Eleanor Hecks joins us to share seven writing fears common among writers and how they may be holding you back.

Writing is a journey filled with challenges, many of which stem from internal fears that can stifle creativity and hinder progress. Recognizing and addressing these fears is crucial for writers and educators aiming to foster a productive writing environment. Here are several common writing fears and strategies to overcome them.

1.   Fear of Failure

Writers worry their work won’t be good enough, that publishers will reject them or that readers will criticize their ideas. This fear often leads to self-doubt and procrastination, making starting or completing projects difficult.

Tip: The key to overcoming this fear is reframing failure as a learning experience rather than a final verdict. Every rejected manuscript, critical review or abandoned draft is an opportunity to refine your skills. Seeking constructive feedback from trusted peers and mentors can help you improve and build resilience.

2.   Fear of Inadequacy

Writers often struggle with imposter syndrome — the nagging fear that they aren’t truly skilled or deserving of success — but this phenomenon isn’t exclusive to writers. Over 80% of people experience imposter syndrome at some point. For writers, this can manifest as hesitancy to submit work, reluctance to call themselves “real” writers or constant comparison to more established authors.

Tip: One of the best ways to counteract this fear is through continuous learning. Attending workshops, reading widely and writing regularly can build confidence and reinforce skill improvement with practice. Every writer — no matter how experienced — starts as a beginner. Acknowledging your progress over time can help shift your mindset from insecurity to self-assurance.

3.   Fear of Judgment

Writing is an intensely personal endeavor, and sharing your thoughts with the world can be intimidating. Whether it’s fear of criticism, misunderstanding or personal exposure, worrying about how others will react can hold writers back from sharing their work.

Tip: One way to counteract this fear is by embracing the reality that no piece of writing will resonate with everyone. Some readers will love your work, while others may not connect with it. The most successful writers focus on their message rather than trying to please everyone.

4.   Fear of Financial Instability

One of the most pressing concerns for writers is whether they can make a living from their craft. The financial pressure to support oneself or a family can be overwhelming. Even just owning a home costs an average of more than $500,000, while raising one child to adulthood costs more than $233,000 on average — numbers which many believe a writing career can’t begin to support. Writers may fear that pursuing their passion won’t provide reliable income to support their families or themselves, leading them to abandon their creative aspirations.

Tip: To mitigate this fear, setting realistic financial goals and budgeting wisely can help manage expenses. Many successful writers balance their craft with other income streams, such as teaching positions, editing jobs or speaking engagements. Establishing a financial cushion can provide peace of mind, allowing you to focus on writing without constant monetary stress.

5.   Fear of the Blank Page

Staring at a blank page can feel like standing at the edge of an abyss. The pressure to produce something meaningful can be paralyzing, leading to writer’s block and avoidance.

Tip: Breaking the task into smaller steps can help. Instead of aiming for a perfect draft, focus on getting words on the page. Freewriting, setting timers and outlining can ease the pressure and make the process more manageable. Developing a daily writing habit — even just a few sentences — can also help overcome the inertia of starting a new project.

6.   Fear of Wasted Time

Many writers worry that the hours spent writing will be for nothing if their work isn’t published or recognized. This fear can make it difficult to invest time in writing, leading to stalled projects and unfulfilled ambitions.

Tip: One strategy to help you overcome this fear is shifting your perspective on what makes writing valuable. Writing is not just about publication — it’s about growth, self-expression and mastery of a craft. Even if a particular piece doesn’t gain external recognition, it contributes to your writing development. Setting achievable goals and celebrating progress — rather than just outcomes — can help maintain motivation.

7.   Fear of Success

Some writers fear what comes after success. The pressure to replicate a well-received work, meet reader expectations or handle increased scrutiny can feel overwhelming. Success often brings new challenges, including higher stakes, deadlines and public attention.

Tip: To navigate this fear, focus on what success means to you personally. Rather than being driven by external markers, define your own creative goals. Surround yourself with a supportive network of fellow writers, mentors and loved ones who help keep you grounded. Accept that growth is a continuous journey, and success is simply another step along the way.

Embracing Courage in Writing

Acknowledging and confronting these fears is a vital part of the writing journey. Remember, courage is not the absence of fear but the determination to forge ahead despite it. Writing is a growth process, and every challenge overcome is a step toward mastering your craft.

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine and a freelance writer passionate about helping other writers of all genres grow their following and community. You can find her work featured in publications such as IndependentPublishing.com and Self-Publishing Review, or connect with her on LinkedIn to keep up with her latest work.

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By Savannah Cordova

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: you’re at your desk, laptop or notebook open, hours stretching out before you… but you can’t seem to get the words down. You feel stuck, hopeless, and incapable of moving forward; in other words, you’ve got writer’s block.

Luckily, there are countless methods out there to combat this condition — and one of the best ways is to use writing prompts. As a judge for Reedsy Prompts, a weekly prompts-based competition, I’ve seen firsthand how our prompts have inspired hundreds of thousands of writers around the world — how they can spark creativity and get you out of even the worst of slumps!

On that note, this post will explore how you can use prompts to push through your slump and help you get back into the flow of writing.

First Off: What Causes Writer’s Block?

Before we dive into the prompt stuff, it may help to identify the root cause of your own writer’s block. That way, you’ll know exactly how to adjust your mindset — and select the right prompts — to defeat it! Here are some reasons why you might be struggling:

You’re obsessed with perfection.

As a perfectionist myself, I understand how the desire to create something flawless can become a huge roadblock. I often fixate on the tiniest details, ending up in an infinite cycle of editing and rewriting. If you also identify as a perfectionist, you’ve probably experienced moments of doubt and creative paralysis — and you’ll need some fun, even silly writing prompts to help you loosen up and move forward!

You can’t focus.

One of the more mundane causes of writer’s block — and another one I’ve experienced myself — is simply the inability to focus. Particularly when you hit a less interesting part of your writing (often called the “muddy middle”), you’ll find it much easier to get distracted. In this situation, you need a prompt that doesn’t take you away from your story, but instead feeds back into it; for example, you could look at some character questions or worldbuilding prompts to reignite your interest and re-focus on your story.

You lack inspiration.

