The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to City Spaces (Writers Helping Writers Series)

I write a lot of reviews,and also write pulp fiction (Mystery,Crime, Horror,
and Thriller.)
I do not accept free books or money, in exchange for a review.
I do not give 5 stars, for reasons you can probably figure out.
I gave, The Urban Setting Thesaurus, 4 stars, because it is one
of the most useful books,I have sitting next to my computer.,
It gets constant use, and I even read it when I am not looking
for a particular setting.
I like to hear people tell me, "When I read your stories, I feel like I am
right there in the scene. I can see the details you are describing."
That is what writing teachers/instructors have been telling fledgeling
writers forever.........Show Don't Tell.
And the descriptions/details in this thesaurus, along with the other
good information,will help you do just that.......Show Don't Tell.
Always remember, the more you know, the more you will be able
to do.
Get the book, and wear it out.

The descriptions in this book are too basic and not helpful. For example, in the chapter for "Sewers," under SMELLS, the author offers as an idea: "an overpowering odor of sewage." Well, I could have said that. What does sewage smell like? What is a creative way of describing it? There is nothing creative in this book that I could find.

I am returning it and will likewise pass on THE RURAL SETTING THESAURUS.

Here's why I love this book -- and it's sister the Rural Setting Thesaurus: in addition to having the usual information about a setting to involve all the senses -- Sights, Sounds, Smells, Tastes, Textures and Sensations -- this book also includes inspiration. The section within each entry titled Possible Sources of Conflict is very helpful for brainstorming or idea-generation. So while I can use the assistance with remembering what my last cruise was like in all the visceral ways (who takes notes on vacation? not me!), reading through the additional, writer-related sections has my muse working overtime. In addition to that, the Setting Description Example really makes me want to write setting THAT well; it helps form a goal for me by showing me how it can be done. I highly recommend this book for everyone writing in every genre because even fantasy and science fiction have familiar settings.

I recently purchased 3 books of Angela and Becca's thesaurus series. I elected to purchase urban setting, rural setting, and the emotion thesaurus (expanded edition). All 3 have become an absolute staple for my writing. They give you the inspiration to write your scenes effectively with showing not telling. I will definitely be expanding my book collection with their series.. I WISH they had books about castles, fantasy, or historical type settings. I would buy those in a heartbeat!

I love all the "Writing Thesaurus" books by Angela and Becca. They are fabulous and really have elevated my writing to the next level. Thanks for these super resources. I have all of them.

All of these books in the series are absolute must-haves for writers. They give me the words and ideas when I've hit a block. So thankful that these writers took the time to help other authors put their stories together! Thank you.

Writers! Feeling writing constipated? Only drab and boring words coming out? "I walked down the alley. It smelled."

Now listen to your readers begin to snore.

You need this book. I paid good money for it, shelling out for the full paperback version. I don't know about you, but there are some books that just don't belong on a Kindle and this is one of them.

It came in yesterday and I immediately cracked it open and smiled. After hours of writing, this is just the kind of imagery I need. What do I see when I walk down a city street? What do I smell?

What about in a bakery? Or the local gym?

After a long day of making words jump, fight, slobber, and scream - my brain hits these moments of absolute blankness. And that's where this book comes in. Use it while writing your first draft or your fifth - but just use it.

I had high hopes of the two new books by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi—The Emotion Thesaurus is an amazing tool, one that I draw on repeatedly both in my novel writing and my blog writing. The two setting thesauri did not let me down.

The structure of the thesauri are simple, they take a range of different settings (over 120 in each) and list all of the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches of each. That would be helpful enough, but it also includes possible sources of conflict and setting notes and tips.

Setting is such an important part of a novel; get it wrong and it makes the entire story seems fake, don’t include it at the story seems insipid. The difficulty is often that if you haven’t been there, it’s awfully hard to build a scene convincingly.

Writers are told to ‘write what you know’, yet that would honestly lead to a world of very boring books. In truth, that’s a phrase that has come from primary school teachers, and like a lot of writing ‘rules’ that can be traced back to the classroom, it does’t apply in the strictest sense in the real, grown up world of writing.

As primary school teachers—and I used to be one—the goal is not to create great works of art, it’s to teach the basic mechanics of writing. ‘Write what you know’ gets taught because we are teaching students what the five senses are and how to use them in writing. We’re teaching them to be observant of their environments and how to use their memories to inform their writing. Once students have learnt that particularly skill, they can then apply it when writing about what they don’t know, filling in the blanks through imagination. Yet somehow the phrase has become a major piece of bad advice for budding writers everywhere.

How dreary the world would be if J K Rowling only chose to write what she knew. How scary if every crime writer decided they needed to experience crime first hand. How fewer romances would there be to read (and none of my favourite genre at all).

These two settings thesauri make writing what you don’t know so much easier. This is not to say that they should be the start and end of your research, but they certainly play a great, unique part of it. Now if the authors can just put together a ‘Regency England Setting Thesaurus’, I’ll be set!

The book arrived as scheduled. I was surprise to see that it was the size that it is. The book is new and I look forward to using it. I will be purchasing the other titles soon.

This was a gift for our son who is writing a novel. He said it's fantastic and is extremely helpful. He loves it!!