This Week In Favs….And the Winner of The Emotion Thesaurus PDF Giveaway!

 The winner of The Emotion Thesaurus PDF giveaway is *drumroll*……… *more drumroll*……..

SUSAN!!!!!

Congratulations, Susan! *throws confetti*

Angela will send over your winnings soon! :)

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Now, onto this week’s weekly round-up of writerly blogs!

Playing on the Zune: All In by Lifehouse

**As promised, because I’ve missed the last two weeks of round-ups, we have an extra, extra, extra helping of writing blogs on the round-up this week!!!

ENJOY!

Social Media and Author Websites

 20 Economical Book Marketing Techniques on Self-Publishing Review

13 Simple Tips for a Better Blog by Rachelle Gardner

Thoughtful Blog Reading: Habits and Perks by August McLaughlin

Should You Preschedule Tweets? by Meghan Ward on Writerland

8 Tips for Promoting Your Book Online by Rachelle Gardner

‘Social’ Media: Author Ignorance by Porter Anderson on Writer Unboxed

Top Five Creepy Social Media Marketing Tactics by Kristen Lamb

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 On the Craft  

Great Characters – The Beating Heart of Great Fiction by Kristen Lamb on Warrior Writers

Spotlight on Subtext: When Characters Are Liars, guest post by Angela Ackerman on Jami Gold’s blog

Michael Hauge’s Workshop: Are These Characters the Perfect Match? by Jami Gold

Michael Hauge’s Workshop: Combining Emotional Journeys and External Plots by Jami Gold

The Inner Struggle: Guides for Using Inner Conflict that Make Sense by Janice Hardy

How to Outline a Story by Lynda R. Young on W.I.P. It: An Author’s Journey

5 Reasons Why Your Opening Scene is Like a Blind Date by Marissa on Adventures in YA & Children’s Publishing

25 Things You Should Know About Metaphor by Chuck Wendig

Writing Lessons Learned from WHERE IT BEGAN by Julie Musil

Character Arcs? by C.S. Lakin on Live Write Thrive

8 Ways to Write Without Every Touching the Keyboard by Marissa on Adventures in YA & Children’s Publishing

Folks Talk About a Writer’s Toolbox, but Do You Actually Have One? by Angela Quarles

Too Many “Cooks” In Our Fiction: The Biggest Lesson I Learned from Book One by August McLaughlin

The Uncomfortable Pantser: When Your Method Doesn’t Fit Your Personality by Roni Loren

Obstacles in Stories: 3 Ways to Turn Hills into Mountains by Jody Hedlund

Beware of This Sly Writer’s Enemy by Jody Hedlund

What is Keeping Your Heroine and Hero Apart? Is it Enough? by Scott Eagan

Finding Your Novel’s Theme and Your Universal Theme by Roni Loren

2 + 5 = 5 – Adding Up by Lynn Price on the Behler Blog

Make Your Reader Uncomfortable by C. Hope Clark

How Does Your Villain Grow? by Lynette Labelle

12 Lessons Learned from 12 Years of Writing by Demian Farnworth on Copyblogger

How to Create Conflict in a One Character Scene by Lynette Labelle

Ask a Writer: “How Do I Write What the Audience Wants to Read?” by Chuck Wendig

5 Basics About Dialogue You Need to Know by Marcy Kennedy

You’re Reading It Wrong: How to Not Treat Your Readers by Daniel Swensen

The Power of THEME, guest post by Dr. John Yeoman on The Bookshelf Muse

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 Writerly Inspiration

I Believe I Am Really a Writer by James Scott Bell

This Product Prevents Literary Wedgies. Good for Multiple Users by Jan O’Hara on Writer Unboxed

The Care and Feeding of Writers by Lynda R. Young on W.I.P. It: An Author’s Journey

12 Sure-Fire Ways to Find Great Ideas for Your Writing by Ali on Aliventures

The Writer’s Golden Hour: Making the Most of Our Time by August McLaughlin

Start Doing What You Love Right Now! by Jody Hedlund

Michael Hauge’s Workshop: You’re the Hero of Your Life by Jami Gold

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 On Editing, Critiquing, Querying, Publishing and more…

