Writers Helping Writers^®

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Character Voice Versus Author Voice

May 16, 2023

Character Voice Versus Author Voice

May 16, 2023

We’ve all heard about the importance of finding your voice as a writer. Maybe you’ve had a critique from an editor who felt the narrative voice wasn’t sharp enough. Or…

How Beta Readers Might Save Your Book from Disaster

May 9, 2023

How Beta Readers Might Save Your Book from Disaster

May 9, 2023

When I wrote book 2 in my The Fountain Series, The West Woods, I posted on social media to get Beta Readers, and had 61 people offer. *Facepalm*. I didn’t…

We’ve Reached the One Million Books Milestone!

April 25, 2023

We’ve Reached the One Million Books Milestone!

April 25, 2023

Once upon a time… Two novice writers met in an online critique group called the Critique Circle and became fast friends. Angela (a Canadian) wrote about zombies and pirates and…

5 Ways to Crash Your Character’s Pity Party

April 18, 2023

5 Ways to Crash Your Character’s Pity Party

April 18, 2023

We generally craft characters with the intention of making them someone the reader cares about. One of the primary ways to achieve that is to tap into reader empathy, and…

Why Readers Love Anti-Heroes

April 11, 2023

Why Readers Love Anti-Heroes

April 11, 2023

To understand why readers love anti-heroes, we first need to define what they are. An anti-hero is a flawed, complicated character who thrives in shades of gray. They play the…

The Importance of a Great Opening in a Novel

March 21, 2023

The Importance of a Great Opening in a Novel

March 21, 2023

How you start your story is super-important, which is why your novel’s opening is crucial. In just a few sentences – yup, sentences, never mind pages! – you need to…

Character Arcs: Making a Long Story Short

March 14, 2023

Character Arcs: Making a Long Story Short

March 14, 2023

A well-structured story uses events (also called story beats) to move the narrative forward — with compelling issues, rising stakes, and an organic sense of cause and effect — toward…

What’s the Difference Between an Editor and a Book Coach?

March 7, 2023

What’s the Difference Between an Editor and a Book Coach?

March 7, 2023

If you’re all about Mark Zuckerberg’s famous credo “move fast and break things,” you may feel confident diving from writing into self-revision and then editing. But if you like to…

Four Reasons Your Action-Based Scene is Failing (And How to Avoid It)

February 23, 2023

Four Reasons Your Action-Based Scene is Failing (And How to Avoid It)

February 23, 2023

We’ve all heard the writing advice that our stories must hook readers from the start, and that pacing our scenes so readers stick around is equally important. It’s all too…