Lastly, if you don’t have clear direction or motivation, you’ll inevitably come to a standstill as you write. Experiencing this kind of creative drought is beyond frustrating, and you might even feel like giving up — in which case you’ll need a Hail-Mary prompt, something so irresistible that it gives you a whole new catalyst to create!

With all that in mind, let’s look at four types of prompts and why these types are so useful for providing inspiration and “unsticking” writer’s block.

1. Conflict prompts

Getting into these key categories, “conflict” prompts are — as one would expect — prompts that introduce a challenge or problem for your characters to navigate. Whether the conflict is internal (“Center your story around someone facing their biggest fear”) or external (“An apologetic letter or email from an old flame suddenly arrives — many years too late”), this can really help you consider how your character(s) would respond and grow when faced with a tricky situation.

Perfect for: Writers who are stuck on “what should happen next?” in their plots.

2. Setting prompts

These prompts focus on a particular environment or place — bonus points if you choose a type of setting you’ve never written about before! Some prompts of this ilk include: “Write a story set in a world of darkness where light is suddenly discovered” or “Set your story in a place where the weather never changes.” As you can gather, setting prompts don’t have to focus on location alone; they can also give you the building blocks of a dystopian world, for example, or a place where a setting’s physical elements are uncontrollable.

Perfect for: Writers who want to start something brand-new, particularly with different genre conventions. (For example, if you’re blocked on a literary fiction project, try a setting prompt — and then challenge yourself to write a sci-fi or fantasy story!)

3. Dialogue prompts

Dialogue prompts give writers a straightforward starting point, yet at the same time, allow them to go in basically any direction they’d like. Prompts like “Start or end your story with a character asking a question” or “Write a story that includes the line, ‘Is nobody going to say it?’” are great conversation starters to show not just characters’ emotions, but also their values, desires, and even their fears.

Perfect for: Writers who need to reveal something about their characters, but aren’t sure how to do it organically.

4. Genre-specific prompts

Lastly, genre prompts are incredibly useful for anyone who wants to explore the signature themes, tropes, and styles of a given genre. Mystery, thriller, dark fantasy, romance… there are so many out there! Trying out a prompt like “Write a story where the laws of time and space begin to dissolve” or “Write a story about two characters who like each other, but don’t get a happily ever after” might even lead you to discover a love for a genre you never knew before.

Perfect for: Writers looking to sharpen their skills in a specific genre, whether that’s their “typical” genre or not!

If none of these speak to you, you can always browse our full archive of 2,000+ prompts — with plenty more filters — from past Reedsy Prompts contests.

3 More Tips for Using Prompts Effectively

There aren’t any set rules when it comes to incorporating writing prompts into your routine; indeed, if you’re trying to tackle writer’s block, you should do whatever it takes! However, if you’d like some final bits of advice — particularly if you haven’t worked much with prompts before, and feel apprehensive about it — read on.

Start small.

When trying something new, it’s almost always best to ease into it; this helps reduce the pressure and bolster your motivation to continue. In that vein, start by dedicating just a few minutes each day to writing prompts, writing on 1-2 simple prompts at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Over time, you’ll be able to take on more complex prompts and extend your writing sessions without breaking a sweat.

Set a timer.

Additionally, to ensure you don’t spend more time on writing prompts than the actual writing you need to do, grab your phone and give yourself only 5-15 minutes per prompt. This is also a great way to stay motivated — instead of wasting precious seconds looking out your window or staring at your ceiling, you’ll feel more compelled to write something — anything!

Keep it free-form.

Remember, no one needs to see what you’ve written besides you, so don’t feel the need to adhere to a certain structure or style. Instead, take this opportunity to experiment with new perspectives, hybrid forms (such as prose poems), punctuation, generic conventions… whatever floats your boat! Just let it all out — this is all about having fun, trying new things, and seeing where your writing takes you.

Finally, don’t forget that writer’s block happens to everyone; the good news is that it’s only temporary. With so many different tools and strategies to defeat writer’s block, you can push past any slow or rough periods and come out feeling even more invigorated than before. You’ve got this — wishing you the best of luck.

Savannah Cordova is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects authors and publishers with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Savannah enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories. You can read more of her professional work on Litreactor and the Reedsy blog.

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Interested in posting at Writers Helping Writers? Review our content guidelines to see what we’re looking for and how to pitch us your ideas.

The post How to Use Writing Prompts to “Unstick” Writer’s Block appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

The iconic NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge has many of you rolling up your sleeves to pound out a novel. Becca and I love this event because it is a great time to become explore deep level ideas, experiment, and show ourselves we are absolutely capable of putting a novel-length story on the page.

NaNoWriMo is something you should make your own. Want to try a new genre? Go for it. Are you a plotter who would like to try pantsing (or the opposite)? Go for it! Maybe you want to channel an alter ego author voice, have an out-of-the box story premise you want to write, or you just need to get that next book done. Whatever it is, NaNo is a great time to blast out words and have fun doing it.

Writing a novel in a month also means telling your inner editor to take a holiday. He or she can go bug Elon Musk for a month – lots to criticize on the X front, after all. November is for you and your creativity alone, a pressure-free time to not worry about getting every word right as you draft.

We want this to be a terrific experience for everyone, so we’ve put together tips to help you smash out the words during NaNoWriMo:

1) Set yourself up for success before you write.

This is such an important step no matter what time of year it is, we’ve written an entire post about this! But there’s added pressure when it comes to NaNoWriMo because you’re attempting a draft a novel in a single month. If you haven’t yet done so, set up your space so you have what you need, talk to family members on how to respect your writing time, and click the link above to put yourself in a great place to draft.

2) Find an accountability partner.

NaNoWriMo is easier (and more fun) with friends, so find other writers who will be taking the challenge. Stay in touch so you can cheer each other on, have someone to turn to when you need help, and even meet up for writing sprints (in the real world, through Zoom, or over social media). NaNoWriMo makes this super easy–you can set up a group, join a group, find locals in your area who are doing the challenge, etc. If you belong to a writer’s organization, see who is taking the challenge and set up a group for you. If you participate on a writing forum, Facebook group, or something else, see who is doing NaNo and suggest you all exchange info to stay connected. Stay in touch, share your progress, support each other so everyone finishes November on a high note!

3) Know enough about your story to feel comfortable writing it.

