The Emotional Thesaurus

I calculate that I wrote and edited at least a million words of Sons of Adamah. A person has to be a bit crazy to do that, no?

My degree in creative writing required only short pieces and so writing on the scale of a novel was a daunting task. But whether short or long, fiction is most effective if emotions are shown and not told. For example, rather than say a character feels anticipation, the writer will more successfully pull the reader into the story by describing the manifestations of the emotion. 

Creative Writing 101. I knew this. You probably know this.

The trouble was, after all these years I still had very little awareness of the effects of emotions on me or what they look like in others. I have theories as to why I’m so disconnected, but I’ll spare you. 

Apparently, I’m not alone, which is comforting and alarming at the same time. To the rescue of writers everywhere—“The Emotion Thesaurus” (Acherman and Puglisi). This tome lists hundreds of emotions and describes their effects inwardly or outwardly, depending on the point of view. 

Phew. 

Some of my efforts remain a bit stilted, but I’ll get plenty more practice as I begin to write Daughters of Adamah next week. Another million words, and God only knows how many emotions. 

Anticipation. “A fluttery, empty feeling in the stomach, breathlessness, a pounding heart, tingling all over.”  Page 46.