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How to Amp up Your Story Setting

July 31, 2025

How to Amp up Your Story Setting

July 31, 2025

Taking the time to choose the right setting for each scene is one of the best ways to ensure our writing has impact. Why? Because the setting touches everything. It…

Tap into Your Character’s Unmet Need to Strengthen Your Story

July 24, 2025

Tap into Your Character’s Unmet Need to Strengthen Your Story

July 24, 2025

Life can be painful, especially for our characters. In fact, the fallout of an emotionally wounding event such as a car accident, failing to save someone’s life, infertility, or being…

How to Find Symbols in Your Settings

July 10, 2025

How to Find Symbols in Your Settings

July 10, 2025

We all want our writing to be layered. Like a gourmet meal, we want there to be more to them than just what’s seen on the surface. In stories, this…

Behind the Scenes: A Day in the Life of a Cowriting Team

July 8, 2025

Behind the Scenes: A Day in the Life of a Cowriting Team

July 8, 2025

Learn about a day in the life of a cowriting team with Resident Writing Coach Christina Delay and her writing partner, Julie Glover. We’re often asked why and how we…

Three Hidden Reasons Writers Procrastinate

July 3, 2025

Three Hidden Reasons Writers Procrastinate

July 3, 2025

You know the feeling. You sit down to write, open your laptop, and . . . somehow end up reorganizing your photo files, watching three YouTube videos, or scrolling through…

The Emotion Amplifier Playbook for Antagonists

July 1, 2025

The Emotion Amplifier Playbook for Antagonists

July 1, 2025

We all know the importance of tapping into our character’s feelings and conveying those clearly to readers. When we do this, readers connect with our characters and become invested in…

How to Hook New Readers with a Novel-Based Workshop

June 19, 2025

How to Hook New Readers with a Novel-Based Workshop

June 19, 2025

I’ve presented a lot of workshops over the years, mostly based on the nonfiction books I’ve written for writers. I’ve always found it easy to create a workshop based on…

Why You Deserve to Go on a Writing Retreat

June 17, 2025

Why You Deserve to Go on a Writing Retreat

June 17, 2025

So, You Want to Go on a Writing Retreat? A writing retreat is a designated period and space where writers gather to focus on their writing projects. Often such retreats take…

Continuing a Series: Enticing Readers to Return

June 10, 2025

Continuing a Series: Enticing Readers to Return

June 10, 2025

When writing a series, we need to adjust our writing techniques. Last year, we talked about the tricky balance of repeating information in a series from one book to another.…

Three Strategies for Creating Progressively Escalating Complications

June 3, 2025

Three Strategies for Creating Progressively Escalating Complications

June 3, 2025

Unputdownable stories keep readers off balance, as one scene tips into another, and another, and the next. Each scene’s challenge demands a response, and each response spirals into fresh complications.…