This may look different for everyone, depending on your planning preferences, but planning a bit is essential. Whatever makes you comfortable, do. If you like to full-out outline and do character profiles, do! If you only need a few ideas to run with, great. But know what you need to be comfortable to start and keep writing. It can also be helpful to know your first scene well, so you have a strong first writing session. Highly recommended: the Storyteller’s Roadmap, and downloading the Story Planning Checklist. (Then, after planning, move on to the Writing Track of the Roadmap. You’ll find the Code Red section invaluable.)

4) End each session with an incomplete sentence.

This one sounds strange, but starting a new line with that damned blinking cursor can be paralyzing for some. If you know what the sentence is in full, but you leave it half-finished when you stop for the day, you immediately have something to write the next time you sit down, and muscle memory takes over. It can also be good to think on the next scene you want to write in between sessions so you have an easier time picking up again.

5) Keep sources of inspiration on speed dial.

There may be times you hit a lull and need ideas. (Totally okay, this happens.) Taking a bit of a break instead of trying to force words might help, so know what tends to make you feel creative and excited to write. Would you like to doodle a bit as you listen to music? Re-watch an old favorite Netflix movie that always leaves you with a rush to create? Bake something, or go for a walk? Maybe for you, inspiration hits in the shower. Whatever activity will help you work through story problems and recharge your creativity, give that a try.

6) If you don’t know what to write next, skip ahead.

Sometimes we hit a wall and feel pressure because the next scene is a big blank. We don’t know how the protagonist is going to get the magic dagger from their enemy, or what circumstances will ensure our romantic couple end up at the same ski resort. Guess what? It’s okay. Just think ahead to when that story problem is solved: the protagonist has the dagger. The couple run into each other at a ski lesson. Whatever “next scene” you can see clearly in your mind, start writing that scene.

Leave a note before you start reminding yourself what is missing <Jeff has to trick Lida into giving up the knife> or <Brand and Deena somehow both end up at the same ski resort>. Your brain will work on the skipped portion of the story in the background, and let you know how a leads to b. When it happens, you can go back and fill in the blanks.

7) Don’t be afraid to go off script.

A challenge like NaNoWriMo is meant to free your imagination, so even if you tend to plot and write to an outline, if your characters are taking things in a different direction, or your gut is telling you to deviate from the plan, you might want to give the story room to change. Add a mark you can find again using search like <<>> to note where you are deviating from the plan. Let the story unfold, and see where it goes. There is no wasted effort here, and you may find the new direction has you excited to write forward. Or you might decide the tangent isn’t for you. No worries! Add another <<>> and restart the story from where you deviated. The words still count toward the total and you can delete them later in revisions.

8) Don’t let doubt creep in.

It’s not easy to turn off the part of our mind that worries about quality, and sometimes our Internal Editor shows up despite our efforts to banish him. If he starts tsking over what you’re writing, do not listen. Every first draft is clay we must begin to shape if it is to evolve into the beautiful story we know it can become.

So, if the Internal Editor shows up, banish him to a room where this guy is waiting:

Imagine the resulting screams, smile, and keep writing.

9) Reward yourself.

Writing so many words while managing everything else in your life isn’t easy, and will require sacrifice. So make sure to reward yourself along the way, not just at the end of the challenge. Think about small things you love that you can promise yourself at certain points. You could set milestones to your word count, but maybe for you, writing 5 days in a row is a victory, or sticking to an internal promise of starting and finishing that rough chapter is the goal. Reward yourself in ways that motivate you to keep going.

10) Remember, you can’t really “fail” NaNoWriMo.

Even if you don’t hit 50K, or you decide to quit at a certain point because something comes up or you aren’t feeling the story, you had the courage to start, and to try! That’s a win, as is every word you did write!

No effort is ever a waste. Taking on this challenge is also a way to learn more about yourself and what does and doesn’t work for you. These are all lessons that will help you moving forward.

Becca and I are cheering you on! If you need any help at all, check out these three links

The Ultimate Prep Guide for NaNoWriMo (Plotters & Pantsers)
The Novelist’s Triage Center (Get Unstuck & Finish Your Book)
The Writer’s Secret Weapon Page

Go forth and be awesome–you’ve got this!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post NaNoWriMo: Top Tips for Smashing Out 50K appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

We’re a month away from the official kickoff to summer, and as someone who gets less of this season than many (Oh, Canada), I’m starting to get giddy. Summer is ahead, ready to unfurl like a warm, sunny rug. I’m talking longer days, less rigid schedules, and more trips to Gong Cha for bubble tea. Let the good times roll.

Some writers may be looking to take the next few months off from writing, or shift focus to other writerly tasks. Others have no such plans, and will be full steam ahead as usual.

I want to make room to enjoy summer, but I’ll still be working, balancing writing and research with the other things on my plate, and frankly, I’m good with that. I’m the type of person who needs to know I’m furthering the ball when it comes to my goals, even if it’s at a slower pace.

Writing over the summer is glorious because…

We can move our office wherever we want. I love being able to take my laptop outside and work on the sun-dappled balcony in the morning, or pull a deck chair into the shade during the afternoon. Sometimes I decide it’s a take-your-adult-beverage-to-work-day, because why not? Summer!

We can tap into greater creativity. Writing outside, or even with just the windows open, brings us birdsong, the shush of leaves, and perfumed air of flowers and greenery. Color is everywhere, too, visual reminders that everything is growing, coming into its own, just as we are with each word we write.

We can take our stories on the road. Is there anything better than taking a notebook on a walk, finding a quiet park or place along the river, and just letting our imagination flow? Getting out from the desk is a powerful way to reconnect with creativity and spontaneity (and it keeps us from losing hours to scrolling tiktok videos).

We have more energy. Summer tends to mean less activities and a slower pace as schools close and people at work rotate through holidays and vacations. With less pressure in these areas, we have more time for ourselves, and more mental energy for our books.

A break from writing can be beneficial because…

Life can be stressful, and sometimes we just need a break. Between work, family, social commitments, and unexpected life hurdles, sometimes the last thing we need is to fill a gap of time with more of anything. It’s okay to take time for yourself, and you shouldn’t feel guilty about not writing, especially if you are a bit burned out.

