The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression (Second Edition) (Writers Helping Writers Series)
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Description
The bestselling Emotion Thesaurus, often hailed as “the gold standard for writers” and credited with transforming how writers craft emotion, has now been expanded to include 55 new entries! One of the biggest struggles for writers is how to convey emotion to readers in a unique and compelling way. When showing our characters’ feelings, we often use the first idea that comes to mind, and they end up smiling, nodding, and frowning too much. If you need inspiration for creating characters’ emotional responses that are personalized and evocative, this ultimate show-don’t-tell guide for emotion can help. It includes:Body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for 130 emotions that cover a range of intensity from mild to severe, providing innumerable options for individualizing a character’s reactionsA breakdown of the biggest emotion-related writing problems and how to overcome themAdvice on what should be done beforedrafting to make sure your characters’ emotions will be realistic and consistent Instruction for how to show hidden feelings and emotional subtext through dialogue and nonverbal cuesAnd much more!The Emotion Thesaurus, in its easy-to-navigate list format, will inspire you to create stronger, fresher character expressions and engage readers from your first page to your last. Read more
Publisher : JADD Publishing
Publication date : February 14, 2019
Edition : 2nd ed.
Language : English
Print length : 308 pages
ISBN-10 : 0999296345
ISBN-13 : 49
Item Weight : 1.26 pounds
Dimensions : 7 x 0.7 x 10 inches
Book 1 of 11 : Writers Helping Writers Series
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Paperback
I bought this as a gift for a budding author in the family after doing some research on helpful tools for writers — and it did not disappoint. I flipped through it before wrapping it up, and honestly, I was tempted to buy a copy for myself! It’s incredibly well-organized and helps writers find just the right way to express emotions through actions and descriptions, rather than falling back on repetitive words. The person I gave it to was ecstatic — it was exactly the kind of resource he didn’t know he needed. The quality and content make it feel like a meaningful and useful gift, not just a novelty. Highly giftable, super practical, and perfect for any aspiring (or experienced) writer looking to level up their character work.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2025 by Atali Bouck
Format: Paperback
As a writer, showing character emotion has always been a struggle for me. Growing up as a Gen X kid of the 70's, keeping our emotions in check and controlled is just what we did. Old ingrained patterns are hard to break. Luckily, I discovered this book. The first twenty-six pages are devoted to emotions in the writing craft (their power, how to portray them in an authentic manner, and the roles of dialogue and subtext). This is a solid primer for authors with examples to illustrate the pointers. The bulk of the book then is outlining (alphabetically) 130 emotions. Each is given a two-page breakdown that covers physical, internal, and mental aspects. We are also shown escalation and de-escalation steps in the emotional scale (with quick page jumps to those sections in the book). Finally, each entry includes a short Writer's Tip relating to emotions at the end that you'll want to make sure you check out. I am certain this will be a guide that is going to get a lot of use in my writer's toolkit, especially when I am editing my initial drafts (the place I often find where I need to punch up my emotional aspects of my stories).
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Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2026 by Theresa Ashe-Maenza
Format: Paperback
If you're a writer, this book is a must-read. In fact, it's an essential reference for my own work. Beautifully designed, this book delivers an abundance of ideas and insights for any writing project. I'd give it ten stars if I could.
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2026 by Aisling D.
Format: Kindle
In addition to adding 55 new emotion entries, the authors expanded the introductory material to include a much more detailed discussion of writing scenes that draw a reader in through the emotional cues, verbal and non-verbal, and using in-depth knowledge of our characters to write scenes in which their reactions are believable and compelling. Knowing our characters includes knowing what their baseline reactions are - are they loud or quiet, outgoing or shy, mouthy or polite - knowing the baseline allows us to present a range of reactions to different situations. In addition to these valuable additions, one of the ways this edition differs from the original is that in the original, there was a list of ways an emotion could escalate, and now, that list has been updated and there is also a new list of ways an emotion can de-escalate. There is also a list of power verbs associated with each entry that will prove extremely helpful in writing emotion. The writer's tips have also been updated for each entry, and I'm happy I have both editions so that I can compare the two when I'm stuck and find nuggets of wisdom in each. With all the new entries, updated entries, and in-depth writing advice in the introductory material, this edition is well-worth keeping on your writing shelf. I can also see it being a help for counseling professionals and others who deal with emotion in real life. The authors have likely put hundreds of hours into researching the emotions listed, and it shows.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2019 by Jenni Legate
Format: Paperback
Got the 2nd edition A good intro to how to expand beyond the typical - "he looked angry at my request" and "she growled in frustration as she worked". Why are you TELLING me what they are feeling instead of SHOWING me. "Once I voiced my request, his eyebrows clashed like blades on his forehead while his mouth's edges slashed down." "Her voice lowered as she continued to work on the seemingly impossible task until only a growl remained." If you actually are stating the emotion - grab this book for suggestions. With over 130 emotional states described with hints on how to express them, your characterization should pop. The opening pages do a fairly good job of explaining the original intent of and how to use this reference book. I picked it up for instructional purposes. As an editor, I am constantly trying to explain to people how to "show not tell" - but the challenge is doing so without putting my voice into their story. I'm looking forward to using the suggestions provided with the newer writers I work with.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2019 by Erin Penn
Format: Paperback
This book needs to be on the shelf of every writer whether a beginner or experienced. It is organized to easily find the emotion being described and gives multiple examples of how the story characters can show the emotion in a vivid and unique way. The reader will know exactly what emotion the character feels internally and exhibits externally without being told "He was angry." The entries have references and page numbers to easily find similar emotions as you build your story. A book worth much more than its price. A book that would make a treasured gift for another writer.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2026 by Karen Cerny
Format: Paperback
As an aspiring author who is working tremendously hard to overcome severe PTSD due to a lifetime of CSA, as well as anxiety and depression, this book has served two purposes. I was severely abused and unable to display “difficult” or “bad” emotions growing up, therefore I never knew how to truly feel, label or recognize them. Doing prolonged exposure therapy a second time around, I really wanted to be able to label the emotions I was experiencing, not only in the moment, but back when I was being abused. So, I turned to Amazon. I actually bought this book without fully realizing it was for authors, so that was a convenient surprise. I went through the entire book, page by page, highlighting every definition, everything I could relate to, because reading through everything I identified, “hey, I recognize feeling that way the definition describes. I do feel those internal sensations when I have that emotion. I display those physical signs, and those are some of my mental responses. I’ve had those long term effects, and those signs when I try to suppress the emotion (which I’m really good at).” I’ve been able to label emotions in therapy that I’ve never been able to before, and I feel my emotional intelligence growing, thanks to this book. I’ve put a pause on my book quite a while ago, but I can see my lack of character expression due to the fact I never was able to label my emotions. I see authors in a whole new perspective now. I’ve always admired authors who capture emotions I relate to, such as grief, terror, shame, etc., with such precision and accuracy, but I give them much more credit for their ability to do so since reading this book. So, whether you’re an aspiring author or someone working on themselves in therapy, struggling to find the words to label how they feel, I recommend this book to you. I have notes written on pages, highlights, it goes hand and hand with my DBT workbook now. And I’m looking forward to making my own book more readable now that I’m able to accurately express emotions through my characters.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2025 by Andie
Format: Paperback
I have a friend who is a writer. I am all about emotion and deep thinking. She stated once she has a problem with emotion in her writing. I got her this book and she LOVED it. It explains the emotion, and some examples of how it would look in writing, both emotionally, expression wise and physically.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2026 by Mercedes