Writers Helping Writers^®

Resident Writing Coach

Slay Your Bloated Word Count

February 14, 2023

Practical tips to tackle a manuscript that’s too long without killing the scenes you love. So, you’ve written THE END on your draft, congratulations! The only problem is, your word…

Build Suspense With Secrets

January 24, 2023

Have you wondered what makes a book unputdownable? What techniques or tricks an author employs to make sure you read that next word, sentence, paragraph, page? One of the most…

5 Ways to Approach Your Novel Like a Trial Lawyer

January 17, 2023

5 Ways to Approach Your Novel Like a Trial Lawyer

January 17, 2023

So much about good storytelling mirrors the way a lawyer might lay out the case for their client. Our job as writers is to select events and characters that reveal…

An Unbreakable Promise to Readers

January 10, 2023

An Unbreakable Promise to Readers

January 10, 2023

A novel’s opening chapter makes a promise, a secret vow that says, “This is what you can expect from me.” The chapters that follow better fulfill that promise, or the…

How to Use Real Life to Inspire Your Fiction

December 15, 2022

How to Use Real Life to Inspire Your Fiction

December 15, 2022

The memoir section in any book shop is made of writers who have done outlandish, shocking or terrible things (or had them done to them). These books are popular because…

“No, Don’t Tell Me”: How & When Should We Use Foreshadowing?

December 13, 2022

“No, Don’t Tell Me”: How & When Should We Use Foreshadowing?

December 13, 2022

Foreshadowing is a literary technique we can use in our stories that gives a preview or hint of events that will happen later. While many might think of foreshadowing for mysteries, this literary device…

3 Action-Reaction Misfires That Flatten Your Writing

December 6, 2022

3 Action-Reaction Misfires That Flatten Your Writing

December 6, 2022

Cause and effect. Stimulus and response. Action and reaction. Everything in a story depends on what the characters do about whatever the story pushes them up against. Stiff, disconnected, or…

Historical Fiction: The Story Comes First

November 15, 2022

Historical Fiction: The Story Comes First

November 15, 2022

As writers of historical fiction, we might be tempted to believe our job is to teach readers about a certain event or era. While that might be part of what…