You just wrapped up something big, and need rest. Last year, my life was nuts. In a span of three months, both my children were married, I moved, and my husband was admitted for major surgery. With so many big life events happening all at once, I needed some downtime in the worst way, so I took it without regret.

You’re struggling with Writer’s Block. When retrieving words seems impossible, sometimes you need to keep trying, but other times, stepping back is the better choice. The dreaded block often happens because the creative well is empty, meaning it needs to be refilled. Read, get out in nature, watch movies, do art, bake, and do all the things that tend to make you feel creative and feed your imagination. When you are itching to get back to writing, you’ll know.

Or…strike a balance!

Few things are all-or-nothing, including your summer writing (or not-writing) strategy. If you have visitors to prep for, weekend camping trips, or this is the year you renovate the yard, it might be difficult to work on your novel with regularity. But if you’re like me and get a bit squidgy when you feel as if you aren’t furthering your writing goals, look for middle ground. One way might be to choose bite-sized tasks over a steady word count.

Think about where you are now, and where you want to be. Make a list of things that you need to know to have a clearer picture of your path forward. Do you need to research publishing options? Get a query letter & list of agents ready to go? Do you need to find a course to help you market, or create a shortlist of reputable freelance editors? Whatever things you believe should be in your headlights, make a list. Order it so what you need to get started on first is at the top.

Do some research. Being a writer means there’s always more for us to learn. Maybe it’s time to research website hosting, play with design tools so you’ll be able to create promotional materials down the road, or find answers to your publishing questions. Summer is a great time to visit new sites, test tools, and find resources that can help you take the next step.

Plan a new story. Summer is the BEST time to dream up new characters, outline a story, or build a fictional world. These are writing bits that are fun, creative, and perfect for smaller pockets of time. Being able to mull everything over, and do some of the important planning, can put you in a great place when it’s time to start writing!

You even have the time and space to decide the best way for your story to start. Having that first scene clear in your mind can make it so much easier to get going when it’s time to write it.

If you are planning to write…

You might want to check out One Stop for Writers. Becca and I have spent years building a powerful toolkit full of resources, the largest show-don’t-tell THESAURUS database anywhere, and a Storyteller’s Roadmap, which guides you step-by-step as you plan, write, and revise.

This can be especially helpful over the summer so you keep track of what comes next at whatever stage you’re in. Find out more.

What are your plans this summer – write, take a break, or something in between?

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Should You Write Over the Summer, or Take a Break? appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

It’s a touchy topic, I know.

On one hand, we may putter a bit as a way ‘into’ writing–getting supplies together, pouring a cup of coffee, and putting a few cookies on standby. Most of us have a pre-writing ritual. But, on the other hand, after we do those things, how many of us suddenly remember something that needs our attention? Maybe, Oh, I forgot to send that email and so we head to the inbox. We send our message, but as we do, see another about a friend’s new book. So, naturally we zip over to Goodreads and add it to our shelf.

You know where this is going. Goodreads leads to Facebook, which leads to Instagram and Tiktok, and boom, an hour’s gone. Maybe more.

Another thing that chews up writing time is the research and brainstorming we need to do. There’s always things to look into for our story, and information for marketing, learning stronger craft, and more.

Finally, there’s the time we waste trying to locate our story planning materials – those characters bios, timelines, notes about the plot, worldbuilding information, and the rest which helps us as we write and revise. These things may be scattered in notebooks, on hard drives, post-its, etc. and every time we need to look something up, it pulls us out of the writing flow. Sometimes by the time we find it, we’ve lost track of what we had planned to say.

So…how do we get lost time back?

By changing our habits & process a touch so writing time is spent doing exactly that: writing. Here are some tweaks that might help you:

Procrastinate…with a timer. If you know it’s your habit to check a few things before you start writing, then give in to it, but set a timer on your phone to limit how long you spend surfing social and handling email.

Schedule time for non-writing tasks. Story planning, researching information to help us write and market, connecting with people on social media, and yes, answering email – it all needs to be done. But if we organize ourselves better, and create designated times for those bits of work, we protect our sit-down-and-write sessions.

Organize our story materials in the same place. It’s true, we can be like birds, storing shiny bits and bobs for our story all over. This happens because as we’re planning, we’re not always in the same place. Sometimes we’re at the computer and things go into a file, other times, ideas hit in the car and we jot down notes on our phone or on the back of a receipt.

Keeping things together means we always know where to go when we need to check something about a character, scan our outline, or remind ourselves of certain story details. Being able to find the information we need quickly is key to getting back to writing and more words each session.

If you’re looking for a way to organize all your story items, check out One Stop for Writers. We just revamped our dashboard, the Workspace. You can create everything for your story there, store it, and when you need to look something up, it auto-sorts everything for you. (Don’t you wish someone would create a button to sort out your actual desk? I do!)

Check it out:

Finally, if you’re procrastinating too often, ask yourself why. Often, we fall into a distraction hole because we’re struggling with the story. When the writing gets hard, our motivation drains away. We’d rather get lost on the internet than face a nasty knot in our manuscript.

Problems don’t fix themselves, so we need to push ourselves to identify what’s wrong, so we can find a solution. Going back to our story materials is often key as they can show us if we’ve planned enough, need to raise the stakes, give a character more depth, add a scene, or something else. TIP: The Storyteller’s Roadmap has a Code Red section to help you fix the most common story problems.

How do you make sure procrastination and disorganization doesn’t derail your writing? I’d love to hear your tips!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post How Much Time Do You Waste as a Writer? appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

This 40-minute recording is packed with great takeaways, and gives you a window into how Becca and I think when it comes to characters, psychology, and making sure only the strongest details make it to the page. It will be available until January 8th, so we hope you get a moment before then to watch it!

Need a Last Minute Gift?

We hope you’ll consider one of our bestselling thesaurus guides, or a One Stop for Writers subscription. We love helping writers, and your support allows us to keep doing that, so thank you!

Strengthen Your Description for Stronger Characters & Scenes

Each guide focuses on a specific topic, educates you on how to best use it in your story, and provides you with brainstorming lists to help you describe it with authority. (To see a sample from each book, download our free Show-Don’t-Tell Pro Pack.)

Available in Print, Ebook, and PDF.

