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The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Psychological Trauma (Writers Helping Writers Series) Paperback – October 13, 2017

by Becca Puglisi (Author), Angela Ackerman (Author)
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 2,130 ratings
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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.

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Previous page
  1. Book 6 of 10
    Writers Helping Writers Series
  2. Print length
    329 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    October 13, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    7 x 0.75 x 10 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0989772594
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0989772594
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Angela and Becca have done it again! Yet another valuable resource to add to your writing collection. I've been exploring backstory wounds for decades. This emotional guide adds depth to your characters, meaning to your plots, and promises richer, truer, and more stirring stories."~Martha Alderson, author of the best-selling Plot Whisperer books

"This is far more than a brilliant, thorough, insightful and unique thesaurus, this is the best primer on story - and what it is that REALLY hooks and holds readers - that I have ever read. What good is "writing well" if you haven't zeroed in on the essence of the story you're telling? This book peels back the layers to reveal not only where the beating heart of your story lies, but how to then get it onto the page. It won't just make your writing deeper, richer and more gripping, it very well may transform how you see the world - it doesn't get better than that."~Lisa Cron, author of Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)

"The Emotional Wound Thesaurus is a must-read for authors who want to write engaging, emotional stories with characters who leap off the page." ~Jennifer Probst, NYT & USA Today bestselling author

"Emotional trauma, rightly used, will greatly increase the strength of the reader's bond with your characters. But how can a writer avoid clichés while brainstorming this backstory material? Once again, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi supply the answer." ~ James Scott Bell, International Thriller Writers Award winner

"This book is an invaluable resource providing situations that led to the character's emotional wound, false beliefs, fears and responses that impact personality, as well as triggers and opportunities that can lead into plot ideas. It's a great addition to the thesaurus collection from Ackerman & Puglisi." ~ Joanna Penn, NYT & USA Today bestselling author

About the Author

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.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ JADD Publishing (October 13, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 329 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0989772594
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0989772594
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 0.75 x 10 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 2,130 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Angela Ackerman

    Angela Ackerman

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    ANGELA ACKERMAN is a writing coach, international speaker, and co-author of 11 bestselling books for writers, including The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. Her books are available in 10 languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. Her home country is Canada.

    Angela is also the co-founder of the popular site Writers Helping Writers®, as well as One Stop for Writers®, a portal to powerful tools and resources that help you think like a writing expert so you become a stronger storyteller. A strong believer in writers helping and supporting other writers, she tries to pay-it-forward however she is able to.

    http://writershelpingwriters.net

    http://onestopforwriters.com

    See more on the author's page
  2. Becca Puglisi

    Becca Puglisi

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and author of bestselling books for writers. Her books are available in multiple languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling. Her books are represented by foreign rights agent Marleen Seegers of 2 Seas Agency.

    During her free time (ha), Becca enjoys playing video games, watching movies with her family, baking, and adding to her stash of emergency supplies. She has always enjoyed contemplating the What if? scenario, which serves her well during hurricane season in south Florida.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
2,130 global ratings
So helpful!
5 Stars
So helpful!
Thank you so much, Angela and Becca, for putting together these books. I have 3 others in the series as well (Emotion, Positive Trait, Negative Trait). The thesaurus itself is what I bought these for, but the intro material explaining concepts of character development has been very helpful as well. As a beginning novelist, I am so appreciative of these resources!
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Top reviews from the United States

S. Parker
5.0 out of 5 stars Great tool for character sketches
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2024
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This is a great tool for character sketches. Characters need their flaws and emotional wounds are one way to build them in. While it would be wonderful that folks didn’t have emotional wounds, we (and our characters) do have them.

The authors are clear that this book may affect some readers. They’ve included a section on self-care for writers. They include information how to use the book as well.

The emotional wounds presented are grouped into similar wounds. For example, Failures ad Mistakes includes Accidentally killing someone, cracking under pressure, declaring bankruptcy, and more. There are several buckets wounds are grouped into.