The Publishing Process in GIF Form by Nathan Brandford

Bookstores vs. Backlist: A New Decision by Jami Gold

Book Signings Beyond the Bookstore by Joan Rhine on Left-Brained Business for Write-Brained People

What it Feels Like When Your Writing is Rejected – and How to Bounce Back by Ali on Aliventures

Tips to Indie Success by Tonya Kappes

Staying Balanced in the Confusing Modern Industry by Jody Hedlund

Common Reasons for Rejection by Scott Eagan

How to Use Brainstorming to Edit by Ava Jae on Writability

5 Key Qualities of the High-Value Writer by Jenny Hansen

 Indie Author Advises to “Just Do It”, guest post by Dan Holloway on Live Write Thrive

If You Can’t Say It Succinctly Then Don’t Say It At All by Lydia Sharp

When to Stop Fine Tuning by Lisa Gail Green

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 Other Round-Ups

The Author Chronicles’ Top Picks Thursday

Stina Lindenblatt’s Cool Links Friday

Roni Loren’s Fill-Me-In Friday

Elizabeth S. Craig’s Twitterific (compilation of all the writing links she’s shared this week – updated on Sundays)

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This week on the blog: 

 The Emotion Thesaurus: Got Fear? – Guest Post by Angela Ackerman

Photo by Lynn Kelley via WANA Commons

Happy Reading and Writing, everyone!!!
Melinda

The Emotion Thesaurus: Got Fear? – Guest Post by Angela Ackerman

Ever wondered if your characters are showing their fear the right way? Well, you’re in luck! ‘Cause today I’m incredibly excited to present to you The Emotion Thesaurus entry of FEAR, brought to us from the wonderful and amazing Angela Ackerman!

There just aren’t enough words to describe Angela! Hmm…. let’s see… she’s one-half of the The Bookshelf Muse (which is another must-follow blog for me), she’s incredibly kind, awesome, so much fun to chat and work with, funny, full of all sorts of writerly information… OH! And she’ll do anything for bacon! *grin* And that doesn’t even begin to cover it! (Psst! She’s even brought a goodie for a giveaway with her today! Did I mention she’s awesome?)

So without further ado, please welcome Angela!

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Hi everyone! The fantabulous Melinda kindly invited me to her blog and I am ever so happy to hang out here today. I brought with me the entry on FEAR from The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression, because I know how hard it can be to show our character’s intense experiences without always reusing common fear indicators of shivering, shuddering, racing heartbeat, rasping breath and sweating. There’s nothing wrong with using these of course, as long as we apply them in moderation. So, to get your head into brainstorming gear, we’ve created seventy-five emotion entries just like this one below. Enjoy!
 

FEAR

DEFINITION: to be afraid of; to expect threat or danger

PHYSICAL SIGNALS:
Face turning ashen, white, pallid
Hair lifting on the nape and arms
Body odor, cold sweats
Clammy hands
Trembling lips and chin
Tendons standing out in the neck, a visible pulse
Elbows pressing into the sides, making one’s body as small as possible
Freezing, feeling rooted to the spot
Rapid blinking
Tight shoulders
Staring but not seeing, eyes shut or crying
Hands jammed into armpits or self-hugging
Breath bursting in and out
Leg muscles tightening, the body ready to run
Looking all around, especially behind
A shrill voice
Lowering the voice to a whisper
Keeping one’s back to a wall or corner
Shaking uncontrollably
Gripping something, knuckles going white
Stiff walking, the knees locking
Beads of sweat on the lip or forehead
Grabbing onto someone
Eyes appearing damp and overly bright
Stuttering and mispronouncing words, tremors in the voice
Jerky movements, squirming
Licking the lips, gulping down water
Sprinting or running
Sweeping a hand across the forehead to get rid of sweat
Gasping and expelling one’s breath as if pained
Uncontrollable whimpering
Pleading, talking to oneself
Flinching at noises

