Comments on: Look Away. You Don’t Want to See This.

By: Ella Olsen

Ella Olsen — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 23:13:02 +0000

In reply to Sheila Myers. I love your post! It "looks" like we have the same crutch!

By: Sheila Myers

Sheila Myers — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 20:39:55 +0000

This is great. I wrote a similar blog about over-using ‘look’. I forgotten I wrote it – dug it up. http://www.wwdurantstory.com/blog/it-seems-i-over-looked-words-while-editing

Thanks for reminding me. I also tend to go to the eyes to convey emotion.

By: Debra

Debra — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 13:31:48 +0000

I do this with my crutch words and then I SIGH and TAKE A DEEP BREATH. ha ha. The problem is when we dig up ways to replace them, we start going off the deep end. Half of the breathing/looking can stay there unchanged, because some of the replacements I’ve seen pull me out of the story because the author is trying too hard.

that said…I absolutely have those ugly moments when I find all those looks and breaths! We want visceral and it’s ‘painful’ to perfect!
The Emotion Thesaurus is a treasure!

By: Q&A with Ella Joy Olsen : Women Writers, Women's Books

Q&A with Ella Joy Olsen : Women Writers, Women's Books — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 19:01:24 +0000

[…] contributor to WWWB. Do not send your manuscript anywhere until you’ve read this piece: “Look Away. You Don’t Want To See This.” As I read it, I cringed, hung my head, and then thanked her. I might have related just a wee […]

By: Ella Joy Olsen

Ella Joy Olsen — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 03:19:39 +0000

In reply to Karen Sargent. Sigh...

By: Ella Joy Olsen

Ella Joy Olsen — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 03:19:15 +0000

In reply to T R Hudgins.

I know! I had to rest my head against the desk in shame for several moments when I first used the “find word” function. Then I got to work…it took days. Good luck in your writing endeavors!
Ella

By: Ella Joy Olsen

Ella Joy Olsen — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 03:16:50 +0000

In reply to Angela Ackerman. Thank you, Angela, for an invaluable resource!

By: Karen Sargent

Karen Sargent — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 01:35:36 +0000

Ella, I use the Emotion Thesaurus, too. I bought it when I realized my characters do a lot of sighing and heavy breathing (and there’s not even sex in the story!). 🙂 It’s invaluable!

By: T R Hudgins

T R Hudgins — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 22:53:57 +0000

I just recently reread a novella I quickly self published for a friend. And I wanted to climb under a rock and reverse the publication process. My characters do a lot of breathing. They sighed a lot. Their breathing grew rapid or uneven when excited. It’s definately my crutch. The entire series of those thesauruses is on my hope to have soon list!

I enjoyed your article and look forward to trying to use the advice!

By: Angela Ackerman

Angela Ackerman — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 03:39:13 +0000

Ella, I loved reading this. Your story is the story of SO MANY writers, which is why we wrote this book. 🙂 Emition is a tough one to render onto the page sometimes, and we all get into a trap of reusing the same ways to describe. I am so very glad to hear these lists have helped!

Happy writing and crutch busting!

Angela 🙂