The Emotional Wound Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman

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The Emotional Wound Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman

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The Emotional Wound Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman

Readers connect to characters with depth, ones who have experienced life's ups and downs. To deliver key players that are both realistic and compelling, writers must know them intimately-not only who they are in the present story, but also what made them that way. Of all the formative experiences in a character's past, none are more destructive than emotional wounds. The aftershocks of trauma can change who they are, alter what they believe, and sabotage their ability to achieve meaningful goals, all of which will affect the trajectory of your story.


Identifying the backstory wound is crucial to understanding how it will shape your character's behavior, and The Emotional Wound Thesaurus can help. Inside, you'll find:

  • A database of traumatic situations common to the human experience

  • An in-depth study on a wound's impact, including the fears, lies, personality shifts, and dysfunctional behaviors that can arise from different painful events

  • An extensive analysis of character arc and how the wound and any resulting unmet needs fit into it

  • Techniques on how to show the past experience to readers in a way that is both engaging and revelatory while avoiding the pitfalls of info dumps and telling

  • A showcase of popular characters and how their traumatic experiences reshaped them, leading to very specific story goals

  • A Backstory Wound Profile tool that will enable you to document your characters' negative past experiences and the aftereffects

Root your characters in reality by giving them an authentic wound that causes difficulties and prompts them to strive for inner growth to overcome it. With its easy-to-read format and over 100 entries packed with information, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus is a crash course in psychology for creating characters that feel incredibly real to readers.

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are bestselling authors, writing coaches, and international speakers. Their books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. Angela and Becca also co-founded their popular Writers Helping Writers site, a hub where authors can hone their craft, as well as One Stop for Writers, an innovative online library built to help writers elevate their storytelling.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780989772594
ISBN 10 0989772594
Title The Emotional Wound Thesaurus
Author Angela Ackerman
Series Writers Helping Writers
Condition Unavailable
Binding type Paperback
Publisher Jadd Publishing
Year published 2017-10-13
Number of pages 326
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable