Ever find yourself struggling to describe your character’s emotion? Or the place that she is in? Or how to describe the weather? Or colors, shapes, textures? Or some sort of strange symbolism? I bet you do. I know I do.
With the blog of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, those are worries of the past! At The Bookshelf Muse, Angela and Becca offer countless descriptions of emotion, like amusement, frustration, excitement, anger… You name it. Some are even separated in “introverted reaction” and “extroverted reaction”. How cool is that?
An example:
Excited/Elated
High color; a flushed appearance, Smiling, grinning, Laughter, Bouncing foot to foot, squealing, screaming, shouting, hooping, hollering, Pretending to faint (falling back on a bed with a huge grin; falling into a friend’s arms as if you can’t contain the level of happiness inside), Chest bump (guys), Crushing beer/pop cans (guys), Slam-dunking trash in a barrel after a game or event (guys), etc.
And that’s not all! Check out the full list here.
As for the Setting Thesaurus, this is one that helped me big time recently:
Sight
Wooden steps, cement floor with small cracks in it, floor drain, cobwebs, bare bulb light with a string pull switch, washing machine, dryer, freezer, boxes, recycling bins, bins full of Christmas/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations, old electronics stacked in a corner, etc.
Sounds
Footsteps walking overhead, the dryer slapping clothes around, a chugging washing machine, creaky steps, the raspy noise of a cardboard box sliding against the floor, etc.
And these are just a few examples! All Setting Thesaurus entries come with descriptions of Sight, Sounds, Smells, Tastes, Touch and a few helpful hints.
Real world comparisons for the color Black:
Black hole, Dung beetle, Scarabs, Priest clothing, Cavities, Fungus, etc.
Look at the Tornado page for an example of the weather thesaurus: all the sensory description and emotional triggers are listed. Looking for a symbol of beauty? Check this list right here.
By the way, the Thesaurus blog entries aren’t the only ones – they do occasionally write some interesting posts on writing in general, too!
Whenever I’m writing I have the Bookshelf Muse blog open, so that I can consult it whenever I get the feeling I might get stuck.
(Make sure you read their About page, too – Angela and Becca met online, and on that About page they describe the first time they met in real life. Hilarious!)
Go check it out 
May 11, 2011
Featured Content, Writing Tools