How to Twist Office Romance Into Fresh Conflict

Have you ever gone to a new restaurant, ordered a burger, and discovered it has some sort of luscious, zippy sauce that elevates the entire meal into the ecstasy zone? Amazing, right? Well, Becca and I call conflict a story’s “secret sauce” because it does the same thing – elevates the situation in a way...
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https://writershelpingwriters.net/2026/06/twist-office-romance-into-conflict/

#Conflict #Occupations #Relationships #WritingCraft #WritingLessons

Falling in Love: Types of Romance Stories

From subgenres to tropes and beyond, there are many ways to categorize a romance story. We may not know exactly what type of story we’re writing while drafting (especially if we tend to write by the seat of our pants), but once we type “The End,” we do need to figure out what we’ve created....
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https://writershelpingwriters.net/2026/06/types-of-romance-stories/

#ResidentWritingCoach #Romance #WritingLessons

How to Generate Better Story Ideas Using the Ones That Don’t Work

Generating ideas is the most underrated skill in a novelist’s toolkit—more essential than an appetite for cold-blooded revision, a head for structure, or a gift for dialogue. Generating more story possibilities within a single manuscript separates a competent draft from a novel with depth, complexity, and staying power. So how do you come up with...
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https://writershelpingwriters.net/2026/06/how-to-generate-better-story-ideas/

#ResidentWritingCoach #StoryIdeas #WritingCraft #WritingLessons

Five Truths I Learned Editing Hundreds of Books That Might Change Your Life

As a Book Coach and developmental editor, I work on hundreds of books with writers each year, in full or in part. I give feedback on drafts, debuts, and nearly polished manuscripts written by writers tackling their third, fourth, or even tenth book. Because I follow the journeys of so many writers, I’m in a...
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https://writershelpingwriters.net/2026/05/five-truths-i-learned-editing-hundreds-of-books/

#ResidentWritingCoach #RevisionandEditing #WritingCraft #WritingLessons

The Art of Withholding Information

As authors we hold all the cards when it comes to how and when we reveal key information to our readers. Withholding certain details can create intrigue and set up twists the reader doesn’t see coming. But if we aren’t careful, our readers might feel confused or cheated and consider our purposeful withholding as breaking...
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https://writershelpingwriters.net/2026/05/art-of-withholding-information/

#CharacterSecrets #ResidentWritingCoach #WritingCraft #WritingLessons

Iconic writer Kurt Vonnegut’s simple graphs show how to write the 3 stories everyone loves

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/kurt-vonnegut-how-to-wrrite-stories-advice-ex1/

How to Write Authentic Emotion

In the real world, no two people are alike, which means each of us expresses emotion in our own way. Some people find it natural to share what they feel with those around them, while others find the idea of revealing what they feel horrifying and will avoid situations that could lead to such vulnerability....
The post How to Write Authentic Emotion appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.
https://writershelpingwriters.net/2026/04/write-authentic-emotion/

#Emotion #WritingCraft #WritingLessons

Creating Microtension Through Setting Description

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 writing. Oddly, very little has been written on the topic, yet it’s an essential element that supercharges our writing. No, it’s not the tension created...
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https://writershelpingwriters.net/2026/04/creating-microtension-through-setting/

#GuestPost #Setting #Tension #WritingCraft #WritingLessons

What Your Story Problems Reveal About Your Writing Brain

Much as we may have things in common as writers, our brains are wired differently. How one writer creates a story is likely to be quite different from how another one does it. That doesn’t mean that one is wrong—it just means our processes differ. Figuring out how your writing brain operates and how to...
The post What Your Story Problems Reveal About Your Writing Brain appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.
https://writershelpingwriters.net/2026/04/writingbrain/

#ResidentWritingCoach #WritingCraft #WritingLessons

What Your Story Problems Reveal About Your Writing Brain

Much as we may have things in common as writers, our brains are wired differently. How one writer creates a story is likely to be quite different from how another one does it. That doesn’t mean that one is wrong—it just means our processes differ. Figuring out how your writing brain operates and how to...
The post What Your Story Problems Reveal About Your Writing Brain appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.
https://writershelpingwriters.net/2026/04/writingbrain/

#ResidentWritingCoach #WritingCraft #WritingLessons