Writers Helping Writers^®

Posts by Angela Ackerman

New: A Resident Writing Coach Program

October 11, 2016

New: A Resident Writing Coach Program

October 11, 2016

Our mission, as you all know, is to help our visitors become stronger writers. And while we do our best to craft insightful posts week after week, we also believe…

Character Motivation Thesaurus: Rescuing Someone from a Captor

October 1, 2016

Character Motivation Thesaurus: Rescuing Someone from a Captor

October 1, 2016

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is…

How to Become a Stronger Writer (Resources!)

September 29, 2016

How to Become a Stronger Writer (Resources!)

September 29, 2016

Being September, education is on my mind, reinforcing how important it is to stretch ourselves to become stronger writers. I know writers who feel they ‘know’ enough because they’ve read…

How Your Character’s Misbelief Drives Plot

September 27, 2016

How Your Character’s Misbelief Drives Plot

September 27, 2016

Welcome to story coach Lisa Cron, who’s sharing thoughts on the protagonist’s inner struggle and how defining the why behind it is the key to unlocking a powerful story that…

Introducing The Character Motivation Thesaurus

September 21, 2016

Introducing The Character Motivation Thesaurus

September 21, 2016

Exciting days are here–a new thesaurus we think will be really helpful, because it is at the heart of every story: The Character Motivation Thesaurus This thesaurus will help you…

The Swiss Army Knife of Storytellers Is the Setting

September 15, 2016

The Swiss Army Knife of Storytellers Is the Setting

September 15, 2016

Writing the Urban and Rural Setting Thesaurus books taught Becca and me something big: the Setting is the Swiss Army Knife of Storytelling. Yes, it’s the truth. Because your setting…

Hunting Down Plot Holes & Inconsistencies In a Story

September 13, 2016

Hunting Down Plot Holes & Inconsistencies In a Story

September 13, 2016

Please welcome author David Stafford as he’s tackling something we all wrestle with: Plot Holes and Descriptive Inconsistencies. Plot holes are disastrous,as are inconsistencies around characters and setting. These gaps…

Emotional Wound Entry: Being Bullied

August 27, 2016

Emotional Wound Entry: Being Bullied

August 27, 2016

When you’re writing a character, it’s important to know why she is the way she is. Knowing her backstory is important to achieving this end, and one of the most impactful pieces of…

What is One Stop For Writers?

August 25, 2016

What is One Stop For Writers?

August 25, 2016

Many have asked about One Stop For Writers, a one-of-a-kind creative web app of ours, wondering what it is. Well, it’s where we’re doing our best to answer the question:…

Creating Mood in a Scene Using Light and Shadow

August 22, 2016

Creating Mood in a Scene Using Light and Shadow

August 22, 2016

What’s one of the first things a person does to set the mood at home for a romantic evening? She turns down the lights. This simple adjustment is a big…