Writers Helping Writers^®

Plotting

The Skeleton of Your Story

October 11, 2022

Think of Milestones (aka story beats) as a human skeleton. The skull, spine, sternum (breastbone), scapula, ribs, and pelvis are vital for life. Without these large bones in place, we’d…

Release Day: The Conflict Thesaurus (Volume 2) Is Here!

September 6, 2022

Release Day: The Conflict Thesaurus (Volume 2) Is Here!

September 6, 2022

A new writing guide is joining the family today, so please say hello to the SILVER Edition of The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles.…

Use Conflict to Target a Character’s Soft Spots

August 25, 2022

Use Conflict to Target a Character’s Soft Spots

August 25, 2022

Conflict is a key story ingredient, one we need a lot of, but this doesn’t mean quantity is better than quality. Fiction isn’t a video game; waves of bad guys…

Why a Strong Plot Requires a Significant Goal

August 11, 2022

Why a Strong Plot Requires a Significant Goal

August 11, 2022

Many say plot begins with conflict. But you can’t have conflict if you don’t have an antagonistic force. And you can’t have an antagonistic force, unless your protagonist has a…

Setting Description Mistakes that Weaken a Story

March 29, 2022

Setting Description Mistakes that Weaken a Story

March 29, 2022

When you think about the key elements of storytelling, characters and plot immediately come to mind, but what about the setting? Do you view it as 1) a vital story…

When to Kill a Character

February 22, 2022

Well, Valentine’s Day is in the rearview, so it’s time to move on to a less lovey-dovey topic: killing people. Fictional people, of course! Let’s face it, some of our…

Zig Zag Plot Arc

February 8, 2022

As writers, the classic arc-plot diagram is burned into our brains. The one conveying that our characters should move through our books in one steady climb, both externally and internally.…

How to Draw Readers in Through a Character’s Choices

November 23, 2021

How to Draw Readers in Through a Character’s Choices

November 23, 2021

Quick, what’s one thing you need in every scene? This question can have a lot of answers – tension, conflict, stakes, emotion, action…on and on it goes. But I would…

What’s Your Story’s Focus? Plot vs. Character Arcs

November 18, 2021

What’s Your Story’s Focus? Plot vs. Character Arcs

November 18, 2021

There are as many ways to tell a story as there are stories in existence. That means not all writing advice will be a good fit with the story we’re…

What Are Pinch Points and Where Do They Go?

October 26, 2021

What Are Pinch Points and Where Do They Go?

October 26, 2021

Once I learned structure and could visualize the pattern beneath my favorite novels, movies, and streaming series, I felt like I’d been handed the keys to a magical kingdom. Employing structure elevated…