Writers Helping Writers^®

Writing Lessons

Five Commonalities Between Heroes and Villains

August 3, 2023

Five Commonalities Between Heroes and Villains

August 3, 2023

In story terms, a villain is a person, entity, or force who is cruel, evil, or malicious enough to wish the protagonist harm. Rather than simply blocking a goal or…

How to Stay Focused on Your Story’s Central Conflict

August 1, 2023

How to Stay Focused on Your Story’s Central Conflict

August 1, 2023

Conflict in every scene. We’ve all heard this advice, and for good reason. Your protagonist has a goal—hopefully, an audacious and high-stakes goal that is difficult to achieve. “Difficult” is…

After the First Draft: Revising Your Plot

July 27, 2023

After the First Draft: Revising Your Plot

July 27, 2023

Ok, writers. Raise your hand if you love revising. *crickets* Revision freaks a lot of people out because it can be overwhelming. When you start drafting, you’ve got this really…

Improve Your Storytelling in 5 Minutes

July 25, 2023

Improve Your Storytelling in 5 Minutes

July 25, 2023

What are writers chronically short on? Time. There never seems to be enough of it as we try to get the next book written, research our publishing options, keep up…

Keep Tensions High by NOT Resolving Your Character’s Relationship Conflict

July 18, 2023

Keep Tensions High by NOT Resolving Your Character’s Relationship Conflict

July 18, 2023

When it comes to story conflict, there are so many options to choose from. Power struggles, physical threats, moral dilemmas, failures, ticking clocks—they’re all great for ratcheting up tension, building…

Do Your Characters Have Agency?

July 13, 2023

Do Your Characters Have Agency?

July 13, 2023

Consider, if you will, a story about a woman who wants to gain esteem by winning an important legal case. Things are going along fine until she gets fired from…

Five Reasons to Identify Your Character’s Wounding Event

June 29, 2023

Five Reasons to Identify Your Character’s Wounding Event

June 29, 2023

As human beings, we’re all products of our past; good and bad, our experiences have formed us into who we are. The same should be true of our characters. One…

Positive Traits Can Have Drawbacks, and Flaws Aren’t All Bad

June 27, 2023

Positive Traits Can Have Drawbacks, and Flaws Aren’t All Bad

June 27, 2023

I was watching Gone with the Wind the other night—because, you know, it was on TV and I had four hours to kill. As a teen, this was the first “grown-up” book…

How to Build Sizzling Sexual Tension in Your Novel

June 20, 2023

How to Build Sizzling Sexual Tension in Your Novel

June 20, 2023

Writing Sexual Tension Are you tired of writing boring and uneventful romance scenes? Do your readers seem disinterested or even put off by the lack of chemistry between your characters?…

Writing About Emotional Trauma Without Triggering Readers

June 15, 2023

Writing About Emotional Trauma Without Triggering Readers

June 15, 2023

Trigger warnings are often debated in the writing world. Some opine that readers should be warned if something potentially harmful is included in a book, and others feel the audience…