Writers Helping Writers^®

Guest Post

Outlining Your Future Book in 30 Minutes

March 29, 2018

Outlining Your Future Book in 30 Minutes

March 29, 2018

To plot or to pants? That is the question—one with as many different answers as there are writers. As an avid plotter, the idea of pantsing gives me the heebie-jeebies,…

How to Banish Interruptions from Your Writing Time

January 30, 2018

How to Banish Interruptions from Your Writing Time

January 30, 2018

Some writers have complained to me recently: “I want to get more writing done, but it’s so hard to deal with the interruptions all the time.” It’s true that interruptions…

Stripping Down My Prose: Risking the Removal of Adjectives

January 25, 2018

Stripping Down My Prose: Risking the Removal of Adjectives

January 25, 2018

Happy to welcome Margaret McNellis to the blog today. She’s tried an interesting experiment with her writing to create stronger, tighter prose, so please read on! When I was a Masters…

The Different Kinds of Editing: A Breakdown (with Examples)

December 14, 2017

The Different Kinds of Editing: A Breakdown (with Examples)

December 14, 2017

All writers need an editor. Stephen King needs one. JK Rowling needs one. You and me? We DEFINITELY need one. But this is where it gets confusing…because there are many…

Escape the Slush Pile: Elements of a Successful Query Pitch

November 23, 2017

pitch, query letter. queries, agents, querying, publishing, publishing tips, editors, query help

Escape the Slush Pile: Elements of a Successful Query Pitch

November 23, 2017

Heads up! Pitch Pro Sarah Isaacson has a Query Clinic here PACKED with info to help you escape the slush pile. The purpose of a pitch is to hook a reader…

Got 15 Minutes? How to Write 500+ Words

November 2, 2017

Got 15 Minutes? How to Write 500+ Words

November 2, 2017

The Bay’s asleep and you have fifteen minutes of free time…you could write! Goodness knows it’s hard enough to find the time these days. You could take advantage of this…

The 10 Key Scenes You Need to Frame Up Your Novel

September 26, 2017

The 10 Key Scenes You Need to Frame Up Your Novel

September 26, 2017

“How do I write a great novel?” is probably THE question every aspiring novelist has asked . . . but maybe hasn’t had answered satisfyingly and clearly. There are plenty of techniques…

Why Characters Need Choices in Fiction

August 29, 2017

Why Characters Need Choices in Fiction

August 29, 2017

Choices drive every single conflict in a novel. The protagonist wants something (the goal), something is preventing her from getting it (the conflict), and she must choose what to do…

One Simple Technique to Improve Your Writing in 10 Minutes a Day

July 27, 2017

One Simple Technique to Improve Your Writing in 10 Minutes a Day

July 27, 2017

It may seem like a too-good-to-believe promise, but you really and truly can improve your writing with one short, simple exercise, in 10 minutes a day: Rewriting the work of…

The Myths and Misconceptions of Villains & Mental Health

July 18, 2017

The Myths and Misconceptions of Villains & Mental Health

July 18, 2017

Villains are fun characters, but writers sometimes take shortcuts to make them “villainous,” including giving them a mental health disorder. There are two problems with that: The disorders aren’t always…