Writers Helping Writers^®

Resident Writing Coach

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…

Three Powerful Techniques To Harness A Reader’s Curiosity

January 2, 2018

Three Powerful Techniques To Harness A Reader’s Curiosity

January 2, 2018

Psychology has spent over a century studying human behavior; our emotions, thoughts, needs and wants, what draws us in and what pushes us away. This means psychology can teach us…

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…

Episodic vs. Epic: Go Bigger with Your Writing

December 12, 2017

Episodic vs. Epic: Go Bigger with Your Writing

December 12, 2017

One of the most common reasons given by authors for why they write is a desire to create something meaningful for their readers, something that will stick with them or…

10 Ways to Goose the Muse

December 5, 2017

10 Ways to Goose the Muse

December 5, 2017

Calliope, the muse of epic poetry and story, is a fickle goddess. She drops in depending on her mood, tickles the imagination, and then takes off to party with Aphrodite.…

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…

What Is the Real Purpose of Writing?

October 19, 2017

What Is the Real Purpose of Writing?

October 19, 2017

I would imagine that nearly every writer has an understanding of why they write. Most of us have been lifelong readers. Most of us have deeply respected and admired those…

How to Improve Your Story By Strengthening Your Sentences

October 12, 2017

How to Improve Your Story By Strengthening Your Sentences

October 12, 2017

One of the fastest ways to improve your writing (and therefore your story) is to get jiggy with the nitty gritty, and by that, I mean honing your sentence level…