Angela Ackerman

Angela Ackerman is a story coach, international speaker, and co-author of the bestselling book, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, and its many sequels. Available in ten languages, her guides are sourced by universities, recommended by agents and editors, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, and psychologists around the world. To date, this series has sold over a million copies. Angela is also the co-founder of Writers Helping Writers® and One Stop for Writers®, portals to game-changing tools and resources that enable writers to craft powerful fiction.
How Fear Affects Your Character in Real Time
Image: close-up photo of a woman staring straight at the viewer with her hoodie pulled over her head and balled fists held in front of her face.
Fear can limit our ability to apply reason and logic, leading to flawed choices and behavior—bad in real life, but ...
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Adversaries in Fiction: Who Is Standing in Your Character’s Way?
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Your story’s adversary might come in many shapes or sizes. Most important, ensure that the conflict they present has a ...
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How to Write Compelling Inner Conflict
Image: a double-exposed photograph of a woman's face with, in the multiple exposures, her hands covering her ears, eyes, and mouth.
When we show our character’s cognitive dissonance—wrestling with conflicting beliefs—readers can’t help but relate and empathize ...
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Using Dysfunctional Behavior to Reveal Characters’ Emotional Wounds
Using Dysfunctional Behavior to Reveal Characters' Emotional Wounds
Giving characters painful backstory makes them feel credible to readers. But when it comes to describing what happened, many writers ...
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Want to Build Tension? Encourage the Reader to Ask Questions
Image: a man and two women sit with cocktails in hand around a restaurant table.
Anticipation—“Will it happen or won’t it?”—keeps readers on edge, and we can make use of their need to know by ...
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The Inner Struggle: How to Show a Character’s Repressed Emotions
repressed emotions in characters
If a character is repressing an emotion, real-world behaviors can show it. Readers will catch on because they’ll recognize their ...
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How to Find and Reach Influencers to Help Promote Your Book
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Writing coach Angela Ackerman discusses how influencers can help you market your book, how to identify potential influencers, and how ...
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How Authors Can Find Their Ideal Reading Audience
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Writing coach and author Angela Ackerman discusses techniques for identifying and connecting with your target reading audience ...
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The 7-Step Business Plan for Writers
business plan for writers
Your productivity and growth are a direct result of forming a business plan (and sticking to it); here are 7 ...
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