VISIT OUR BOOKSTORE

Everything You Need to Create In One Place

Become a powerful storyteller with One Stop for Writers! Angela & Becca have built you the largest show-don’t-tell Thesaurus Database anywhere, intuitive tools to make story planning easier, a Storyteller’s Roadmap that guides you step-by-step as you plan, write, and revise, & much more.

Visit One Stop for Writers

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Writers, Have You Watched This Free Webinar on Reader Engagement? appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

One thing that drives all writers is the desire to create a truly amazing story, one a reader can’t put down or forget.

It’s why we’re always learning to deepen our storytelling skills – we want that next book to be our best one yet.

But the learning curve can be frustrating, and it’s hard when so many things are competing for our time. Becca and I know this first hand as we’ve been studying story craft for almost 20 years.

We’ve been sharing what we know for a long time now, both here and at One Stop for Writers. Time is precious, and we want every writing session of yours to be a great one. If you only know us by our thesaurus books, you might be surprised to know we’ve built other tools to help writers think like a story expert so every aspect of their story is as strong as it can be.

Character Builder Tool

This tool at One Stop for Writers contains massive characterization databases for personality traits, emotions, skills, motivations, backstory wounds, physical features, occupations, and more, so planning original characters is incredibly easy. Even better, this tool uses psychology to show you how each element or quality you choose will alter how your character thinks and behaves, meaning it will be much easier to write their actions and responses in ways that line up with who they are.

Did we mention the Character Builder also identifies key details as you brainstorm and builds a character arc blueprint for you? See this tool in action >>

Story Map, Scene Maps, and Timeline Tools

Every writer has their own process when it comes to planning a story or novel. Some prefer to fully outline a story tip to toe so they know exactly which events they are writing towards, and see how plot and character arc work together. Story Maps is great for this, especially as it helps you navigate story structure so you end up with a strong story foundation. Visit Story Maps >>

Scene Maps look at planning at the scene level, which can be great both for micro-planning and diagnosing what’s not quite working in your novel. This tool shows you all the major elements a scene should have, and then you can make quick notes about each scene, stringing together as many as you like.

The scene cards are moveable, and come in two versions so you can choose the terminology that fits you best: Formal Scene Maps >> and Informal Scene Maps >>

Finally, for Pantsers who prefer less planning, we have the Timeline Tool, which is great for jotting down ideas about possible scenes without structuring them too much.

Like Scene Maps, the cards can be moved around, so play with the order as you storyboard ideas, track events like a series of murders or stops on a character’s quest, and more. Check out the Timeline Tool >>

WorldBuilding Surveys

Real-world or not, every story has a foundational “where” and it’s up to you to know this reality inside and out, whether it’s Middle Earth or Chicago.

We created choose-your-own surveys where you drag questions to answer about your story’s where, creating a custom survey. Putting thought into the cities, people, places, government, travel methods, climate, magic, and other key details etc. will help you write settings with authenticity and avoid logic problems that could pull readers out of the story. Find out more >>

Show-Don’t-Tell Database

Ideas come to life through description, and the more focus and meaningful the detail, the better readers can imagine what’s happening to the characters they’ve come to care about. But it’s all about choosing the right details, ones that work hard in your story.

Our show-don’t-tell THESAURUS is the largest of its kind, supplying you with non-stop ideas on how to showcase your characters, locations, and story events so readers feel part of each scene and experience. Explore the THESAURUS database >>

Storyteller’s Roadmap

With so many story elements to juggle–plot, pacing, characters, theme, symbolism, arc, dialogue, subtext, story structure and more–getting a novel from that first idea to a publish-ready novel is a huge undertaking. In fact, many writers stop before a story is complete because they got lost along the way, felt stuck, or believed they couldn’t get the story to where it needed to be.

The Storyteller’s Roadmap is the cure for unfinished novels because it guides writers step-by-step through planning, writing, and revising so they always know what to focus on, and have the tools, resources, and knowledge to get past any difficulty or struggle. Visit the Storyteller’s Roadmap >>

Templates, Worksheets, and Generators

Some writers prefer Templates and Worksheets to help launch their imagination and focus on one thing at a time. We’ve put together some innovative ones that go further than what you might typically see elsewhere.

And if you need an extra brainstorming nudge, the Idea Generator can help you round out a character with a secret or hobby, give you ideas for plot complications, suggest story stakes, and more.

Tip Sheets & Check List Database

Taking a story from good to great is done when we optimize everything we can. Our Tip Sheet Database is packed with ways to improve your story and troubleshoot problems. Come download a few – no subscription needed >>

Is It Time to Try Something New?

All of these tools can be found at One Stop for Writers, so if you’d like to try any of them out, activate the free trial and see if these are a game-changer for you. But if you already have a process that works and feel you have no real struggles on the writing front, keep doing what you’re doing now, because it’s clearly working for you!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Game-Changing Creative Tools for New & Advanced Writers appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

For writers, mindset is everything. It can’t be understated – having a positive attitude and strong self-belief keeps us focused and motivated. It sustains us during the long road to a publish-ready story.

Writing is hard work, and unfortunately life doesn’t always make it easy. Hardship and strain can sap our energy, and with everything going on in the world today following on the heels of a difficult past two years, many are reaching their limits as to what they can manage.

So when our mental tank is empty, how do we get to a place where we’re excited to write?

This is where there’s good news for anyone living in the Northern Hemisphere, because spring is here, and whether we consciously think about it or not, the seasons impact our mood and mindset. We make certain associations with each season, and in spring, these associations can be leveraged to boost our energy levels, creativity, and outlook.

Using seasonal symbolism to shift your mindset

Winter acts as a long sleep, with most of us content to hibernate a bit. We slow down, hole up inside, and wait out colder temperatures with plenty of snacks, blankets, and tea. And after a long year, we’re in need of that rest. But when spring comes, it’s the wake-up hit we need, bringing an abundance of earthy smells, green shoots, and sunlight to warm our bones.

This is our cue to pull back the metaphorical blanket and look ahead with fresh eyes. We’re naturally more curious, expectant, and energized during this part of the calendar year.

Spring is a time of new perspectives, fresh starts, and blank pages

Spring brims with symbolism that represents growth, renewal, healing, and hope. It reminds us what’s possible, and ignites our excitement to discover our own potential. This can offset lower moods and help us push back negativity.

