Writers Helping Writers^®

Posts by Jami Gold

Story Tropes: To Avoid or Not to Avoid?

December 8, 2020

Story Tropes: To Avoid or Not to Avoid?

December 8, 2020

Every genre and medium of storytelling uses tropes, common themes or story devices. For example, a popular trope in the romance genre is “enemies to lovers,” where the characters start as enemies…

No Story Conflict? Explore Your Options

September 8, 2020

No Story Conflict? Explore Your Options

September 8, 2020

As a reader of Angela and Becca’s blog, chances are you’ve seen some of their many posts about the role of conflict in our story. In fact, as a Resident…

Character Introductions: Making the Right Impression

June 9, 2020

Character Introductions: Making the Right Impression

June 9, 2020

Many aspects of writing can be hard to get right, especially in our first draft. For just two examples: With our story beginning, we might struggle to find a good…

Storytelling Decisions: What’s the Right Pace for Your Story?

March 10, 2020

Storytelling Decisions: What’s the Right Pace for Your Story?

March 10, 2020

As we learn to write, we often hear about the need to create a strong pace in our story. Many seem to think that a strong pace requires a fast…

Build a Bridge: From Story Beginning to Main Conflict

January 28, 2020

Build a Bridge: From Story Beginning to Main Conflict

January 28, 2020

During one of my previous posts as a Resident Writing Coach, we talked about the importance of strong goals for helping our story move forward. But as we discussed in…

Avoiding Change: What’s Stopping Our Characters?

September 10, 2019

Avoiding Change: What’s Stopping Our Characters?

September 10, 2019

Stories are about change. Our characters’ world is changing around them, or they’re changing internally—or both. Yet at the same time, we know change is hard. In our own lives,…

Story Goals: Are They Slowing Your Story’s Pace?

June 11, 2019

Write what is in your heart, not to trends

Story Goals: Are They Slowing Your Story’s Pace?

June 11, 2019

If we’ve spent any time learning about story craft, we know the importance of goals in our story. They affect every aspect of our story: Stories are about a problem…

Story Threads: Fixing Rips in Our Story

March 12, 2019

Story Threads: Fixing Rips in Our Story

March 12, 2019

As we write, we weave our characters, plot, dialogue, action, narrative, backstory, etc. together to create a full picture for our readers. However, during the revision process, we might have…

Rules? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Rules

December 11, 2018

Rules? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Rules

December 11, 2018

After we’ve been writing for a while, we’ve heard our share of writing rules. Sometimes we’re taught to avoid certain techniques, like prologues. Or we might be told that some…

And…Action! Applying TV Lessons to Chapter Hooks

September 11, 2018

And…Action! Applying TV Lessons to Chapter Hooks

September 11, 2018

We’ve probably all heard the advice to end our scenes and chapters on a hook. At the end of every scene or chapter, readers might put down our book and…