Dahlia Evans - Character Expressions: A Fiction Writer’s Thesaurus of Facial Expressions

Published By:

Satin Publishing

Copyright 2018 by Dahlia Evans. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form without the prior written consent of the publisher.

"The Ultimate Thesaurus That Helps Fiction Writers Describe Characters With Ease!"

If you're like most writers, you get sick and tired of endlessly searching thesauri looking for that perfect word to describe your character's physical appearance or the way they move their body. Wouldn't it be easier to have a book that gives you all these words without the hassle? If you answered 'yes' , then this book is for you!

Dahlia Evans has compiled a thesaurus specifically aimed at describing a character's physical appearance and movement. This unique sourcebook is filled to the brim with words and phrases gathered from thousands of published novels. Now, you will have no problem conjuring up words and phrases like a magician, bringing your prose to life.

Inside You'll Discover:
# An exhaustive list of over 30,000 words and phrases describing each part of the body.
# 40 chapters, with each one including a list of adjectives, verbs, and noun phrases for that particular body part.
# Numerous example sentences showing many of these words in use.
# And best of all, words and phrases are sorted alphabetically, as well as by part of speech.

The Body Thesaurus is the ultimate fiction writer's companion; a resource that you'll want to keep close by for all your future writing projects.

The use of facial expressions to convey a character's emotional state is a vital part of fiction writing. These facial expressions usually take the form of descriptive phrases or clauses. And while on the surface they may appear simple, there are literally thousands of ways these descriptions can be rendered. And that good reader is where this thesaurus comes in.

Character Expressions is the result of hundreds of hours of corpus study. Using a selection of bestselling novels from popular genres, I was able to compile a body of useful words and phrases that can be used in all forms of popular fiction writing. These entries will give you an almost endless supply of descriptive recipes that will last a lifetime.

The Character Expressions thesaurus is divided into 18 chapters, with each one focusing on a specific facial expression. There is also an additional appendix that highlights the many ways to describe the word 'expression'.

Each chapter is broken up into two core sections. Section one is dedicated to the noun form of the entry, while section two focuses on the verb form . Within these sections there are subsections that show the many ways in which the word can be used.

Noun Form:

1. Noun Synonyms: This section lists similar words, as one might expect to find in a traditional thesaurus.

2. Adjectives: Numerous adjectives are given in alphabetical order. These adjectives appeared with the entry word in the corpus study. Therefore, they're what bestselling authors are using to describe the main entry word.

3. Noun + Prepositional Phrases: These entries include the noun form followed by a prepositional phrase (also called an adjectival prepositional phrase ). As the name suggests, these phrases describe the noun. You will find some chapters have more listings than others. This is based on the corpus; some expressions are more popular than others in their use of adjectival prepositional phrases. In practice, these entries are used instead of Adj + Noun. For example, instead of writing: 'An uncertain frown,' you could use: 'A frown of uncertainty.'

4. Noun Phrases: This section lists noun phrases. In practice, these entries are typically used as a replacement for the single noun. For example, instead of writing: 'A frown crossed her forehead,' you could write: 'The ghost of a frown crossed her forehead.'

5. Verbs - Word as Subject: This section and the next are sorted by facial feature. There is also a standalone verb section in some chapters. Use this section when you want to describe the noun as the subject of a sentence.

6. Verbs - Word as Object: This section is used when you want to describe the main noun as an object of a verb, or the object of a preposition.

Note: An asterisk indicates that a particular entry doesn't fit 100%. That could be:

a) It isn't totally intransitive (for standalone).

b) It is used in the passive voice, or a passive way.

c) It should be used in a descriptive sense; For instance, using linking verbs, such as the forms of be (is/was/are etc.).

7. Noun Usage Examples: These sentences include examples which illustrate the use of the noun form, adjectives, adjectival prepositional phrases, and noun phrases.

Verb Form:

1. Verb Synonyms: Just like the noun synonyms, these verb synonyms are what you would typically find in a standard thesaurus.

2. Adverbs: These adverbs were found associated with the main verb during the corpus study. An asterisk signifies that the adverb almost always precedes the verb. All unmarked adverbs are typically used both before and after the verb.

3. Adverbials: These include adverbials of emotion, feeling, mental state, appearance, environment, and response. An asterisk is typically used to differentiate appearance types or other non-emotion types from the rest. Most entries are of the emotion or feeling variety.

4. Verb Usage Examples: These sentences include examples which illustrate the use of verbs, participle, gerunds, adverbs, and adverbials.

The best way to illustrate the use of the thesaurus is to give you an example.

Example: You have a female character who is feeling embarrassed. You want to convey this using a flush or blush.

Go to Chapter 2: Flush/Blush and dig around until you find a phrase or clause that sparks an idea in your mind.

Now, you could just write something like:

Samantha flushed in embarrassment.

But, you may also want to be more visual, like so:

A flush of palest rose bloomed across Samantha's cheekbones.

Ultimately, it's up to you. In most cases, context and style will be the deciding factor. Another important factor is the type of genre you're writing. For example, thrillers tend to be less descriptive than romances. In any case, you will find exactly what you need in this thesaurus which has been compiled using all popular genres.

Also, be sure to take some time to just read through each chapter as well as the appendix. This exercise will help hone your ability as a wordsmith.