While we could often find a close emotion, sometimes we couldn’t. There are tons of words for emotions in the world, so with “only” those 75 entries, they obviously weren’t listing every emotion we might need to reference in the original edition. (Yep, I was lucky enough to get an ARC, so I already have my hands on the second edition. That said, “need” is a matter of opinion, so let me share instead the six ways I’ve already found that the second edition is worth having… *grin* If we already have The Emotion Thesaurus, should we get the Second Edition? Click To TweetWell, the original edition was 168 pages and the second edition is 296 pages (PDF format), so obviously, there’s a lot of new information that I’m excited about. Like many writers, I have the original ET, so that of course prompts the question: If I have the first edition already, do I need the second edition? 6 Ways The Emotion Thesaurus Second Edition Is New and Improved! So they decided to revisit the already amazing original book to see how they could make it better. They thought of new responses, new entries, and new writing tips they wanted to include. However, just like the rest of us, Angela and Becca’s knowledge grew over the years. The book’s lists of body language, thoughts, and visceral sensations for 75 emotions made brainstorming character expressions and reactions so much easier. Thanks to its awesomeness, it quickly became the go-to guide on expressing character emotion. Whether you’ve heard of the original Emotion Thesaurus (or have a copy) or not, it’s been seven years since its release in 2012. So, what does all that have to do with Angela and Becca’s “big” secret? I’m now able to announce what the next book in their thesaurus series will be! Introducing The Emotion Thesaurus Second Edition! Avoid flat, unemotional writing by giving us options for layering in multiple responses with stronger emotions.Avoid clichéd behaviors by broadening our vocabulary of how to show emotions without relying on emotional response “crutches.”.Avoid head-hopping by revealing the emotions of our non-point-of-view characters through physical cues, even hinting at their lies.Avoid naming emotions by instead showing what the emotion looks like, helping readers connect to our characters.In fact, I wrote a whole post about four common writing problems we can fix with The Emotion Thesaurus: In other words, all that showing instead of telling we’re supposed to do? The ET has our back, and I literally use the information in it every day I write. If you’re not familiar with The Emotion Thesaurus, it lists physical, internal, and mental responses we can use with our characters for different emotions. Today’s an exciting day because I’ve been helping Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi at Writers Helping Writers keep a big secret, and now I finally get to share! If you don’t know Angela and Becca, I hope you recognize the name of their most famous book: The Emotion Thesaurus.

Emotion thesaurus