Writing Fear & Emotion That Hooks Readers ft. Becca Puglisi (EP#562)

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Why do some characters feel real enough to root for while others fall flat despite having every “correct” ingredient? In this episode of the SPA Girls Podcast (EP562), we dive into writing fear and emotion with Becca Puglisi, international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus. Becca’s writing craft books have sold over 1.4 million copies and are used by novelists, screenwriters, and universities worldwide.

Becca unpacks the difference between surface-level fear and the deep, wound-driven fear that powers a character’s arc — and how to weave it through your whole story without spelling it out. We talk showing vs. telling emotion, the danger of over-aware characters who kill reader empathy, using setting to amplify feeling, how fear drives the plot through turning points and choices, and why villains weaponise fear while protagonists learn to overcome it. Whether you’re a plotter or a “messy middle” pantser, this one will change how you build characters readers can’t stop caring about.

If your book isn’t working, the problem might be that you haven’t nailed your character’s fear yet.

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👤 ABOUT BECCA PUGLISI:
Becca Puglisi is the bestselling co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus series (with Angela Ackerman), an international speaker and writing coach whose resources have sold over 1.4 million copies worldwide. She’s the co-founder of the Writers Helping Writers blog and One Stop for Writers, home to the Character Builder and Storyteller’s Roadmap tools.

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Writers Helping Writers blog: https://writershelpingwriters.net
One Stop for Writers: https://onestopforwriters.com
The Fear Thesaurus (Becca’s newest release)
The Emotion Thesaurus & the full thesaurus series

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