The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Crafting Authentic Psychological Trauma

D Martin: Excellent, easy to use. Great suggestions and ideas

Canada on Sep 25, 2023

Amazon Customer: I love this book! Some of my characters have emotional wounds I've never experienced. I wouldn't have been able to describe those emotions in detail if it wasn't for this book.

I recommend this book to authors who need detailed information when it comes to describing how a character feels, what they believe (whether it's true or not), and why they feel/behave that way.

United States on Sep 16, 2023

Marissa: I really enjoy and value this writing resource series, and I was particularly excited to get my hands on this volume. It has an excellent assortment of information and is a great resource, however, I felt the listings to be geared more towards certain genres rather than running a broader spectrum. By this, I mean that as a fantasy author, a genre where unspeakable tragedies often take place, there wasn’t much offered to pull from. Not even for a super specific sense, but when I think of the psychology of fantasy characters, I didn’t find much to pull from. I could say the same for science fiction, horror, etc.. This book is more tailored for general fiction, mostly contemporary though there is some to be pulled for other categories. If you want general info, this volume is great. If you’re looking for something with heavier trauma’s this might fall a little flat.

United States on Sep 02, 2023

Brianne V: More than a list of traits, the books offer suggested scenarios and ways these traits can benefit or hurt your characters.

Canada on Aug 04, 2023

kes: This book is like an encyclopedia that helps the writer to create believable emotional wounds for characters. I say it’s a must have for writers.

Canada on Jul 21, 2023

Trinity Patterson: 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.

United States on Apr 15, 2023

J. D: Well worth the purchase. This book has given me many ideas for finding the character's flaw.

United Kingdom on Nov 06, 2022

Mr Mark: 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.

United Kingdom on Apr 13, 2022

Sunshine Lovers: 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...

United States on Jul 28, 2018

MicNRo: 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.

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United States on Nov 07, 2017