If we embrace the idea of a new beginning, our mindset recalibrates. We can view the future more clearly and think about what our creative goals are, and that motivates us to get going on them. Maybe we will decide to dive back into a WIP with renewed vigor, start something new, or even switch gears and experiment a bit.

Want to use the symbolism of spring to full advantage? Here are four tips.

1) Think about what you need right now

If it’s been a challenging few weeks (months, years) and you’re feeling the strain, the first order of the day is to consider what you need, and how creativity can help strengthen you. Take some time to think about what you find energizing. If it’s reading, read. If it’s writing, write. And if you need to take a break from social media, certain responsibilities, or something else, give yourself space and grace to do that. It’s okay!

2) Start small

When the calendar turns to a new page, many set big, audacious goals in hopes of it being a productive year. This works well for some, but for others, it can paralyze them because here they are now, a few months in, and those goals seem too big to achieve. Spring is a great time to reassess what you want to accomplish, and possibly reset your goals to something more manageable.

And whatever those goals are, it’s important to break them down into achievable steps. Being successful in small increments is what keeps us moving forward and feeling good about our progress.

Think about what you want to accomplish this year, and then focus on the first step. For example…

If you want to write a new story, start by getting to know the main character.
If you want to revise a novel, start with your first pages and follow a revision plan.
If you want to try a new genre, read a few books first.
If you want to query a novel, start by researching agents or learn about writing queries.
If you want to self-publish, deepen your understanding of the steps ahead.
And if you’re just trying to get comfortable with writing, read this.

3) Try something new

Spring is a great time to shake things up, and when we do, it can free up our imagination and our spirits. Stories come in different sizes and shapes, so if a break from your usual projects will help, why not fool around a bit? Step outside your genre box, or try a different type of story. If you write short stories, try a novel, or if you write novels, experiment with flash fiction, a drabble, or try fan fiction for fun.

But if you are firm on the length you like, there are other ways to experiment, like changing up the type of plot in your next story. If you need ideas, download this Save the Cat Plot Types List.

4) Explore what works and evolve your toolkit

The resources we keep close to hand have a big impact on our success, but as we evolve as writers, we may need to adjust our writing toolkit. As we learn, we realize we need more help in certain areas. Here are a few places to look for help.

Find other writers. We can learn a lot from others because everyone has different strengths and experiences. Getting feedback on your writing, advice on what to do, and having others to be accountable to are all great reasons to get involved in a writing community.

Expand your reading library. With so many terrific writing guides out there, it’s hard to know where to start. Here are some of our favorite writing guides, but this list and this one are both great, too. Or browse Amazon’s bestselling list for writing guides. (Affiliate link)

Look for new tools to help you. We’re very lucky in that there are so many resources out there to help us plan, write, revise, publish, and market. No matter what you need help with, you can find tools to help you. Here are the sites I recommend the most to writers – a must-bookmark!

If spring has you energized to try something new…

Now’s a good time to head over to One Stop for Writers. You can activate a free trial and use it to build a new character, plot a new story, brainstorm a new world, or use the Storyteller’s Roadmap to see what the next step is for you in writing your current novel.

Now, one last great thing about spring? Easter chocolate is on sale (you know, in case you need to replenish your stockpile of writerly rewards!)

Spring is reminding you of your potential, so go make something amazing!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post How Writers Can Turn the Page This Spring appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

“There’s no such thing as writer’s block!”

No doubt you’ve heard this myth before.

Worse, you may have believed it.

And that’s rarely a good thing, as it tends to keep you where you are—in that stuck place you dare not call writer’s block.

Myth: There’s No Such Thing as Writer’s Block

“There’s no such thing as writer’s block,” says writer Leigh Shulman. “It’s an excuse.  Your way of telling yourself you have a reason for not writing.”

You’ll find a wide variety of writers echoing this same sentiment. Whenever I heard it, I worried. I didn’t want to be one of “those” writers.

“The secret about writer’s block is that it’s an indulgence,” writes Amy Alkon for Psychology Today. “…The way you end so-called ‘writer’s block’ is simply by sitting down to write—’blackening pages,’ as Leonard Cohen called it.”

Lazy! Undisciplined! We hear it again and again. Stop coddling yourself. Sit down and write!

I vowed to do just that. I wouldn’t be weak. I would be a strong, productive writer.

No writer’s block here.

Then along came my third novel, The Beached Ones. And it humbled me in a hurry.

My Novel Taught Me All About Writer’s Block

Draft after draft, I came up against a wall. No matter how hard I tried or how many hours I put in, I could not figure out how to get past the midpoint of that novel.

Now understand: I was no newbie to the mid-novel struggle. I had gone through it with my other two published novels, but never to this extent.

I bought books. I went to conferences. I talked to award-winning writers. I sketched out the plot. I outlined the chapters. I examined each of the character’s inner and outer motivations.

I did everything you should do when experiencing writer’s block—things that before had led to a breakthrough—and nothing helped.

It was frustrating, to say the least.

I looked writer’s block squarely in the eye and withered. So much for strength and discipline. They weren’t helping me at all.

My Cure for Writer’s Block

I finally had to admit that I was suffering a bad case of writer’s block.

Oh, the shame!

I’ve since learned that other writers—much as they may lecture about there being no such thing as writer’s block—just have a slightly different definition of it.

Says Schulman: “Here’s the thing: Every writer who has ever existed feels stuck at some point. That’s why I say there’s no such thing as writer’s block because it’s part of the writing process.”

Oh. So it is writer’s block. You’re just calling it something else.

And that something else is comforting, isn’t it? Shulman is assuring us that everyone experiences being stuck now and then. Relax. It’s normal.

But I couldn’t relax. The story sat in the back of my mind bugging me day in and day out.

So I kept trying. And now, looking back, I can say that is my solution to writer’s block that I want to share with you: keep trying.

It is the key to finally breaking through.

The Key to Ending Writer’s Block

What does it mean to keep trying?

Don’t Give Up

First of all, don’t give up on your story. I thought about it many times, but looking back, I’m really glad I didn’t. (The book is releasing soon, after all!)

Keep the Story In Mind

Second, keep the story in mind.

