Writers Helping Writers^®

Posts by Becca Puglisi

Talents and Skills Thesaurus Entry: Sewing

April 19, 2014

Talents and Skills Thesaurus Entry: Sewing

April 19, 2014

Choosing a talent or skill that fits with your character’s personality, lifestyle, and values can go a long way to helping them break free of the common stereotypes seen so…

What Killed it For Me #6: Action Too Early

April 17, 2014

What Killed it For Me #6: Action Too Early

April 17, 2014

We’ve likely all encountered stories that open with an explosion, plague, car chase, alien abduction, fist fight, or other volatile scene involving a main character that we know virtually nothing…

Eight Steps to an Agent, a Publisher, and a Two-Book Deal

April 14, 2014

Eight Steps to an Agent, a Publisher, and a Two-Book Deal

April 14, 2014

Donna Galanti is here to share her journey to publication, so buckle in for a real look at how long this process can take. Over three years I traveled a…

Hurting Animals (In Fiction!)

April 10, 2014

Hurting Animals (In Fiction!)

April 10, 2014

What if your story calls for an animal being hurt at some point…how can you handle it without backlash? Marian Perera weighs in. Warning: If you hurt a cute animal…

What Killed it For Me #5: Weak Writing

April 8, 2014

What Killed it For Me #5: Weak Writing

April 8, 2014

Today I want to talk about one of the most common reasons I stop reading: weak writing. I’ve been putting this one off because 1) it’s highly subjective, and 2)…

Talent and Skill Thesaurus: Mechanically Inclined

April 5, 2014

Talent and Skill Thesaurus: Mechanically Inclined

April 5, 2014

Choosing a talent or skill that fits with your character’s personality, lifestyle, and values can go a long way to helping them break free of the common stereotypes seen so…

What Killed It For Me #4: Cliché Characters

April 2, 2014

What Killed It For Me #4: Cliché Characters

April 2, 2014

It’s hard to come up with characters who are believable yet don’t sound like every other character out there. It’s especially easy to fall into this trap with certain archetypes,…

What Killed It For Me #3: Too Much Going On

March 27, 2014

What Killed It For Me #3: Too Much Going On

March 27, 2014

The latest book I gave up on was a fantasy that was very promising, but also very confusing. Set in a make-believe world, it was based on a unique and…

Talents and Skills Entry: Being a Good Listener

March 22, 2014

Talents and Skills Entry: Being a Good Listener

March 22, 2014

Choosing a talent or skill that fits with your character’s personality, lifestyle, and values can go a long way to helping them break free of the common stereotypes seen so…

What Killed it for Me #2: Characters Who Aren’t Endearing

March 20, 2014

What Killed it for Me #2: Characters Who Aren’t Endearing

March 20, 2014

To better understand why readers stop reading, I’d like to talk about characters who don’t win us over. I was browsing the library shelves and came across a book I’d…