Writers Helping Writers^®

Writing Lessons

Structuring an Ensemble Cast with Plotlines

May 30, 2024

Structuring an Ensemble Cast with Plotlines

May 30, 2024

Writing an ensemble cast can feel daunting, especially when most writing advice is for stories that feature one, or maybe two, lead characters. How is an author supposed to structure…

Using the 5 Elements of Writing to Immerse Readers

May 28, 2024

Using the 5 Elements of Writing to Immerse Readers

May 28, 2024

Have you ever watched a movie based on a book you read and realized the book is so much better? As a writer, this phenomenon excites me, because we can…

Behind the Scenes: How to Craft Compelling Backstory

May 21, 2024

Behind the Scenes: How to Craft Compelling Backstory

May 21, 2024

A character’s backstory is where all the gold is buried in terms of their motivations and misbeliefs. Who we are in the present depends to a large extent on what…

Release Day: The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus Is Here (& a Giveaway!)

May 13, 2024

Release Day: The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus Is Here (& a Giveaway!)

May 13, 2024

Another book joins the family today: The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Stress and Volatility! Writing authentic emotional reactions can be difficult when a character is the…

10 Reasons Why Emotion Amplifiers Are Good for Your Story

May 9, 2024

10 Reasons Why Emotion Amplifiers Are Good for Your Story

May 9, 2024

As you may have heard, we recently released The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Stress and Volatility, a companion to The Emotion Thesaurus. If you aren’t familiar…

Differentiate Your Character with a Talent or Skill

May 2, 2024

Differentiate Your Character with a Talent or Skill

May 2, 2024

One worry that can plague writers is whether their characters are original enough or not. After all, readers meet a lot of characters over time, so how can writers make…

Three Essentials for Engaging Reader Emotion in the Setup

April 30, 2024

Three Essentials for Engaging Reader Emotion in the Setup

April 30, 2024

As authors, we all know the importance of engaging our audience within a book’s first few pages. Grabbing the reader: captivating them in a way that makes them want to…

Does Your Scene Need More Tension? Add an Emotion Amplifier!

April 25, 2024

Does Your Scene Need More Tension? Add an Emotion Amplifier!

April 25, 2024

Emotion and tension often go hand in hand. If character emotion is low, story tension is also probably waning. On the flip side, tension is likely on the rise when…

A Mother Lode of Resources on Talents and Skills

April 23, 2024

A Mother Lode of Resources on Talents and Skills

April 23, 2024

Talents and skills can serve many purposes in a story by revealing truths about the character, making them more likable or relatable for readers, and contributing to story arc by…

Three Easy Steps to Generate a Goal Using Fear as Motivation

April 16, 2024

Three Easy Steps to Generate a Goal Using Fear as Motivation

April 16, 2024

There’s so much emphasis on making sure that we give our character a goal that’s clear starting from their very first scene. Win the game. Find someone to marry. Land…