Writers Helping Writers^®

Tension

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…

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…

Using Wound Categories & Pointed Questions to Identify a Character’s Past Trauma

May 2, 2023

Using Wound Categories & Pointed Questions to Identify a Character’s Past Trauma

May 2, 2023

The wound is a fascinating and vital piece of your character’s past that has lasting, formative effects on who they’ll be at the start of your story. As such, it’s…

Does Your Story Need a Hit of Organic Conflict? Look to Your Setting.

March 30, 2023

Does Your Story Need a Hit of Organic Conflict? Look to Your Setting.

March 30, 2023

Every writer’s mission is to pen a story that draws readers in, offering familiarity when it comes to certain genre expectations while also delivering something fresh so to be distinctive…

Build Suspense With Secrets

January 24, 2023

Build Suspense With Secrets

January 24, 2023

Have you wondered what makes a book unputdownable? What techniques or tricks an author employs to make sure you read that next word, sentence, paragraph, page? One of the most…

Writing Antagonists Readers Can’t Help But Like

December 1, 2022

Writing Antagonists Readers Can’t Help But Like

December 1, 2022

There’s a dirty little secret among many of us readers: well-written antagonists get our blood pumping. When a scene come along with them in it, well, we lean closer. Grin…

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.…

A Look Inside The Conflict Thesaurus SILVER Edition

August 30, 2022

A Look Inside The Conflict Thesaurus SILVER Edition

August 30, 2022

In the past when we’ve released a 2-volume set, it’s always been at the same time, but with the Conflict Thesaurus, life was just too busy to try and do…

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…