Writers Helping Writers^®

Writing Help

Meet Our Newest Resident Writing Coaches

October 1, 2017

Meet Our Newest Resident Writing Coaches

October 1, 2017

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since we started the Resident Writing Coach program, but here we are! This program, designed to bring you high-level writing education…

What Is an Emotional Wound?

September 28, 2017

What Is an Emotional Wound?

September 28, 2017

If you’ve hung around Writers Helping Writers, you’ll know that Angela and I have been obsessed with how a character’s emotional wounds impact them on so many levels. I thought…

Occupation Thesaurus: Bartender

September 23, 2017

Occupation Thesaurus: Bartender

September 23, 2017

Jobs are as important for our characters as they are for real people. A character’s career might be their dream job or one they’ve chosen due to necessity. In your…

Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Glassblower

September 16, 2017

Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Glassblower

September 16, 2017

Jobs are as important for our characters as they are for real people. A character’s career might be their dream job or one they’ve chosen due to necessity. In your…

Writing to the Beat: Translating Story Beats to Any Genre

September 12, 2017

Writing to the Beat: Translating Story Beats to Any Genre

September 12, 2017

Readers of my blog know I’m a big fan of beat sheets, even creating a beat sheet for romance stories. Because of that, writers ask me what beats they should…

Introducing…the Occupation Thesaurus!

September 9, 2017

Introducing…the Occupation Thesaurus!

September 9, 2017

Let’s say you’re at a party, and you meet someone new. The small talk begins. If you want to learn more about them, what’s one of the first things you…

Using a Novel Journal for Writing Breakthroughs

September 5, 2017

Using a Novel Journal for Writing Breakthroughs

September 5, 2017

I was at a Bouchercon some years ago and did a panel with some other thriller authors. Before it began we were interacting with some people in the audience, and…

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…

How to Keep a Short Story Short

August 22, 2017

How to Keep a Short Story Short

August 22, 2017

Part of constraining a short story to its simplest form is to observe the convention of its length. Edgar Allen Poe said it should aim for a single effect on…

Character Motivation: Entering a Competition and Winning It

August 19, 2017

Character Motivation: Entering a Competition and Winning It

August 19, 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…