Writers Helping Writers^®

Show Don’t Tell

The Conflict Thesaurus Is at One Stop for Writers

September 9, 2021

The Conflict Thesaurus Is at One Stop for Writers

September 9, 2021

Hi everyone! Just a quick post today to let our One Stop for Writers users know that the Conflict Thesaurus is live at the site. This database is all about…

Describing a Character’s Emotions: Problems and Solutions

August 14, 2021

Describing a Character’s Emotions: Problems and Solutions

August 14, 2021

Characters are the heart of a story, but what really draws readers in is their emotions. Only…showing them isn’t always easy, is it? Like us in the real world, characters…

The Conflict Thesaurus Writing Guide Is Coming

August 12, 2021

The Conflict Thesaurus Writing Guide Is Coming

August 12, 2021

Each year we look forward to this post, the one where we get to spill the beans and introduce to you the next book in our thesaurus series. This one…

Fight, Flight, or Freeze: What’s Your Character’s Go-To Response?

July 22, 2021

Fight, Flight, or Freeze: What’s Your Character’s Go-To Response?

July 22, 2021

Fight, flight, or freeze. I think we’ve all heard variations of this phrase. It refers to the way each person is hard-wired to react to real or perceived danger: we…

Nods, Smiles, and Frowns: How Can We Avoid “Talking Heads”…and Cliches?

June 8, 2021

Nods, Smiles, and Frowns: How Can We Avoid “Talking Heads”…and Cliches?

June 8, 2021

Context is often an underappreciated element of our writing because when not done well, a context-filled passage can become a tell-not-show info dump. However, context is essential for most aspects…

How to Write Emotion Well: Know Your Character

April 29, 2021

How to Write Emotion Well: Know Your Character

April 29, 2021

We’ve all read stories where our breath slows, the world falls away, and the page disappears. We’re somewhere else, a place that isn’t real, yet is. We’re with people who…

Should We Think of Our Setting as a Character?

March 9, 2021

Should We Think of Our Setting as a Character?

March 9, 2021

We’ve probably all heard some variation of the advice to develop story settings that feel like characters. Hogwarts castle in the Harry Potter story world, the Overlook Hotel in The…

Introducing Unique Story Elements without Confusing Readers

January 5, 2021

Introducing Unique Story Elements without Confusing Readers

January 5, 2021

Story openings can be difficult as authors struggle to introduce the protagonist, show them in their everyday world, hint at what’s missing, and begin the vital process of building empathy.…

Story Tropes: To Avoid or Not to Avoid?

December 8, 2020

Story Tropes: To Avoid or Not to Avoid?

December 8, 2020

Every genre and medium of storytelling uses tropes, common themes or story devices. For example, a popular trope in the romance genre is “enemies to lovers,” where the characters start as enemies…

Thoughtful Gifts for Writers

December 5, 2020

Thoughtful Gifts for Writers

December 5, 2020

Each year we put together a list of gift ideas for writers – some fun, some functional. This year, let’s face it, writers have struggled more than usual. So this…