Some pretty cool writing reference books

So, these are kinda cool!

They're thesauruses for writers - but not your usual word thesauruses.

This one is called THE EMOTION THESAURUS: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO CHARACTER EXPRESSION by Angela Ackerman and Becca Publisi.

It has 75 emotion entries, like depression, doubt, indifference, nervousness, and rage.

Then for each emotion, it lists body language, thoughts and visceral responses for each.

For instance, for nervousness, some of the physical signals are pacing, rapid blinking, rubbing the back of the neck, lack of eye contact, clearing the throat, and many more. 

Then there are internal sensations associated with nervousness, like dry mouth, heart palpitations, or quivering muscles.

Next there are mental responses for the emotion, cues of acute feeling of that emotion, and cues of suppression of that emotion.

Then there is THE NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO CHARACTER FLAWS by the same authors.

 

According to the back cover, the book provides "a vast collection of flaws to explore when building a character's personality. Each entry includes possible causes, attitudes, behaviors, thoughts and related emotions.

Last, there is THE POSITIVE TRAIT THESAURUS: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES (same authors). 

Each entry of this one "lists possible causes for why a trait might emerge, along with associated attitudes, behaviors, thoughts and emotions.

Sometimes you're looking for just the right gesture or action or dialogue beat to show an emotion, flaw, etc. These books could come in handy.