Writing Tips

I think it’s important in life to recognize that sometimes things just don’t go your way. They just don’t line up with your expectations — or, maybe, with what has been described to you as expectations. Sometimes we have bad information. Sometimes we have good information but just a bad situation. Chaos is ever at

Fear is a strong emotion that creates tension in a scene, and that makes it a strong storytelling tool. When characters feel threatened—physically, emotionally, or psychologically—the stakes rise, survival instincts kick in, and every choice and reaction suddenly matters. Fear also creates empathy in the reader, allowing them to experience that uncertainty and dread along… The post 7 Techniques for Drawing Out Tension in Fear-Driven Scenes appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

I do not know why Black River Orchard is a mere three bucks at your chosen ebookmonger platform (which does include Kobo and Bookshop-dot-org btw), but it is, so if you really wanna get freaky-freaky and smash up both APPLE SEASON and SPOOKY SEASON, well, I think I might just have the book for you.

There are many quality apple websites you can go to to read about apples and orchards — Orange Pippin is pretty good and you can search up orchards there. Obviously I’m a huge fan of Adam’s Apples, a blog dedicated to a much smarter person than I am eating and talking about heirloom apples. There’s

Theme is an important element that quietly works in the background of strong stories. Pulled deliberately or subconsciously from the author’s individual worldview, it acts as an anchoring thread that connects the other story elements and creates cohesion for readers. The reason themes work is because they’re universal. Isolation, family, redemption, addiction—these ideas are common… The post Adding Theme to Your Story (Without Being Preachy) appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Sometimes, looking back over my “apple review notes” is a weird treat. In this case, I found a note that said GLOCKENAPFEL: IT GLISTENS!!! and it was also underlined. So, anyway, I guess that’s the tagline for this apple? I got this one from Scott Farm in Vermont — and here is where I dutifully

Today, I ate the best apple I’ve ever eaten. That photo is not that apple. It is, as Tenacious D says, just a tribute. That photo is, however, of the Reine des Reinettes I ate last year. You can read my review of that apple — and a weird rumination on sadness and books and

I do so love it when apples enter the discourse. Apples should be in our discourse every day! At least, autumnally. Because apples are good! They’re non-native but somehow quintessentially American feeling, tied into the story of local agriculture versus big agriculture, connected to indigenous orchards punished by colonizers, wound up with Johnny Appleseed, with

By Janice Hardy Let your characters show you—and readers—who they truly are.In novels, we often rely on what a character says to show who they are. Their actions also play a role, but the focus is usually on the big stuff—the choices made, the sweeping gestures, the plot-driving tasks. Yet, it’s often the little things people do that make them memorable. I once read a book (I don’t remember which one or who wrote it it was so long ago), where something had happened and the police were talking to witnesses. The protagonist did not want to be remembered. So a character helping her scrunched up the side of his face so it twitched, limped over to police, and answered questions with a strong southern accent. She was appalled, and thought he’d just given them away. He said, “Nope, all they’ll remember is the […]

If there’s one thing authors know, it’s the value of help. We all wear hats–so many hats!–to match the roles of this job: writer, researcher, marketer, strategist, business manager, accountant, promoter, networker, website guru, problem solver, and more. It’s…a lot. Too much for one person, or even two, as Becca and I can attest. As… The post Meet Our Amazing New Blog Coordinator: Julie Glover appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Writers pay me to edit their work. You might assume that I will therefore attempt to talk you into all the reasons why you need to hire me. Actually, the opposite is true. Getting valuable, free feedback from readers is an important step in the journey toward publication. After that, a professional edit will have… The post Should Writers Pay To Have Their Work Edited? appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Character tropes get a bad rap. These familiar character types show up in stories everywhere, making them very recognizable. This makes some writers worry that using them will create clichés and stereotypes. And that can definitely happen if we lean too heavily on a trope when building characters; they become people the reader has seen… The post Using Character Tropes the Right Way appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Most writers who consider themselves as either pantsers or plotters tend to believe they can only be one thing: This is just how I’m wired. Once a pantser, always a pantser. Ditto for plotters. Finding a drafting strategy that works for you is great—until it isn’t. Usually there comes a time in your writing career… The post Why Flexibility Matters for Pantsers AND Plotters appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

MORE APPLE REVIEWS FOR YOU APPLE MONSTERS. Welcome to the party, Apple Snack Gang. (Part one is right here.) Kickapoo Spice Love the name. (And yes, I immediately think of the song “Kickapoo” by Tenacious D, it’s just who I am, I dare not apologize.) Dense boy. Weird friend. High spice component here — heavy

By Janice Hardy Description is a blessing and a curse. Setting the scene is vital to help readers immerse themselves in your story world, but too much of it can bore readers and encourage them to skim past it. But find the proper balance between words and word pictures, and readers feel as though they’ve stepped into the book and live in your world. How much do you need to describe your setting? The pat answer is, “enough to make it feel real without bogging the reader down in too many details,” but that isn’t very helpful. How do you know how much detail is too much? Where is that fine line between immersive and oppressive? And the really frustrating part, is that there is no clear cut right answer. What is “enough” for an epic fantasy is usually too much for women’s fiction, and what a thriller needs is different from a […]

Very quickly, a sprinkling — a soupcon — of news bits from me, largely about My Cool New Book Which You Need To Read And Review Or I Die Unrecognized In The Abyss, The Calamities. First, and perhaps most importantly, don’t forget! I’ll be going back out on the road next week to the following

Want to win editorial feedback and take your storyfrom good to great? Well, my writerly friend, you’re in luck! It’s time for our monthly Phenomenal First Pages contest. In this draw, you can win… Editorial feedback on the first 5 pages of your MG, YA, or Adult novel This contest is closed. Please try again next… The post Win Feedback on Your First Five Pages! appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Happy Birthday, One Stop for Writers! Eleven years ago, Becca and I launched One Stop for Writers® on a mission: to make the process of writing a book easier. We knew firsthand how frustrating it could be to envision a story so clearly but struggle to get it onto the page. So we spent a… The post Celebrating 11 Years at One Stop for Writers! appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

This year, I am considerably daunted by the prospect of doing in-depth apple reviews — I want to! I do! But with our brand new dog, Cooper, and with one big leg of a book tour over and now a second, shorter leg coming up (see you in New Hampshire, Vermont, Ottawa, and Rhinebeck NY?),

By Janice Hardy Emotions are critical in most novels, but writing them can sometimes be a challenge.   Describing outward emotions can often sound forced because people in the moment feeling those emotions aren’t usually thinking, “I just want to stare deeply into his eyes.” They’re thinking about the color, the way the other person makes their heart race, how time seems to stop when their gazes meet. It’s the effect of that deep gazing that’s on their minds, not the actual gazing part. Let’s say you’re writing a situation that requires an emotional response. Instead of looking at the character who’s about to become emotional in some way, try going inside her head and thinking about what that person would feel. 1. What physical symptoms would they experience? Emotions trigger physical reactions. Racing heart, shaking, […]