How to write a book that you'll be proud of- and which might yet launch you on a new career. Crammed with examples positive and negative from successful authors, this essential guide is for writers of every genre: fiction and narrative non-fiction, literary and commercial, adults and children. This guide tells you how to: - Understand your market - Plan your novel or memoir - Develop strong, empathetic characters - Structure and maintain a compelling plot - Ensure that your prose style is strong enough to carry your story - Polish your work until it shines.
Create characters that leap off the page--and into readers' hearts! Populating your fiction with authentic, vivid characters is a surefire way to captivate your readers from the first sentence to the last. Whether you're writing a series, novel, short story, or flash fiction, Creating Characters is an invaluable guide to bringing your fictional cast to life. This book is a comprehensive reference to every stage of character development.
Author : J J. McNally has earned the right to dispense advice on this subject. He has published three novels, two collections of short fiction, and hundreds of individual stories and essays. He has edited six anthologies and worked with editors at university presses, commercial houses, and small presses.
But he has received far more rejections than acceptances, has endured years of underpaid adjunct work, and is presently hard at work on a novel for which he has no guarantee of publication. The lonely life of a writer need not be. There are ways to break that isolation and find encouragement and support within groups of like-minded people.
Whether the group is oriented toward writing the great American novel or a family memory book, this useful book offers an array of effective techniques to help writers achieve their goals. Create Your Writer's Life offers a coaching approach to develop a writing practice that actually works. Finally, a resource that allows you to do it your way, and that works.
Author : W. Terry Whalin Publisher: W. This book reveals insider information to help you avoid the pitfalls of rejection in writing a book.
You're no idiot, of course. Is there a way for me to get a replacement book? I could send you the book for you to check for yourselves. Thanks and have a great day! I am thrilled the books have been helpful but so sorry you received a defective copy!
The good news is most online e-tailers are great about sending a replacement copy, so wherever you bought it from, they will have a contact link for returns and replacements. The etailer is the one who requests the copy on your behalf and has it printed, so they are the one to reach out to for a replacement copy at no cost or shipping. They may ask for a screenshot of the damage. Is there any new thesaurus on its way? I would definitely like to see the occupation, conflict, and motivation — these three thesauri on my kindle asap.
Thanks for your invaluable contribution to the development of writing skills that I am trying to study and practice for a long time. The Occupation Thesaurus is next, releasing sometime in Can you give us a bit more detail, such as where you bought the ebook so we know what type of file this was kindle, kobo, etc.?
Thank you, Angela. These are such great books I want them all on my shelf somehow. Right now what we find works the best for us is to have all the collections in one place at One Stop for Writers. Some of these thesauruses will become books though—we just need time to do them as they take a lot of energy to complete and research thoroughly. I believe that was not what Emma was asking about. She wanted to buy all of the books as PDFs, rather than subscribing to your website.
So do I. It takes quite a chunk of time to clean up a thesaurus, format it, add the necessary instructive front matter so writers will know how to best use the information, and turn it into a digital book even in PDF form. This is why Angela suggested One Stop for Writers——because all of our thesauruses can be found there in their entirety. Hi, It feels kind of funny to ask this, but can we please have a thesaurus of obstacles, conflicts, problems, stakes or something like that?
We actually have this at our second site, One Stop for Writers. Hi, Jimmy. When we get too flowery with the dialogue tags, they start to stand out and call attention to themselves. So do feel free to throw in the occasional alternative when the situation calls for it, but do so sparingly. Hi, I must admit that all these fruits of your invaluable metculus efforts enriched me to give my ability to express myself a truely desirable orientation, which is why I am requesting for something more; can you please bless us with a thesaurus of plot drivers?
If you are looking for help on plotting, maybe check out our plot complication idea generator and the Story prompts one! We are currently finishing the Emotional Wound Thesaurus book, and looking to October for release. I am so glad you found One Stop! That is our special project, and we absolutely love the freedom of being able to create amazing tools for writers there. I hope you find it really helpful! And thank you for the kind words. We love helping others. I am a professional international psychologist with two minors; business management and english lit I need a thesaurus or online, I do not care, that I can get to easily, or have it attached already to my word: to purpose different wording possibilities.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would be grateful and appreciative. Hi, Hugh. This page contains links to the various places it can be bought, including Indiebound, which will show you any independent bookstores near you that carry our book. Please let us know if you have any trouble. Have a great week! Mostly I concentrate on good plots. Thanks for what you do.
In the Negative Trait Thesaurus, Appendix A: Needs and Lies, the Associated Needs and Lies would be souch easier to view, understand and internalize if the information was s into 2 columns. That way the Need and the Lie the dicotomoy would be visually laid out side by side, instead of 6 or 16 lines later.
Thanks for the feedback, Patricia. We are always interested in what will make our books better. Has there been any thought about a book on similes? I am anxiously awaiting the new thesaurus coming in June, but coming up with a powerful or even a simple simile sometimes becomes taxing.
It could be an add-on to what you already have on this site. Are you planning on doing one on physical motion and movement? It would be helpful in my editing if I were able to describe characters movements in a variety of ways. I like to add a depth to my characters by giving them movement. For example, a regular thesaurus tells me alternate words for walk is: march, parade, step, and so on.
Question: I have purchased the Emotion Thesaurus and find it very useful. Will you be publishing the other Thesauruses in hardback?