Personally, I didn’t have any choice. The story wouldn’t leave me alone. It may be the same for you. But it also helps to find other ways to keep it at the forefront of your thoughts.

Everything I did along the way—starting over, reading books, attending workshops, outlining, researching, sketching, etc.—helped keep the story in my brain. My brain, in turn, continued to work on a creative solution to my writer’s block.

You don’t want to forget what was happening in your story. Even if you’re not writing new scenes and chapters, it’s important to keep the characters alive in your head in some way that you continue to “live” with them in their world.

Find a Way to Think Outside the Box

This is what finally led to a breakthrough for me.

It was as simple as going to a movie.

I went to see Girl on a Train starring Emily Blunt. (Love her!) I was fascinated by how the story was told.

For much of the movie, the main character didn’t know what had happened to put her into her current situation.

It was something I had never explored before: what if my hero was in the dark as to what had happened?

Voila! Breakthrough.

That single idea was enough to send me back to the keyboard. And telling the story from that point of view solved my problem.

No more writer’s block. I sailed through to the end, put the book through several more rewrites, submitted it, and landed a publisher on—get this—April Fool’s Day, 2020.

For you, it’s likely to be something else (besides a movie) that allows you to break through your writer’s block. Maybe it’s an image you see, something you hear, or something someone says.

Here’s a tip: Usually, breakthroughs happen when we step away from our usual routines. Do something different, put yourself in a new environment, and allow your creative brain to play. That’s the best way to inspire it to come up with a solution.

See Writer’s Block as a Gift

Looking back, I can see that writer’s block gave me a gift—it forced me to come up with a more creative way to tell the story. It also taught me that you can be seriously blocked and still succeed in telling a good story if you’re willing to stick with it.

Shulman agrees that sometimes, being blocked can be a blessing:

“When you’re stuck, it’s often because you’re doing something you’ve never done before. That means you’re stretching yourself as a writer. You’re improving, and soon enough you will breakthrough to a new level. You’ll be a stronger, more agile, better writer.”

Writer’s block? It’s no myth, but if it’s plaguing you, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

Instead, celebrate. Welcome your confusion. Allow your frustration. Bang your head against the wall and keep going.

If the story matters, you’ll find a way.

Note: The Beached Ones is forthcoming from CamCat books in June 2022. Get your FREE excerpt here, or preorder now! (Links and book trailer here.) Get FREE chapters of Colleen’s books for writers here.

COLLEEN M. STORY - Resident Writing Coach

Colleen M. Story is a novelist, freelance writer, writing coach, and speaker with over 20 years in the creative writing industry. In addition to writing several award-winning novels, Colleen’s series of popular success guides, Your Writing Matters, Writer Get Noticed! and Overwhelmed Writer Rescue, have all been recognized for their distinction.

Colleen offers personalized coaching plans tailored to meet your needs, and frequently serves as a workshop leader and motivational speaker, where she helps attendees remove mental and emotional blocks and tap into their unique creative powers. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with Colleen below. Free chapters | Master Writer Mindset

The post The One Popular Myth Writers Believe About Writer’s Block appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Every December we put together a gift-giving list for writers for those of you wanting to pick up a little something for critique partners & book buds, or to source ideas for your personal Holiday Wish List.

This year, we’re doing this early. Quite early. Why, you ask?

Supply Chain Issues

You may have heard whispers about paper shortages, printers being backed up with orders, and delivery snags. Well, this isn’t some sort of urban legend. Unfortunately, the pandemic has caused havoc with the supply chain and word is, we all need to brace for some challenges as the holidays ramp up. (If you’d like to read more about this problem, Jane Friedman talks about the supply chain issues that may impact writers this Christmas and Writers in the Storm looks at strategies for authors to work through these challenges.)

By posting our list early, we’re hoping you’ll get a jump on ordering print books for the holidays and won’t be affected by any supply chain problems. Let’s dig in!

Angela & Becca’s Book Recommendations

When it comes to suggesting books as gifts, the hard part is narrowing it down. But over the years we’ve come across some real gems you may want to pick up. (May contains affiliate links because heck, they help pay the bills.)

Books to Help Writers Grow Their Creative Skills

Luckily there’s a ton of great books out there to help us strengthen our writing skills. Personally I am a fan of ones that tackle a specific topic and explore it in depth. If you’re like me, check these out.

Blueprint for a Book is written by one of the smartest women I know – Jennie Nash. She’s helped thousands of writers craft powerful fiction using her blueprint method. Jennie drills down to what makes a story meaningful and shows writers how to bring key elements together to build a solid foundation. The result? Writers know what to write and why, and can focus on delivering a story hardwired to create an emotional impact.

The Anatomy of Prose is a terrific book if you feel your storytelling is solid but maybe your writing isn’t quite as strong as it could be at the sentence level. Add a ton of ideas to your writerly bag of tricks and laugh as you do so as Sacha’s bawdy humor is legendary. And tippity-tip, while you’re picking up this book, snag her Heroes and Villain books, too.

On Writing really doesn’t need a summary from me because, well, it’s Stephen King. That’s really all that needs to be said. I loved this book because it shows where his life experiences and fiction collides, and it’s full of good, writerly advice to carry with you. A staple for all writers.

Boundless Creativity is for writers wanting to let go of self-doubt, impostor’s syndrome, and just move forward and create. This book takes a holistic approach to writing, and I don’t think you can read it and not come away unchanged. It will help you get in touch with why you need to create and show you how to let go of the mental blocks holding you back.

Writing Your Story’s Theme is one on my pick-it-up list. K.M. Weiland is a master of writing craft and all her books are an auto-buy. Theme is something that can seem like an afterthought for some writers, not something to think too hard about. And as Katie herself states, “Theme is the heart, the meaning, the point. Nothing that important should be overlooked.” My gut says if you want to level up your fiction, you should read this book.

The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Vol 1) released in October and the response to it has been huge (don’t tell The Emotion Thesaurus, but some have said this may be their favorite guide yet). So if you want to write conflict that targets your character’s soft spots and creates an impact, this is the book for you. In addition to master-level advice on leveraging conflict and tension, it showcases over 100 conflict scenarios and supplies endless possibilities for adapting each.

