Writers Helping Writers^®

Setting

Creating Microtension Through Setting Description

April 23, 2026

Creating Microtension Through Setting Description

April 23, 2026

Author, copyeditor, and writing coach C. S. Lakin shares ways to create microtension through setting descriptions. You’re probably wondering what microtension is, and what it has to do with fiction…

How To Use Dialogue for Backstory and Worldbuilding—Infodump-Free!

October 21, 2025

How To Use Dialogue for Backstory and Worldbuilding—Infodump-Free!

October 21, 2025

It’s an ongoing struggle for many of us: How do I share backstory and build my world without infodumping (and boring my readers)? One of my favorite—and sometimes overlooked—tools is…

How to Use Weather to Create Mood, Not Clichés

September 23, 2025

How to Use Weather to Create Mood, Not Clichés

September 23, 2025

Are you afraid of using the weather in your writing? If so, you’re not alone. After all, if not careful, weather description can be a minefield of clichés. The sunny,…

Colonel Mustard in the Ballroom: How Setting Shapes Mystery

August 19, 2025

Colonel Mustard in the Ballroom: How Setting Shapes Mystery

August 19, 2025

Setting is a story element that must do double duty in any genre: it’s your backdrop, so it shouldn’t take over and become the story, but it should be chosen…

How to Amp up Your Story Setting

July 31, 2025

How to Amp up Your Story Setting

July 31, 2025

Taking the time to choose the right setting for each scene is one of the best ways to ensure our writing has impact. Why? Because the setting touches everything. It…

How to Find Symbols in Your Settings

July 10, 2025

How to Find Symbols in Your Settings

July 10, 2025

We all want our writing to be layered. Like a gourmet meal, we want there to be more to them than just what’s seen on the surface. In stories, this…

Reading Like a Writer

May 20, 2025

Reading Like a Writer

May 20, 2025

We all know that as writers we should be reading a lot. It’s one of the best ways to learn the craft, and Stephen King’s quote on the topic is…

How to Use Show, Don’t Tell to Strengthen Your Story

March 25, 2025

How to Use Show, Don’t Tell to Strengthen Your Story

March 25, 2025

Writers hear it all the time: Show, don’t tell. This advice is so iconic that I wouldn’t be surprised if a few tattoos are kicking around the community. After all,…

Using Your Setting to Characterize

August 6, 2024

Using Your Setting to Characterize

August 6, 2024

In storytelling, our number one job is to make readers care. We want to ensure that our fiction captivates them on many levels and that our characters seem like living,…

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…