Writers Helping Writers^®

Writing Craft

Character Motivation Thesaurus: Avoiding Financial Ruin

June 17, 2017

Character Motivation Thesaurus: Avoiding Financial Ruin

June 17, 2017

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is…

How to Build a Realistic Story World

June 15, 2017

How to Build a Realistic Story World

June 15, 2017

As a fantasy writer, one of my absolute favorite parts of the writing process is worldbuilding. I love creating new worlds, cities, and people groups from scratch. I probably either…

A Question of When: Indicating Time Passage in Our Stories

June 13, 2017

A Question of When: Indicating Time Passage in Our Stories

June 13, 2017

Today, we’re looking at how to show the passing of time between scenes. First, let’s recap why it’s important for our readers to be at least vaguely aware of the…

Motivation Thesaurus: Trying Again Despite a Past Failure

June 10, 2017

Motivation Thesaurus: Trying Again Despite a Past Failure

June 10, 2017

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is…

Giving Your Characters Free Rein in the Story

June 6, 2017

Giving Your Characters Free Rein in the Story

June 6, 2017

In my collection of writing books is a 1919 title, A Manual of the Art of Fiction, by one Clayton Meeker Hamilton, a professor at Columbia University. It’s a bit…

Character Motivation Thesaurus: Escaping Homelessness

June 3, 2017

Character Motivation Thesaurus: Escaping Homelessness

June 3, 2017

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is…

Theme: The Marrow of Your Story

June 1, 2017

Theme: The Marrow of Your Story

June 1, 2017

If structure is the bones of story, theme is the marrow. Plainly defined, theme is what our stories mean, and it is revealed through other literary elements such as character,…

What American Horror Story Taught Me About Anti-Heroes

May 30, 2017

What American Horror Story Taught Me About Anti-Heroes

May 30, 2017

Every time I search Netflix, Hulu, or primetime TV for a new show to watch, I’m convinced that anti-heroes are taking over the world. Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, the Sopranos, Nurse…

Why You Should Never, Ever Go On a Destination Writing Retreat

May 25, 2017

Why You Should Never, Ever Go On a Destination Writing Retreat

May 25, 2017

You’ll hear from loads of people why you should travel and go on writing retreats. There are lists, like The Case for Writing and Travel, that say why travel is…

Three More Lesser Known Archetypes

May 23, 2017

Three More Lesser Known Archetypes

May 23, 2017

Back in January, Jonathan Vars was here to talk about some lesser-known archetypes and how utilizing them can bring a sense of freshness to our stories. Because of the positive feedback on that…