The Conflict Thesaurus Conflict Challenge (+Giveaway)

I don't know about you, but I get a little excited when a new writing guide comes along. Today I get to spill the news that The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Vol. 1) has hit the shelves. 

This guide is about that killer ingredient our stories need: Conflict. It shows you exactly how to use conflict to raise tension, create a fresh story premise, and pull readers in. The guide also dives into over 100 conflict scenarios and how each can be endlessly adapted to challenge a character inside and out. Problems, Moral Dilemmas, Ticking Clocks, Obstacles, No-Win Scenarios...this book is plot brainstorming in overdrive!

I'm part of Angela & Becca's Street Team for this release, and we have an important question to ask you: 

Can You Survive Danger as Well as Your Favorite Protagonist?

Sure, it's easy for you to use conflict to torture your characters and make them struggle,

but what if it's you in the hot seat instead? Will you make good decisions, or bad ones? 

It's time to find out by taking the Conflict Challenge! I dare you to become the protagonist in a special story Angela & Becca have created. And heads up, if you survive, you win some pretty cool stuff! 

GIVEAWAY ALERT

While you're at Writers Helping Writers taking the Conflict Challenge, make sure to enter The Conflict Thesaurus celebratory giveaway, too. But hurry - it's only on for a few days. 

So, take the challenge...if you dare. And don't forget to come back and let me know how you did against Camp Deadwood! 

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Then Conflict Challenge is so much fun! I have to admit I took the adventure twice and let's just say, I'm not always the bravest person!

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My thoughts on this new thesaurus.

In a word: Fantastic!

I'm a romance writer and I love happy endings! In real life, I've been a teacher for more than a couple of decades. I'm great at defusing conflict and alleviating stress.

But as we all know, every good story needs conflict. The better the conflict, the better the story, and the better the happy ending! Cue stress for this mediator personality.

Angela and Becca have created the Conflict Thesaurus and it is magnificent!

In this thesaurus, a wide variety of conflicts are described. For each, the thesaurus lists examples, minor complications, potentially disastrous results, resulting emotions, possible internal struggles, negative traits that may worsen the situation, impact on basic needs, positive traits to help the character cope, and positive outcomes.

In short, everything a writer might want to know!

Looking to strengthen your writing? You won't go wrong with any of the books in this series, but the Conflict Thesaurus might just be your favourite!

How about you? Do you love new resources for writers? Any other fans of this Thesaurus series? How are you at coping with conflict?

The Emotion Thesaurus is HERE!

Hi guys! Today I'm helping authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi launch their new book, The Emotion Thesaurus (Second Edition)! You might know about The Emotion Thesaurus or even have it on your shelf. But chances are, you may not have known a second edition was in the works. Becca and Angela decided to keep it a surprise and only recently announced the book was releasing!

Your Favorite Book Is Now Bigger & Better

The Emotion Thesaurus is known for its powerful lists that help writers show (rather than tell) character emotion through body language, thoughts, visceral sensations, dialogue cues, and behavior. This second edition gives writers more of what they love: more emotions (55 more to be exact!) more teaching content, and more writing tips. Here are three of the new entries: Euphoria, Vindicated, and Schadenfreude. This book is almost twice the size of the original, so it's almost two books in one. Anyway, if you'd like to check into it, Goodreads has some reviews up, and you can find more information here.

One More Thing...Want to Attend a FREE Writing Conference?

Or a writing retreat? A workshop? Or even have your yearly membership to a professional writer's organization suddenly paid for? OF COURSE YOU DO!

Angela and Becca have a giveaway on right now to celebrate their release, and one lucky winner will get their choice of the above, up to a $500 US value. There are some conditions so check that out, but this is the giveaway of a lifetime, so hurry over to enter. And good luck! 

Angela, Becca & The Emotion Thesaurus 2nd Edition!

Have you ever held onto a secret you've been dying to share, and then finally...you can?

For the last few weeks I've been helping Angela and Becca at Writers Helping Writers keep a BIG secret...what the next book in their thesaurus series will be.

It might seem strange to not tell one's readers what book you're planning to release...unless you happen to write books on Show, Don't Tell like Angela and Becca do! They couldn't resist the opportunity to show, not tell, by waiting for the cover reveal. They even created a *REDACTED* cover for it, which you might have seen floating around.

We're revealing the cover at long last!

*drum roll*

                                         

The next book in the descriptive thesaurus series is 

The Emotion Thesaurus Second Edition! 

It's been 7 years since the original Emotion Thesaurus hit the shelves. Many writers have credited this unusual book with transforming their writing. This guide is packed with helpful lists of body language, thoughts, and visceral sensations for 75 different emotions, which makes it easier for writers to convey what characters feel.

Since 2012, many have asked the authors if they would add more emotions, so that's what Angela & Becca have done. This new edition has added 55 more emotions, bringing the total to 130.

There are other new additions to the book and in fact, it's almost doubled in size! I recommend checking out the full list of emotions (and some sample entries) HERE.

And more good news: this book is available for preorder!

You can find it on Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books (iTunes), and Indiebound.

One last thing: go grab some free education!

Angela & Becca are giving away a free webinar recording of one of their popular workshops on Emotion, so head over if this is an area of struggle for you. It might really help!

Word Hunt

"Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule." ~ Stephen King

Love this quote. Probably because I'm not a big fan of using the thesaurus myself. :)

To be fair, I do use the thesaurus now and again. When I was writing that steampunk story, I used it a lot. I created tons of new devices and words in that story, and I used the thesaurus a lot to help me create names for the tinkerings. Lots of fun.

But when I'm revising and editing, I don't use the thesaurus much. When I find myself repeating a word (which sadly happens too often - but that's a subject for another post...), I tend to scrap the sentence or the paragraph and rewrite it to avoid the word. It doesn't always work, but it helps.

I know lots of writers who use the thesaurus a lot. I've often felt somehow less because I don't. So when I first saw that King quote, it made my day!


Knowing more now, I realize we all have our different styles and ways of doing things. Not only is this okay, it's what makes us all unique and interesting. If we all wrote the same way, I'm sure our stories would be similar too - and no one wants that!

So, how about you, are you a word hunter?

The Wrong Word

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.
-- Stephen King

I've always liked this quote from Stephen King. I'm not a pretentious person in any aspect of my life. This quote kind of symbolizes how I live: simple, to the point, straight-forward. I write the same way.

But...

Aren't there exceptions to every rule? In my writing, I rarely use a thesaurus. Really, really rarely. But I still use it upon occasion.

I have some problems with the thesaurus. When I reach for it, it's because I'm trying to find another way to say a word I've been using. Okay, overusing. In that situation, the thesaurus is the lazy way out. I usually find I'm better off rewriting the scene so that I use the word less often. After all, if I've repeated it so often I need to find a substitute word, I'm pretty sure the reader will be fed up of the word as well.

With this ms, I've been using the thesaurus more often. I'm writing in a new genre, Steampunk, where I get to make stuff up. Loving it! But naming these new devices is sometimes problematic. Cue the handy-dandy thesaurus. I've found it helps springboard my brain into creating more options so the name of the new device gives a hint to its purpose without sounding common.

Do you often use a thesaurus? How does it help you out with your writing?