The guests commentators on your site offer really great input. I look forward to seeing Writers Helping Writers pop up on my computer. Thank you. Hi, Joanne. Those are available in print and digital copies; you can find distribution sites on our Bookstore page.
The Setting Thesaurus is the next collection that will be turned into book form. That will have two volumes also Urban and Rural settings , and those are due out in late spring. Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Happy writing! Dearest Becca: First of all, thank you for this outstanding site. I bought the book about Positive traits and I love it. However I have a hard time trying to describe old, creaking, wooden floor, and all the words that I think of, do not fit in. How would you describe this type of floor in an abandoned house?
You have to watch out because the floors are uneven, you may fall, etc, etc…. Hi, Julio. Awesome tool! Thank you! Not all chargers identify as make! So glad you found this book helpful, Andrena. However what we do not do is switch back and forth in the same passage or example, as this would likely greatly confuse readers.
In any case, Becca and I will keep an eye on this to always ensure both genders are represented. This in turn steals her her freedom, and puts a choke hold on self-growth and true happiness. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Yes, please add me to your mailing list. Notify me of new posts by email. They are ideas that come in the character's mind. The best parts in The Negative Trait Thesaurus are the examples from film and literature as there are many movies you can relate to or consider watching to see the negative trait in the characters, and the how your character can overcome their flaws section.
Their flaws sabotage them, blocking them from gaining what they want both on a conscious and subconscious level. There are many traits in the book that many would not think are negative but put in extremes, they can be quite disconcerting. Apr 21, Madly Jane rated it really liked it Shelves: writing-fiction , work-and-wonder , read. Very nice book with lots of lists that help prompt research into characterization. I really enjoyed the book, learned a lot, and it raised some questions for me.
Loved the Reverse Backstory Tool, which I am now using. Basically you have to want to write a rounded character to do this kind of research. This book acts as a thoughtful guide and aide. I've read though it several times, using it for two of my characters, have made notes in it and have at least a hundred posts marking pages.
Of the f Very nice book with lots of lists that help prompt research into characterization. Of the four guides, this is my favorite. May 25, Carolee Noury rated it it was amazing Shelves: writing-resources. An excellent resource for a problem I struggle with.
There are helpful essays in the beginning full of writing tips. The reference itself gives a great overview of negative traits from "abrasive" to "worry wart. Shelves: writing-books. The team of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi reference book for all levels of writers sits on my desk. It has become a valuable tool during my revision process. Thank you both for this fantastic addition to my writing shelf. This is a really handy reference for writers.
Worth the few bucks to get it! Nov 02, Kat rated it it was amazing Shelves: non-fiction , read-in , reference-book.
One of the best references a writer could hope for. Mar 23, Dan rated it liked it Shelves: reference. I have a lot of thoughts about this book. It covers a lot of ground discrete traits, if I counted right , and each one contains a small list of conflicting trai I have a lot of thoughts about this book.
It covers a lot of ground discrete traits, if I counted right , and each one contains a small list of conflicting traits that guarantee drama when you put characters that exhibit them together in a scene.
Now, the bad. I would question the choice of many of the examples, as well; it would be nice if any of them were from media made in the last two decades, and not just from things I as a twenty-something only know from being referenced on the Simpsons. A final critique: much of the content in this book is ablist as hell. Dec 11, L. Braden rated it it was amazing Shelves: writing-craft. This is the fourth book I've purchased in this writing craft series, and I'd highly recommend adding it to your shelf if you are a writer.
It is a great tool for adding depth and variety to your characters. Heroes versus villains. Good guys should have good traits and bad guys should have bad ones, right? But people aren't all good or all bad. Every character needs to have both positive and negative traits to be believable, but it's a tricky balance. It's all a matter of degree. One of my favorite This is the fourth book I've purchased in this writing craft series, and I'd highly recommend adding it to your shelf if you are a writer.
One of my favorite articles prefacing the thesaurus itself each of these books comes with a section of short, informative articles is about the different degrees to which a negative trait can complicate a character's life.
They call them Sparks, Fireworks, and Explosions. For example, a character can have a negative trait like "stubborn. There's also the fact that all traits can be seen as both negative and positive depending on the situation. The general who wouldn't let his troops retreat because he was too stubborn to admit he was wrong could be the same general who gets a medal because he held his ground against hostile forces until reinforcements arrived, thereby turning the tide of battle.
In that case, we might replace the word stubborn with determined, unwavering, or stalwart. As such, each entry in this thesaurus includes a sections on the "positive aspects" of the trait. Obviously the authors couldn't fit every possible trait into a single book, but there are enough, and enough variety, that you should be able to find something close to your character's flaws and get some good ideas about how to portray them realistically, and how your character can overcome them.
For more information on this and other books in the series, check out the Writers Helping Writers website. Oct 07, Elle rated it liked it Shelves: non-fiction , kindle-ereader , owned , writing. Of course there's a limit to how many traits can be included in one book, but several times I've been unable to find a trait I'm looking for and the 'close' traits included just don't seem close enough.
Maybe a single Trait Thesaurus would have been best, so readers don't have to search two different books to wonder if they want the positive use of a Negative-classified trait or the negative use of Positive-classified trait.
A good reference, but not a must-have due to its limitations and confusions. Nov 15, T. Hernandez rated it it was amazing Shelves: non-fiction , writing , self-help , favorites , read-in
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