EMOTION AMPLIFIER THESAURUS

TRAUMA



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HELPFUL TIP:

Amplifiers are conditions that enhance emotions, causing characters to become more volatile. This often leads to impaired decision-making, hasty actions, relationship friction, and, best of all, mistakes. When utilizing an amplifier to generate conflict, think carefully about setting choices and which environments will naturally escalate emotion. An amplifier can also be perfect for triggering your character’s negative traits; the resulting fallout will draw attention to how his flaws trip him up and hold him back.
DESCRIPTION:
Trauma is a severe event that causes lasting physical and psychological damage. Whether the character is experiencing trauma during the story or they've been triggered into reliving a past event, the physical and mental responses will be similar.

PHYSICAL SIGNALS AND BEHAVIORS:
Freezing in place; becoming paralyzed
Uncontrollable shivering or trembling
The character's eyes going wide, showing the whites all the way around
Veins standing out in the arms, hands, or neck
Making odd noises in the throat
Whimpering
Gibbering nonsensically
Being unable to look away from the source
Arms going stiff at the character's sides
Hands clenching and unclenching
Not responding to stimuli or questions
Recoiling, backing up, or turning away from the source
Shaking the head slowly, as if to deny what's happening
The character's skin flushing or blanching
A quaver entering the voice
The character's voice rising in pitch, becoming shrill
The character's knees giving out
Being too scared to move as a threat closes in
Focusing on a fixed point and not looking away from it
The jaw clenching tightly
The character's chest heaving as breaths saw in and out
Tears welling up and spilling over the character's eyelids
Sweating profusely
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INTERNAL SENSATIONS:
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MENTAL RESPONSES:
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ACUTE OR LONG-TERM CUES:
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EFFORTS TO MASK HOW VULNERABLE THEY FEEL:
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ASSOCIATED POWER VERBS:
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EMOTIONS GENERATED BY THIS AMPLIFIER:
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DUTIES OR DESIRES THAT MAY BE MORE DIFFICULT TO FULFILL:
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SCENARIOS FOR BUILDING CONFLICT AND TENSION:
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WRITER’S TIP:
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