INTERNAL SENSATIONS:
An inability to speak
Shakiness in the limbs
Holding back a scream or cry
Heartbeat racing, nearly exploding
Dizziness, weakness in the legs and knees
A loosening of the bladder
Chest pain
Holding one’s breath, gulping down breaths to stay quiet
A stomach that feels rock hard
Hyper-sensitivity to touch and sound
Adrenaline spikes

MENTAL REACTIONS: 
Wanting to flee or hide
The sensation of things moving too quickly to process
Images of what-could-be flashing through the mind
Flawed reasoning
Jumping to a course of action without thinking things through
A skewed sense of time

CUES OF ACUTE OR LONG-TERM FEAR:
Uncontrollable trembling, fainting
Insomnia
Heart giving out
Panic attacks, phobias
Exhaustion
Depression
Substance abuse
Withdrawing from others
Tics (a repetitive grimace, a head twitch, talking to oneself)
Resistance to pain from rushing adrenaline
MAY ESCALATE TO: ANGER, TERROR, PARANOIA, DREAD

CUES OF SUPPRESSED FEAR:
Keeping silent
Denying fear through diversion or topic change
Turning away from the cause of the fear
Attempting to keep one’s voice light
A watery smile that’s forced into place
Masking fear with a reactive emotion (anger or frustration)
False bravado
Over-indulgence in a habit (nail biting, lip biting, scratching the skin raw)
A frozen or shaking smile
A joking tone, but the voice cracks
 

WRITER’S TIP: Prime readers for an emotional experience by describing the mood of a scene as your character enters it. If your character is antsy, the reader will be too.

 
As you can see, there are many ways to show a character’s fear, and this list is only a starting point! Think about your character, and what types of expressions will be unique to him or her. This will bring you one step closer to creating fresh body language and really pull the reader into your character’s emotional experience.
PSST! If you would like to see which seventy-five emotions the book covers and find out more about The Emotion Thesaurus, there’s a generous sample on Amazon’s Look Inside feature. Also, we have a free PDF on our blog called Emotion Amplifiers, which offers lists like the one above for fifteen conditions like Attraction, Stress, Hunger, Pain, Exhaustion, etc. These amplifiers can alter a character’s mental and physical state, ensuring bigger emotional reactions. You can find the download button right in the sidebar.

 

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Angela Ackerman is one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, and co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression.  Listing the body language, visceral reactions and thoughts associated with seventy-five different emotions, this brainstorming guide is a valuable tool for showing, not telling, emotion.
 

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Melinda here! Okay, so now we all know that when we write to convey the fear in our characters we’re supposed to include smiles, squees, and booty dancin’, right? *snort* Just kidding!!!
 
My favorite thing about this particular entry – and ALL the entries in The Emotion Thesaurus, actually – is how Angela and Becca captured the smaller nuances a character shows when experiencing an emotion. With fear, it’s the rapid eye blinking and/or eyes appearing damp and overly bright, and dizziness and hyper-sensitivity. They’ve got these emotions down, and those signs I just named may be small, but they are POWERFUL when they’re on the page in a high-tension scene!
 
And in order to help you bring that power to the page, Angela brought with her a PDF version of The Emotion Thesaurus as a giveaway today! How awesome is that?!?
 
To enter, all you need to do is complete a little information in the Rafflecopter section below. The giveaway will end tomorrow night at midnight. Be sure you not only get your first entry by leaving a comment, but your additional entries by following The Bookshelf Muse blog, following Angela and/or me on Twitter, adding The Emotion Thesaurus to one of your shelves on Goodreads, and liking The Emotion Thesaurus’s Facebook page.
 
The winner will be announced on Friday’s This Week in Favs… writing links round-up post!
 
Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Update: Week #2 Without a 'Week in Favs'....

Happy Friday, everyone!

Okay, so I know I said we'd definitely have a Week in Favs... post this week, however, I underestimated how I would feel after having gobs of dental work done on Thursday (they put me under, and I'm still recuperating).

Next week we'll have a round-up post with TONS of links - PROMISE! :)

Happy Reading and Writing, everyone!!!

Melinda