Monday, January 30, 2012

In frustration, she heaved a sigh

(First off, I'm not sure that title is grammatically correct. Second, I would love to see what a sigh looks like and how it looks to heave it.)

Do you have trouble coming up with a different way to show emotions in your story? Yeah, me too.
The Bookshelf Muse is a huge help with this dilemma! They have put together a "thesaurus" for us writers.
The other day, I needed a new way to show, not tell, my character's frustration. I went to The Bookshelf muse and found a ton of ideas!

For instance:

  Rushed, heavy breathing, hot intakes of breath, an impatient snort or sneer
· Gritting teeth
· Needing to take a moment to calm down
· Storming out of a room
· Throwing hands up
· Stalking away from someone, leaving in a huff
· Name-calling, personal jab, trying to hurt in retaliation
· Sarcasm
· Speaking without thought, often leading to regret
· Slamming a door
· Grabbing hair in clumps, looking up at the sky "Why me?"
· A heavy sigh
· A strained voice

Those were just a few of helps for me.
LOVE this resource.
Go try them out.
You'll be glad you did!

6 comments:

In Which We Start Anew said...

What a great resource, I love it! Thanks!

Alleged Author said...

Thank you for sharing this!

Julie Daines said...

Taffy, check my blog. I gave you an award!

Peggy Eddleman said...

I LOVE the Bookshelf Muse! Not just for emotions, either. They have so much great stuff there!

Elana Johnson said...

Very cool! I find myself slipping into the same descriptions time and time again. So yes. I need to use this resource more! Thanks for the reminder.

Yamile said...

I love the Bookshelf Muse!

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