Writers Helping Writers^®

Posts by Writing Coach

How To Keep Writing When That Critical Inner Voice Won’t Shut Up

April 17, 2018

How To Keep Writing When That Critical Inner Voice Won’t Shut Up

April 17, 2018

You know the feeling. You went to bed last night floating on air and wondering whether it really is too early to begin writing that acceptance speech for when you…

Characters in Cars Thinking, or, How to Deal with the Passage of Time

March 22, 2018

Characters in Cars Thinking, or, How to Deal with the Passage of Time

March 22, 2018

I have been seeing a lot of issues around the passage of time in the fiction I have been coaching. It isn’t the content that’s the problem. The problem has…

Mapping Your Story’s Setting

February 20, 2018

Mapping Your Story’s Setting

February 20, 2018

As writers, we do our best to know our story’s setting as intimately as we know our characters. We can visualize the buildings, rooms, and geographic landscape. Maybe we even…

Writing By Design Part 2: Pattern and Repetition

February 6, 2018

Writing By Design Part 2: Pattern and Repetition

February 6, 2018

In my previous installment, I introduced you to writing by design and how you can use techniques from the visual arts to inform your writing. In particular, we looked at…

What Does Your Protagonist Want BEFORE the Story Starts?

January 23, 2018

What Does Your Protagonist Want BEFORE the Story Starts?

January 23, 2018

Imagine getting up in the morning and not wanting anything (not even coffee). No, seriously, try. Imagine having no agenda. Sure, that may sound great for a bit – especially…

Creating the Perfect Elevator Pitch

December 19, 2017

Creating the Perfect Elevator Pitch

December 19, 2017

You may think that elevator pitches are only for high-tech startups, job hunters, or Hollywood screenwriters, but being able to succinctly summarize your book in a very short space is…

How to Tell If Your Story Needs a Resolution

November 21, 2017

How to Tell If Your Story Needs a Resolution

November 21, 2017

One of the last things you’ll consider for a story is whether to write a resolution. This short sequence of scenes (or a single scene) after the climax can conclude…

Writing By Design: Making Use of White Space

November 7, 2017

Writing By Design: Making Use of White Space

November 7, 2017

Part 1: The Significance of White Space As writers, we often think of ourselves as “word people,” fully entrenched in the realm of language and all things verbal. Yet we…

Good Endings: What Should Yours Include?

October 10, 2017

Good Endings: What Should Yours Include?

October 10, 2017

What’s the right ending for your novel? This isn’t a simple question to answer, because there are many factors to consider. But the first thing you want to think about…

What’s the Dark Night Moment All About?

October 3, 2017

What’s the Dark Night Moment All About?

October 3, 2017

You’re coming to the end of the tunnel, and you see a bright light illuminating the finish line. You are almost through writing your novel! If you’ve done your homework,…