Each emotional wound has two pages in the book. Each includes:
Examples of this wound
Basic needs often compromised by this wound
False beliefs that could be embraced
The character may fear…
Possible responses and results
Personality traits that may form
Triggers that might aggravate this wound
Opportunities to face or overcome this wound

Very handy tool for building characters. Emotional wounds are unfortunately part of our lives as humans. This guide can help a writer build richer characters. It can be a useful tool.
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Sunshine Lovers
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible insights
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2018
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Dear son, I was fishing around Amazon for something to read, and because I've read several books on writing, it suggested "The Emotional Wound Thesaurus." I've only recently studied anything about character arc, and how the protagonist must change over the course of the novel. I discovered that to create a compelling story, the main character must have some kind emotional wound they keep hidden, and that the story is a series of conflicts/obstacles that help him deal with that wound a little at a time and become a better person by the end.

So, I grabbed the sample copy of Emotional Wound Thesaurus to check it out. It was eye-popping revealing. I saw myself in what they were describing. Believe me, I have a carefully curated inventory of wounds that I can retrieve at light speed. What I didn't realize is how these wounds manifest themselves in compensating behaviors, some good, some bad, some really bad. It's as if they read my life's wound inventory list, then said, "and this is what you did as a result, isn't it?" It was frigging uncanny.

This book is trying to get authors to create more compelling, relatable, likeable characters through their quirky/mysterious behaviors, and eventually to grapple with the wound that drives their every action and strongest desires.

Not only did it open my eyes to my own motivations and behaviors, but made me realize how everyone, everyone, everyone suffers the same kind of wound/reactive behaviors that guide their life's actions and choices. 

Many times I feel like the thousands of people I have met are cardboard cut-outs. They walk into my perception, say and do such and such, and I am left with a general impression. They're nice, obnoxious, a jerk, charming, what have you.

After this life epiphany, I see other people as characteristics shaped by complicated positive and negative influences that make them behave the way they do. Even the unbelievably nice people are possibly significantly shaped by substantial wounds and the persona is a façade to mask they pain they feel deep down. And, really, this is the point the book is trying to get across. If you want interesting, compelling, or "three-dimensional" characters, rather than pop-in-and-out of your perception "two-dimensional card-board cutout" characters, imbue them with wounds that drive their personalities.

Read this book!  You don't have to buy it, even. At the very least, download the free sample. Your eyes will be opened and you will likely buy it because it's so good.

I wish I had read something like this much earlier in life, like age 16. I always want to pass along golden nuggets that might help you succeed in life. Consider this nugget passed. 

Your fellow life-traveler,
Daddio
4 people found this helpful
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Trinity Patterson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great content.
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
This is a really useful tool and it is compiled in a useful way. Each emotional wound has two pages dedicated to it. Really useful things like triggers, physical ways that one suffering from this wound might act out, etc. I love it. I haven't come across any that I felt weren't sufficient by themselves. But if there were one that you wanted more information about, enough is given to be a great lead-in to additional research. And yes, I'm on my way to owning the whole set and hope they come out with more.
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MicNRo
5.0 out of 5 stars An Essential Resource for Creating Deep Characters
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
Because the fiction I write is based on my own past and overcoming emotional wounds, the discovery of The Emotional Wound Thesaurus was all the more important for me to learn to develop unique and layered female protagonists. Even though the conflict and themes of my current and future novels will somewhat reflect my own experiences, I also desire to write for and create relatable characters for women of all backgrounds.

I've heard the notion that parts of who we are as people are reflected in the characters we write. Often, our first novel represents ourselves in part or in whole more than any other. I see it as a form of therapy as we work out our own personalities and struggles in the safe space of a fictional world. However, eventually, I'd like to write characters that are not like me at all! Perhaps an alter ego, or a story inspired by something I see on the news or hear about from friends.

For my current fiction project, I’m writing from the POV of three sisters. Here are five ways I see The Emotional Wound Thesaurus can help writers create characters of depth – even when those characters are different from themselves or anyone else they know.

