By Bryn Donovan:

I make a lot of my writing lists with two goals in mind: cut down on the time you spend trying to think of a simple phrase when you’re writing, and help you switch things up by giving you more options. That’s why I posted my Master List of Ways to Describe Anger the other week.

When I shared it on my Facebook author page, one person told me she expected a paywall when she clicked. That was a pretty nice compliment!

It’s true that I’m probably going to include several lists about how to describe emotions and feelings in the next edition of my book Master Lists for Writers. But for now, since you’re subscribed to my blog or found your way there, you can get a few of those lists for free.

Most of the time, you can express emotions through internal monologue, dialogue, and actions. Once in a while, though, you run into the need to describe the feeling in the point of view of your character.

There are really infinite ways to convey emotion in writing. I have 100 ways here to describe happiness, joy, contentment, hope, and gratitude here. They’re not in any particular order — really, it’s just the order that I thought of them. 🙂

They aren’t all going to be ones you use personally, because every writer is different! Chances are, they’ll make you think of even more words and phrases.