Writers Helping Writers^®

Writing Craft

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Embracing Responsibility

October 11, 2025

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Embracing Responsibility

October 11, 2025

When a character suffers emotional pain, the brain’s response is to stop the discomfort, and often this results in a coping mechanism being deployed. Whether it’s an automatic response or…

Celebrating 10 Years at One Stop for Writers!

October 7, 2025

Celebrating 10 Years at One Stop for Writers!

October 7, 2025

Happy Birthday, One Stop for Writers! It’s hard to believe, but One Stop for Writers® is officially TEN years old! When Becca and I built One Stop for Writers with…

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Self-Medicating

October 4, 2025

Coping Mechanism Thesaurus Entry: Self-Medicating

October 4, 2025

When a character suffers emotional pain, the brain’s response is to stop the discomfort, and often this results in a coping mechanism being deployed. Whether it’s an automatic response or…

What Kind of Writing Monster Is Lurking in Your Brain?

October 2, 2025

What Kind of Writing Monster Is Lurking in Your Brain?

October 2, 2025

You wouldn’t think a productive writer would have to worry about monsters. But sometimes, just when you’ve cleared your schedule, opened your laptop, and promised yourself you’ll finally get that…

Meet Our 2025 – 2026 Resident Writing Coaches

September 30, 2025

Meet Our 2025 – 2026 Resident Writing Coaches

September 30, 2025

I love being the Writers Helping Writers Blog Wizard…and am honored to work closely with the Resident Writing Coaches. They’re all talented, generous authors who share their wisdom to help…

The Coping Mechanism Thesaurus is Coming!

September 27, 2025

The Coping Mechanism Thesaurus is Coming!

September 27, 2025

Characters don’t always react to stress and threats in healthy ways–like real people, they lean on coping strategies they’ve developed to survive past trauma and avoid new pain. These dysfunctional…

Writing 101: How to Find & Write Your Character’s Voice

September 25, 2025

Writing 101: How to Find & Write Your Character’s Voice

September 25, 2025

Writing a strong and consistent character voice is one of the best ways to make your story stand out. A unique voice tailored to your character makes them feel real…

How to Use Weather to Create Mood, Not Clichés

September 23, 2025

How to Use Weather to Create Mood, Not Clichés

September 23, 2025

Are you afraid of using the weather in your writing? If so, you’re not alone. After all, if not careful, weather description can be a minefield of clichés. The sunny,…

Win Feedback on Your First 3 Pages & Blurb

September 18, 2025

Win Feedback on Your First 3 Pages & Blurb

September 18, 2025

Good news, wonderfulwriterly people…it’s time for our monthly Phenomenal First Pages contest, where we help transform your story’s opening from good to great! If you need a bit of help with your opening,…

How to Show Your Character’s Repressed Emotions

September 11, 2025

How to Show Your Character’s Repressed Emotions

September 11, 2025

Crafting characters that readers will connect to is every writer’s goal and dozens (hundreds?) of methods exist to achieve it: deep backstory planning, character profile sheets, questionnaires, etc. Regardless of…