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The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Personal and Natural Places (Writers Helping Writers Series Book 4) Kindle Edition

by Angela Ackerman (Author), Becca Puglisi (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.8 1,042 ratings

Book 4 of 10: Writers Helping Writers Series

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Within the pages of a book exists a world drawn from a writer’s deepest imaginings, one that has the ability to pull readers in on a visceral level. But the audience’s fascination will only last if the writer can describe this vibrant realm and its inhabitants well. The setting achieves this by offering readers a unique sensory experience. So much more than stage dressing, the setting can build mood, convey meaning through symbolism, drive the plot by creating challenges that force the hero to fight for what he wants, and trigger his emotions to reveal his most intimate feelings, fears, and desires.

Inside The Rural Setting Thesaurus, you’ll find:

• A list of the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds for over 100 settings revolving around school, home, and nature
• Possible sources of conflict for each location to help you brainstorm ways to naturally complicate matters for your characters
• Advice on the many effective ways to build mood, helping you steer both the character’s and readers’ emotions in every scene
• Information on how the setting directly influences the plot by acting as a tuning fork for what a character needs most and by testing his dedication to his goals
• A tutorial on figurative language and how different descriptive techniques can bring settings alive for readers while conveying a symbolic message or deeper meaning
• A review of the challenges that arise when writing description, as well as special considerations that apply specifically to rural and personal settings

The Rural Setting Thesaurus takes “show-don’t-tell” to new heights. It offers writers a roadmap to creating fresh setting imagery that impacts the story on multiple levels while keeping readers engaged from the first page to the last.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Another practical how-to book from Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, this time to help you flesh out your descriptive writing of rural settings. No more driving out to the countryside to bait the bull so you can describe the shape, size and smell of a cowflap. It's all right here, right down to the flies. While not a replacement for soaking up the atmosphere when you can't get there yourself, this book will help you flesh out all five senses." ~Anna Erishkigal, writer

About the Author

Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are bestselling authors, writing coaches, and international speakers. Their books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. Angela and Becca also co-founded their popular Writers Helping Writers site, a hub where authors can hone their craft, as well as One Stop For Writers, an innovative online library built to help writers elevate their storytelling.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01GSGV6TI
Publisher ‏ : ‎ JADD Publishing (June 7, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 7, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2642 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 265 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #106,383 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #27 in Fiction Writing Reference (Kindle Store)
- #36 in Words & Language Reference
- #59 in Writing Skill Reference (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.8 1,042 ratings

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Angela Ackerman
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ANGELA ACKERMAN is a writing coach, international speaker, and co-author of 11 bestselling books for writers, including The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. Her books are available in 10 languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. Her home country is Canada.
Angela is also the co-founder of the popular site Writers Helping Writers®, as well as One Stop for Writers®, a portal to powerful tools and resources that help you think like a writing expert so you become a stronger storyteller. A strong believer in writers helping and supporting other writers, she tries to pay-it-forward however she is able to.
http://writershelpingwriters.net
http://onestopforwriters.com
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Becca Puglisi
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Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and author of bestselling books for writers. Her books are available in multiple languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling. Her books are represented by foreign rights agent Marleen Seegers of 2 Seas Agency.
During her free time (ha), Becca enjoys playing video games, watching movies with her family, baking, and adding to her stash of emergency supplies. She has always enjoyed contemplating the What if? scenario, which serves her well during hurricane season in south Florida.
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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

1,042 global ratings

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StuffWeLove

So Many Details I Hadn't Thought Of

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2023

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As always, I love this series. This book has so many rural details that I had never thought about. It is a great resource for my current work in progress.

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Nadia Astraea

Love Series...Wish they had....

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2023

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I absolutely love this series of books. They are extremely helpful writing enhancement aids, especially when you are trying to make your work more unique and interesting.

I really hope they make a thesaurus of facial expressions and body language sometime soon because; I believe it would be extremely helpful, it isn't something they have yet, and it is the one place left where I keep getting stuck. 😉

Thank you to the authors for taking the time to create these books.

Thank you for reading my review and good luck on whatever project you are using these books for. 🙂

5 people found this helpful

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WW

Enjoyable and educating read

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2016

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I try not to give too much away about the content of books. I have various reasons for reading this type of book. One of these days, I'll finish writing a book or as my wife says, she'll publish it after I pass on. At my current writing pace, it's going to be about 9,000 pages before I finish it. Just kidding around. This book is a good, educating and entertaining read. The only complaint I have isn't really a complaint, but I've mentioned it on other Kindle books. I just think the flow of this book and many others in this field, break their flow, my reading flow, with the plugging of their other books. I normally would take a star off, but this one isn't too bad for it.

If I could share an old business tip it's don't distract your viewing audience's attention to anything besides whatever you got their attention with in the first place. It's kind of frustrating to be reading along only to see "To see how to do this, see my book "(name)". That would require me to stop reading your book. Still, overall, this is a good book with lots of things in it to learn.

10 people found this helpful

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Michael Dunne

Let The Rural Setting Thesaurus - SHOW - you how to write fantastic settings!

Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2016

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There are many books on the market today that 'tell' an author how to write. One of the tried and true axioms in writing is 'show, don't tell.' Guess what? The Rural Setting Thesaurus (and its companions, which include The Urban Setting Thesaurus among many others) 'shows' you how to write. The Rural Setting Thesaurus doesn't tell us, "Write one’s setting in this place exactly like so." No, it includes a huge variety of everyday settings in which your characters might find themselves. Then, it proceeds to unpack those settings into sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures and sensations, possible sources of conflict, people commonly found there, and even notes related settings (conveniently hyperlinked in the Kindle version). Further, these incredible references provide additional setting notes and tips and helpful example descriptions for each one. As if all that isn't valuable enough, authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi go even further by including key techniques and devices to employ in rural settings, and the resulting literary effects one can achieve by doing so.

An author could spend every dime of their past, present and future royalties on a whole library of reference books and still not achieve a return on their investment as valuable as this thesaurus. I think I’ll creep into the root cellar and see what’s lurking in that musty corner under the stairs.

15 people found this helpful

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Jennifer

Amazing book for describing settings

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2016

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The thesauruses in this series are auto buys for me since I read The Emotional Thesaurus. I like having the physical book as opposed to the kindle version. It's much easier to flip through. Setting has always been a struggle for me in my writing and this provides great ideas about how to paint a picture of where the action is talking place. On the rare occasion I am looking for a place not specifically listed in the books, there is something similar enough to give me a solid place to start from. I read this cover to cover when I got it. The books are so interesting and have such great information. I refer to it frequently when editing.

I like that it was broken up into urban and rural or the book with be a bit unwieldy. Definitely get the companion book Urban Settings Thesaurus. You'll be all set to describe any location. I also highly recommend all the books in the series.

Five stars only because I can't give it more.

10 people found this helpful

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alaskanchick

I love this series of books

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2018

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I love this series of books. They're great desk references for authors wanting inspiration for their writing. It helps spur new ideas and helps your writing from becoming stagnant and repetitive (just like having a regular thesaurus does for your word choice). I would highly recommend these books for anyone looking to improve their craft.

I will say that I do struggle with this particular one in the series because I don't like how the information is formatted. It's not as easy to scan through for ideas, but the information is good.

8 people found this helpful

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Jacqui Murray

Everything you need if you're writing about rural settings

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2020

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I bought Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi's The Rural Setting Thesaurus (JADD Publishing 2016) to buttress my knowledge of the rural settings that make up so much of my current WIP--actually, the entire ecosystem that is the background for my trilogies in Man vs. Nature. Ackerman and Puglisi didn't disappoint. The authors cover settings at home, at school, in inhabited rural areas, and the very rural (the arctic tundra, the badlands, and more). For each of the dozens of locations, the authors cover sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and sensations (all the sense) as well as possible conflict, people found here, and related settings. Then they give an example of what a description of the setting might be. For example, the example for river is:

"I stumbled up the hill, my body baked as dry as the land I'd crossed. Flashes of liquid light winked through the trees ahead and my legs tremored. Cocking me head, I heard it at last: the gentle burble of salvation."

If you're writing about a rural location you haven't visited or don't know enough about--especially the all-important sensory detail--there's no better book out there than this.

Oh--this is part of a series by these authors covering:

The Urban Setting Thesaurus
The Positive Trait Thesaurus
The Negative Trait Thesaurus
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus
The Emotion Thesaurus

6 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Smell the roses

Reviewed in Canada on August 6, 2022

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If it’s rural it’s in here like a well defined map

Wayne Mullane Mullane

Great Aid For Any Author

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2022

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This is one of a series of books to assist writers. I also own 'The Urban Setting Thesaurus'. They've been invaluable to my writing development.

As a writer, there's a knack to not only describing a place well, but also to bringing it to live, and how it adds depths to the character's emotions and actions. These books don't take the thinking out of what you write - they add fuel to it!

At times, I've struggled with show and don't tell in my storytelling. Truthfully, this set of books is gifting me skills that no other books on the craft of writing have.

There's a myriad of settings that the authors explore, and it's clear that they've put heart and soul into it. I look forward to writing my fantasy story as this book helps me create a clearer picture of where my characters are at.

This is a great buy for any author.

One person found this helpful

Pulcherie Wiesner

Very helpful

Reviewed in Germany on August 5, 2021

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I love and bought almost all the Thesaurus series. A "must " for writers.

LittleLaLa

Handig om ideeën op te doen

Reviewed in the Netherlands on July 10, 2021

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Andere recensies gaven het al aan, het is echt een boek bedoeld voor de US-markt. Dat is met veel schrijfboeken het geval, vooral dit soort zinvolle boeken. Daarbij zijn de voorbeelden talrijk, maar wel vaak gebaseerd op open deuren. Ik vond dit persoonlijk niet erg, omdat ik niet uitging van een copy and paste thesaurus. Dus het is een ongelooflijk handig boek om ideeën op te doen, omdat het je opweg helpt echt vanuit verschillende zintuigen een setting te creëeren.

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Dododo

Awesome!

Reviewed in France on May 8, 2020

Verified Purchase

Very, very helpful to enhance your writing!! I recommand the whole series, all the books are useful in their own ways. The kindle version is very easy to navigate too, no regrets here

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The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Personal and Natural Places (Writers Helping Writers Series Book 4) Kindle Edition

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Angela Ackerman

Becca Puglisi

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