About the Book:
Readers and
audiences connect to
characters with depth, ones that have experienced life's ups and
downs. To bring realistic, compelling characters to the page and
screen, 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.
The
Emotional Wound Thesaurus:
A
Writer's Guide to Psychological Trauma is a
writer's best friend. Identifying the backstory wound is crucial to
understanding how it will shape your character's behaviour, and this
book can help. Inside The
Emotional Wound Thesaurus you will find:
• A database of traumatic situations
and events common to the human experience
• An in-depth study on a wound's
impact, including the fears, lies, personality shifts, and
dysfunctional behaviours that can arise from different types of
trauma
• 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 their
aftereffects
Editors, authors, agents, and teachers agree that The
Emotional Wound Thesaurus,
in its easy-to-navigate list format, is a convenient and helpful
writing tool that encourages novel writers, screenwriters, and
playwrights to 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 real to readers and audiences. It is required reading for
several University-level Creative Writing programs.
What people say:
"In
these brilliantly conceived, superbly organized and astonishingly
thorough volumes, Angela Ackerman
and Becca Puglisi
have created an invaluable resource for writers and storytellers.
Whether you are searching for new and unique ways to add and define
characters, or brainstorming methods for revealing those characters
without resorting to clichés, it is hard to imagine two more
powerful tools for adding depth and dimension to your screenplays,
novels or plays." — Michael Hauge, Hollywood
script consultant and story expert, author of Writing Screenplays
That Sell
About the Author:
Angela Ackerman and Becca
Puglisi are writing coaches and
co-authors of a number of descriptive thesauruses for writers. Angela
Ackerman lives in Calgary, Alberta, just a short drive from the
Canadian Rockies. She writes on the darker side of middle grade and
young adult. Becca Puglisi resides in New York. She is a young
adult fantasy and historical fiction writer.