The Emotions Thesaurus

Several years back, I purchased a book on body language in hopes it would help give my characters emotions without me 'telling'.  Needless to say, the book didn't not help me much, at least not in the way I wanted it too.  The book talked more about power plays, stand during the meeting, have your enemy sit with their back to the door, etc., how to tell if someone is available and interested in you and more.

With the book recommended by my writer's group, THE EMOTIONS THESAURUS, I can hit the trifecta in expressing a character's mood or behavior with physical signals, internal sensations, and mental responses.

Take for example:

Sam made Jacob mad.  He knew he was lying.

or

Jacob loosened his collar.  Being careful not to say what he really wanted to, he bite those words back.  He knew Sam had kissed MaryBeth but he wouldn't get him to admit it like this.

The book even gives you cues on long-tem effects of the emotion, such as anger and what other emotion it may escalate to, like rage.  They even give you examples of suppressed anger. 

I give this book the thumbs up!

You can buy the book on Amazon for $4.99.