A Brilliant One Stop Resource for Writers of All Levels and a Sneak Peak at Persuasion

by Martina Boone

Something AMAZING is about to happen, and if you are a writer, it’s going to make your life much easier.

One of the VERY first posts that I wrote for Adventures in YA Publishing way back in 2010 when this blog was new was about an incredible website that I had found with an incredible tool for writers to help create richer, more realistic stories: The Emotion Thesaurus. It was this brilliant resource that let you choose an emotion and find the right body language, visceral response, or internal reaction to help express what a character was feeling or doing in response to a particular situation. Then the site owners, Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, added to the site to make it better and better. They added a Setting Thesaurus, a Character Thesaurus, a Weather Thesaurus, and a whole collection of helpful tools.

Fast forward a couple more years. Angela and Becca published the Emotion Thesaurus in book form. Then they added two volumes of the Character Thesaurus. They racked up awards and sales so fast you’d have said it wasn’t believable if you hadn’t seen it. And now, working with one of the developers behind SCRIVENER, tomorrow they will unleash One Stop For Writers™, a brand new website. It will not only have The Emotion Thesaurus fully realized and searchable online, but all the other thesaurus as well. All in one place. Here’s what you get:

The Emotion Thesaurus contains 90 different emotions and lists their corresponding viscerals, body language, and character internal thoughts.

The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus helps you uncover ways to deepen and complicate the emotional responses and reactions of your characters.

The Negative Trait Thesaurus and The Positive Trait Thesaurus explore the fascinating psychology of character to help you create fresh, three-dimension protagonists, antagonists, and supporting players.

The Physical Features Thesaurus ties in the physicality and emotional state of a character to help you add depth and clarity to your characters.

The Setting Thesaurus explores an incredible variety of locations, including all the senses to bring that setting into visceral and vivid life.

The Shape Thesaurus, The Color And Pattern Thesaurus, and The Texture Thesaurusand might as well be called description generators. They’ll will help you explore common natural and man-made objects, colors, and textures to help you find comparisons, similes, and metaphors so you can bring your scenes and settings to vivid, 3-D life.

The Weather and Earthly Phenomenon Thesaurus offers up the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds of every weather pattern to help you create the vocabulary and atmospherics of mood and scene.

The Symbolism and Motif Thesaurus explores ways to use symbols and literary themes to deepen your work on a level that will reach your reader’s subconscious library of language.

There’s also a handy Notes feature that lets you annotate each thesaurus entry for your personal use and preferences.

If that’s not enough, they added an idea generator, a comprehensive collection of worksheets, flowcharts, and brainstorming tools, AND a comprehensive set of tutorials to help with virtually any area of writing that may be stumping you and keeping you from continuing your manuscript.

Thanks to Angela and Becca, I got a chance to play with the site while it’s been in data.

Can I just say, WOW? I was BLOWN away. The format is intuitive, easy-to-use, and beyond helpful.

The site launches on Wednesday. There’s a helpful countdown clock to help you keep track.

Trust me, you’re going to love it!

Go here: One Stop For Writers™

Go now! : )

PERSUASION IS ALSO ALMOST HERE!

In fact, it is here. In my house. In my HANDS.

*Dies*

Seriously, it couldn’t be more gorgeous. And I’m so excited to share it with you!

I’ll be at YAFest in Pennsylvania on Saturday and Persuasion will be available there a little early. On Sunday, I’ll be at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville.

If you’re anywhere in either area, please come see me! : )

And if you haven’t pre-ordered PERSUASION yet, can I just mention how grateful I would be if you did? ; )

IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Book Depository | (free worldwide shipping)

Add to Goodreads

Want some additional reasons and expressions of gratitude for pre-ordering?

Here you go? 😉

Martina Boone

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of the romantic southern gothic Heirs of Watson Island series, starting with COMPULSION from Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse and the Celtic Legends Collection of novels set in Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland beginning with LAKE OF DESTINY. She’s passionate about improving lives through literacy and the love of books, and she runs the Compulsion For Reading program to distribute books to underserved schools and libraries.

She lives with her husband, children, Shetland Sheepdog Phinney, and Zoey the lopsided cat, and she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction with a hint of magic set in small towns and beautiful places. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.

Post © Martina Boone and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Oct 6, 2015

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Craft of Writing | Martina Boone

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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