanks so much for sharing all your hard work!
I've also really been enjoying Pub(lishing) Crawl lately... http://www.publishingcrawl.com
Thanks!
Is it completely cheating to say you've been a big help? I love the posts from the ET. Other than that, Jeff Goins' Tribe Writers efforts have been really helpful. He's covered everything from writer's block to fear to platform-building. Great stuff!
I love to read The Bookshelf Muse. The great tips that your share strengthen my knowledge and make my writing flow smoother.
This is an awesome giveaway. Thank you! The Emotion Thesaurus is such a wonderful writing tool, I can't wait to buy and use the next one. ;-)
As for someone who has helped me, I have to say that Rachel aka Parajunkee has been so super supportive of my writing journey since the beginning. Her link is: http://parajunkee.com/
Congratulations on 5 years! That is Awesome!!!
Every profession requires a set of tools to make the job easier. The Emotion Thesaurus belongs in every writer's tool chest.
Okay, I have to admit...I'm here because I saw the words "loaded kindle up 4 grabs" on my Twitter feed. I came for the chance to win free stuff, but I'm staying for the great advice. How could I have not known about your blog? Also, I headed over to Amazon and bought your book. Thanks for your generosity. That's perhaps not surprising, since I've found SCBWI folks to be among the most supportive people around.
You know I already mentioned the emotional Thesaurus on my blog shortly after the book was released. Your blog is one of only two I have stuck with. The other is Hope Clark's at www.hopeclark.blogspot.com. Diane Chamberlain's video on character and setting has helped me deepen characterization www.dianechamberlain.com/video-characters-setting. I'd love the Kindle Paperwhite with some books on the craft of writing.
Congratulations! I've been dipping my big toe in the online community for 2 itty bitty months now. Tweeps, blogs, FB liking, and your website is a wonderful place to retreat and learn. Thanks!
i have been more excited about writing since I got your emotion thesaurus. It was already said you are beyond awesome! I love it. I have been a nurse over 30 years and my writing was factual. Now my stories have more feeling and emotion to them. My writing group noticed a difference as well. I look forward to your blogs. Congratulations and onward to another milestone. Karen K.
Congrats on your anniversary! My Emotion Thesaurus is my favourite writing reference and I can't wait to see what you guys do next!
-Corrie (www.promiseorthreat.blogspot.com)
Wow! Congrats on five years. I love checking out your site and learning wonderful ways of describing emotions, settings and many other things! Thanks for all you do for us writers.
One site I love that helps my writing is Character Therapist at http://charactertherapist.blogspot.ca/
She helps with charcterization and diagnostic information. Check it out!
Hope I am not too late for the contest - would love to win - just your book even!
Jodi
You both are so amazing and very inspiring!! I have a friend that started a blog that has inspired me the most. Her name is Crystal and she runs http://mommifried.com/ She is super funny. We have totally different blogs...but I don't think that matters. Thank you SO much!!
That is indeed amazing how much you have built upon an idea over five years, keen to see what the future holds :)
Okay, the best part of this contest is reading all the comments - lots of great writers owe a lot to the two of you, as well as to their friends/families/other writing blogs.
As always, THANK YOU for all your hard work - and congrats on 5 years and 2 million reads! What a huge accomplishment!
My shout out today would have to be to my critique partners - they believe in me, are tough with me, and are devoted to helping me succeed in my goals. I wouldn't have the courage to continue without them!
Fantastic Blog! Keep up the good work Angela and congrats on a great five years...here's to many more!
Congratulations! Really interesting blog...here's to another 5 years!
-Teresa
You guys are seriously awesome! Congratulations on all the milestones you've passed - well deserved!
Congrats you two! And thanks for this crazy good giveaway-you ROCK!!
Just wanted to say your blog has made me a better writer. Thanks so much. You're the best.
Great figures. I'm truly impressed. Two years into my blog and I'm still just shy of 100,000 hits.
Congratulations!
Love the Emotion Thesaurus and the blog, they've been a big help in rounding out my descriptions and bringing people and places to life.
Thank You!
A collaboration that works! For the blog, for the book, and for the writing community.
Thank you.
Sheryl
Hope I am not too late for the contest :)
Thank you for your blogs that bring so much information. Love it!!!!
Congratulations on another year, 20,000 copies of the thesaurus, and 2,000,000 hits (amazing!!).
I will tell you that this blog and The Emotion Thesaurus have literally changed my writing life.
Thank You SO Much!!
2 million is more than my head goes around...
wow...
Wow, I a struggling along on three and a half years, and many times my post are intermittent.
I love your book.
I know I recently bookmarked someones blog, but this isn't a great week for me. However, I find I get a lot of help from Verla Kay's Blue Boards, I recommend the Blue Board to many people and of course that would link them up with your great blog also!
This may be closed...but I just have to say THANK YOU! I bought your book a couple weeks ago, and it is an imense help. Not to mention all the great blog posts you have. What a gem you have! Thank you thank you thank you!
I can not imagine how I missed this post. But it is not too late to say CONGRATULATIONS!!! to you great ladies for the amazing achievements you have made in 5 years. So proud of you and so blessed to be associated with you.