Writers Helping Writers^®

Writing Lessons

Need Conflict? Just Let Your Characters Talk

July 5, 2022

Need Conflict? Just Let Your Characters Talk

July 5, 2022

Story conflict has many purposes. It provides opportunities for failure and growth, elevates what’s at stake, and escalates emotion for the character and readers. We also know that our stories…

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: People of Color

June 30, 2022

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: People of Color

June 30, 2022

Readers have spoken: they want more diversity in fiction. And writers are stepping up, but it can be hard to write about someone who’s different than you. Careful research is…

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Characters with Mental Health Issues

June 23, 2022

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Characters with Mental Health Issues

June 23, 2022

Readers have spoken: they want more diversity in fiction. And writers are stepping up, but it can be hard to write about someone who’s different than you. Careful research is…

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Religious Characters

June 16, 2022

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Religious Characters

June 16, 2022

Readers have spoken: they want more diversity in fiction. And writers are stepping up, but it can be hard to write about someone who’s different than you. Careful research is…

“They’re All Gonna Die!” Wait, Why Does That Matter?

June 14, 2022

“They’re All Gonna Die!” Wait, Why Does That Matter?

June 14, 2022

By Jami Gold Want to draw readers into our story? Of course! To do so, we often attempt to make the stakes bigger. Typically, that’s a decent approach. But imagine…

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: LGBTQ+ Characters

June 9, 2022

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: LGBTQ+ Characters

June 9, 2022

Readers have spoken: they want more diversity in fiction. And writers are stepping up, but it can be hard to write about someone who’s different than you. Careful research is…

Build a Character’s Voice from the Inside Out

June 7, 2022

Build a Character’s Voice from the Inside Out

June 7, 2022

Vocabulary and the way a character speaks are the outer layer of character voice—the icing on the cake. Instead of trying to build character voice from the outside in, get…

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Female Characters

June 2, 2022

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Female Characters

June 2, 2022

Readers have spoken: they want more diversity in fiction. And writers are stepping up, but it can be hard to write about someone who’s different than you. Careful research is…

Compassion Fatigue: Is it Relevant for Your Characters?

May 31, 2022

Compassion Fatigue: Is it Relevant for Your Characters?

May 31, 2022

We know the importance of making our characters authentic, believable, and memorable for readers. But relevance is important, too, because it makes them relatable. Readers see characters who are facing…

Subterfuge in Dialogue

May 26, 2022

Subterfuge in Dialogue

May 26, 2022

Dialogue—good dialogue—is tricky. Mechanics can be learned; the rules are readily available and are hammered into us by teachers, editors, critique partners, and countless Facebook memes. The hard part of…