1. Forward and Intro Sections. Whether you think you know your characters or not, read the first 40 pages of this book! If you're not sure about your character's wounds yet, skim the table of contents and choose a few that seem to fit with your story concept. But then, go back and read the beginning chapters which offer exceptional insights on Self-Care for Writers (especially important if you'll be exploring wounds that are close to your own personal experiences), The Mirror of Fiction: a Reflection of Life and Our Deeper Selves, What is an Emotional Wound?, Character Arc: an Internal Shift to Embrace Change, and more. Even though I'd already used the online database of wounds to develop my characters, I still had several breakthroughs and "ah-ha" moments in understanding my fictional sisters and how to convey the various parts of their journey in my story.
2. Consider the PRIMARY Emotional Wound and choose two additional wounds. You may--as I did and especially if you're basing your main character after a part of your own life--begin to see overlapping characteristics related to multiple wounds. This will help you to discover the dominating negative and positive traits, triggers, fears and responses for your character. In turn, you'll be able to highlight these for fiction and the purpose of your story without overwhelming your reader with too many issues for your character to tackle. However, this process will help in knowing your character on a deeper level that should help in developing scenes, writing dialogue, or even choosing hobbies, family status, or a career path.
3. Multiple POVs. This is the first time I've attempted writing a novel with the point of view of three distinct women. Having access to The Emotional Wound Thesaurus has been a vital part in giving each woman a unique back story, personality, and voice despite the fact that they are sisters.
4. Add Your Own Elements. I'm certain this resource isn't intended to be an end-all-be-all, but more of a spring-board of potential. Though there are realistic and unrealistic manners in which someone will respond to an emotional wound, there are ways to modify these responses depending on your character. For example, say a character is still in the process of overcoming the wound of "Becoming a Caregiver at an Early Age". As a result, she's avoided becoming a parent herself. Instead, she has a dog to fulfill her need of caring for another being, but also sees it as "safer" than becoming a mom and she can practice being "overprotective" without rejection or push back. I came up with this detail on my own as it seemed to fit her personality.
5. Emotional Wounds are Directly Related to Positive and Negative Traits. Even if you don't analyze your characters or dive as deeply into their wounds as I have for mine, you'll find this resource helpful in creating rounded characters. This goes for your protagonist, supporting characters, and even the villain. On the most basic level, choose a wound and a few associated negative and positive traits and you've got yourself a unique character attempting to overcome the past while battling a conflict in the present.
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Top reviews from other countries

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D Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars Writers aid
Reviewed in Canada on September 25, 2023
Verified Purchase
Excellent, easy to use. Great suggestions and ideas
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Leisha_Winter
5.0 out of 5 stars Bestes Nachschlagewerk
Reviewed in Germany on April 24, 2024
Verified Purchase
Diese Bücher haben mir soviel geholfen. Egal ob es darum geht einen Charakter auszuarbeiten oder Orte zu kreieren. Dies ist kein typischer Schreibratgeber, sondern ein wundervolles Nachschlagewerk für jeden Autor. Schade, dass es die Bücher nur auf Englisch gibt. Ich kenne einige, die diese Bücher kaufen würden, würde es sie auf Deutsch geben.
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Mr Mark
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Useful Addition To Your Writing Toolbox
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 13, 2022
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This book has been an important milestone in my creative writing journey. It enabled me after first read, to provide real depth to my characters as well as creating new, exciting plot points and arcs based on their emotional wounds.

Following the directions and helpful hints in the book the ‘wounds’ became characters in their own right, creating fears, needs and subsequent fallout. I was able to quickly plot how character’s previous and new trauma directed their words, thoughts, actions and reactions, and how it impacted on other characters and the overall plot.

In many ways, this book directed and arranged the Tetris blocks of my previous reading and understanding of emotional wounds and trauma into coherent, believable personal stories.

Note: You must heed the warning given at the start of the book about being in a safe environment when reading it, as it is possible to be brought face to face with trauma themes that have occurred to a loved one or yourself. Maybe even something you never previously recognised as a wound. I think this speaks volumes for how powerful this book is as a tool for empowering your writing.
2 people found this helpful
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Antonio Arizaga
5.0 out of 5 stars Gran GUIA
Reviewed in Mexico on May 7, 2020
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Me ha servido para darme una idea clara de como funcionan los traumas a nivel literatura. NO es un libro psicologico.
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Bertavt
5.0 out of 5 stars Imprescindible!
Reviewed in Spain on August 31, 2019
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Fantástico y muy completo. Me ha ayudado mucho. Compraré todos los demás libros sin duda. Mi enhorabuena a las autoras por el esfuerzo.
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