Writers Helping Writers^®

Resident Writing Coach

Meet Our Newest Resident Writing Coaches!

September 24, 2019

Meet Our Newest Resident Writing Coaches!

September 24, 2019

It’s hard to believe, but we’re about to kick start Year 4 of our popular Resident Writing Coach program! For those of you new to the blog, the RWC program…

Goal-Oriented Storytelling: Satisfaction

September 17, 2019

Goal-Oriented Storytelling: Satisfaction

September 17, 2019

Welcome to the final post in this four-part series on ANTS. As I mentioned in my first post, ANTS is a goal-oriented framework for storytelling. It’s what you’re trying to…

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,…

How Realistic Should Your Action Scenes Be?

September 3, 2019

How Realistic Should Your Action Scenes Be?

September 3, 2019

At a conference some time ago I was on a panel with some fellow thriller writers. During the Q & A we got this question from the floor: “How can…

4 Keys to a Powerful Denouement

August 22, 2019

4 Keys to a Powerful Denouement

August 22, 2019

Often as writers, we put a lot of our focus on the starting, climax, and middle of a story, and the denouement or falling action may be somewhat of an…

Motivation for Character Arc: A Different Approach

August 20, 2019

Motivation for Character Arc: A Different Approach

August 20, 2019

When it comes to discovering and writing about your character’s motivation, there are a dozen different methods. We can get there by any number of roads—most of which originate in…

Why Writers Shouldn’t Query Self-Published Books

August 8, 2019

Why Writers Shouldn’t Query Self-Published Books

August 8, 2019

Have you self-published a novel you had originally intended to send to literary agents (to see how it did)? Or, did you self-publish a novel, decide that publishing path wasn’t…

Three Simple Questions That Will Unlock Your Story

July 16, 2019

Three Simple Questions That Will Unlock Your Story

July 16, 2019

By Lisa Cron Writers are the most powerful people on the planet. Yes, you! You have the power to change your readers in a more profound way than almost anyone…

Why Every Novel Needs a Sprinkling of Fear

July 9, 2019

Why Every Novel Needs a Sprinkling of Fear

July 9, 2019

You’d be forgiven for thinking that only horror books should contain an element of fear, but I’m here to challenge that thought by claiming that all books – regardless of…

Digging Deep: The Psychology of a Layered Story

July 2, 2019

Digging Deep: The Psychology of a Layered Story

July 2, 2019

Humans like complexity: puzzles, questions, layers. It fascinates us. My guess it’s because there are so many complex systems in nature that our brain needs to navigate successfully. Ecosystems, weather…