Writing Book Reviews
Page One of TwoCreating Character Emotions by Ann Hood
Story Press, Feb., 1998.Trade Paperback, 170 pages.
ISBN: 1884910335
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
This specialty guide on effectively creating
emotions in your characters provides instruction,
examples and exercises on a variety of different
emotions. The book is divided into sections for
36 different emotions, including desire, forgiveness,
grief, hope, hostility, love, passion, revenge, sadness,
shame and worry. Each section includes an explanation
and introduction to the emotion, examples of
characters from well-known stories that have
exhibited the emotion, good and bad examples
of use of the emotion in writing and exercises that allow
the developing writer to practice using the particular
emotion in their own writing. As an example,
the section on the emotion "excitement" includes
an introduction to the emotion, including how excitement
was addressed in the musical play Singin' in the Rain,
both good and bad examples of the use of excitement
in writing and exercises including an assignment
to make a list of clichéed physical descriptions of
excitement, as well as a list of novel ways to
describe excitement physically.
Creating Character Emotions offers a fresh look at teaching writers how to bring about real feelings in their characters. The book also acts to motivate the beginning writer to write with its numerous examples and exercises.
Roget's Super Thesaurus by Marc McCutcheon
Writer's Digest Books, May 1998.Trade Paperback, 663 pages.
ISBN: 0898797756
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
The Roget's Super Thesaurus is an updated and comprehensive
reference book that allows you to reference words
to find definitions, pronunciations, antonyms
and synonyms. Lists of antonyms and synonyms also include
slang terms which are marked with an asterix. In total,
the book includes over 40,000 synonyms and antonyms.
The cross-referencing
notes that refer you to related word listings are especially
helpful when you are not exactly sure of the word
you need. Also invaluable
is the "reverse-dictionary" feature where, under certain
word listings, there is a list of short (one or two word)
definitions and the correct word that goes with each definition.
For example, under the listing for "rock", you will find a list
of short definitions with the defining word(s)
including "conglomeration:
breccia, conglomerate; molten: magma, lava; study of:
petrology" and others -- so that you can easily find out
related words and word meanings.
An excellent thesaurus which students and professional writers will find invaluable.
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