Now might also be a good time to complete your collection if you’re missing any of our show-don’t-tell thesaurus guides. So if your bookshelf needs a rainbow to spruce it up, or you want to be a writer friend’s superhero, you can find all our books here, in print, digital, and PDF.

Books to Help with the Business Side

Becca and I have four businesses between us, and most days, I’m not sure how we juggle them all. I do know we’d be a twitching mess if not for our need to consume education wherever we can. Here are some of our favorite reads.

Start with Why is all about the power of authenticity and how to inspire others, and it’s an amazing book. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, success means building connections with readers and influencers that are meaningful and genuine. People love a good read, but it’s an author’s authenticity and passion for what they do that converts readers into fans.

Drive is all about understanding what motivates people. It may be I got more from this book as I work with others and knowing what makes them happy and productive is key to retaining good help, but I also came to understand more about myself and how to be happier & more self-motivated. This can be a tough business and motivation must come from within.

Author Branding is a great how-to book that helps writers define their brand and use social media to showcase it effectively. So, if the whole idea of putting yourself out there gives you hives, pick up this book. It’s easy to understand and is filled with great advice and helpful tips.

Wide for the Win: I’ll round things off and suggest a read that looks at going WIDE with your books, leveraging all platforms for selling your book rather than focusing exclusively on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. Mark Leslie Lefebvre has vast experience at all levels of publishing and knows a ton on selling fiction for a living, so you may wish to add this book to your bookshelf.

Books to Help Writers Flex Their Marketing Muscles

The 1-Page Marketing Plan is aimed at business owners, but here’s a secret…your writing is a business. Sometimes looking outside the publishing industry can lead to a fresh perspective and deeper insight into marketing in general. While I used this more for our SaaS business, you might find it helpful to go through this book and create a 1-page marketing plan to identify important components like identifying your audience, messaging, and what you want to accomplish.

Copywriting Secrets is a great primer on understanding how certain language choices will lead to stronger sales. There wasn’t a lot here I didn’t know (but I read a lot of marketing books), but this one has great coverage, so it’s a good all-in-one source. Just remember to always be authentic and use your best judgment. If your sales copy feels blatant or manipulative, people will notice.

Newsletter Ninja is another one on my “to buy” list, because it’s one I see referred over and over. And sure, I know some say email is dead and it’s all about TikTok, Facebook, and the Gram, but you can’t argue with the intimacy of a personal readership. Email subscribers are often the people most invested in what you write, so you want to cultivate those relationships. The key is knowing your readers well and generating engagement, so I look forward to upping my game in the newsletter arena with this book.

What Books Are on Your Wish List?

Is there a book you’ve heard good things about, and you’re hoping it will end up in your hot little hands this holiday season? Let us know in the comments so we can check it out!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Bookish Gifts for Writers (TIP: This Year, Shop Early) appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

NaNoWriMo is a great time to lock up your internal editor and let creativity take the wheel.

But unfortunately for most writers, it can be a time of disappointment, because while hundreds of thousands of folks step up to the NaNoWriMo plate, near as I can tell, only around 15% actually finish. And that’s a big bowl of sadness, if you ask me, especially as it’s often preventable.

Two Big Reasons Why Writers Quit

1. Sometimes life fish-slaps them in the face. An emergency crops up, or something unexpected comes along, and their time needs to be reallocated. Other times, already-overloaded writers decide to participate and discover they just can’t manage it along with everything else.

2. The writer loses track of where the story should go. When writers struggle too long with the “what happens now” question, they lose that forward momentum, start to doubt themselves, and fall out of love with the story. As those calendar dates pass with lackluster word count totals, catching up begins to feel impossible, or the story becomes too much of a mosh pit mess. So, they give up.

Most fall into this second category, but this doesn’t have to be anyone’s fate. So how do we avoid it? We prep, of course!

Prepping is for Plotters & Panters

No matter where you are on the plotter-or-pantser spectrum, you want to sit down on November 1st and feel good about having your fingers on the keyboard. The heady excitement of NaNoWriMo won’t last if the words dry up, so it’s best to make sure you’ve done everything you can to feel ready to create.

The two big types of NaNo prep we want to think about are Life Prep and Story Prep. Taking care of these in October is a super smart move.

The Ultimate NaNoWriMo Prep Guide

If you’d like some help getting ready, Becca and I have created an Ultimate NaNoWriMo Prep Guide for you!

This special guide looks at how to prep your writing space, NaNo-proof your life, and plan helpful story elements so you are ready for November 1st!

And don’t worry, Pantsers – our planning recommendations won’t hem you in. And Plotters, you’ll have suggestions that suit your process so you can plan as much as you need to write with confidence.

This guide is truly for Plotters, Pantsers, and everyone in between, so check it out!

Is One Stop for Writers in your NaNoWriMo Toolkit?

One Stop for Writers has a library full of powerful storytelling tools including the Storyteller’s Roadmap, a step-by-step writing plan to get you from that first idea to a publish-ready manuscript.

In the WRITING portion of the roadmap you’ll find a CODE RED section that will help with practically any struggle you might encounter, so subscribers, if you write yourself into a corner, get stuck in the middle, or you think you should quit, please check the Roadmap. A CODE RED solution can help you get you back on track!

50,000 words is within your reach.
You’ve got this, and we’re cheering you on!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post NaNoWriMo Prep for Plotters & Pantsers appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

For those new to RWC, this is a program where we feature writing experts here at the blog through a series of four posts scattered throughout the year. We bring in a mix of expertise, so you benefit from different voices and perspectives.

Each year we have some new coaches and some returning, so let me first bid goodbye to the wonderful James Scott Bell and Alli Sinclair. We greatly appreciate all you have shared with us. A special thank you to James (Jim) who’s been with the RWC program since the very beginning. It’s been so terrific having you on the blog!

And of course this also means some new RWC faces to introduce!

Both these women have bucket loads of knowledge and experience to share, so without further ado…

Lisa Poisso, who specializes in working with new and emerging authors, abhors the idea that writing a novel can sometimes feel like throwing darts wearing a blindfold. A classically trained dancer, her approach to creativity is grounded in structure, form, and technique as the doorway to freedom of movement. Via her innovative Plot Accelerator and Story Incubator coaching, she fast-tracks authors through story theory and development in just weeks while facilitating an author-paced “developmental edit in a bottle.”

She holds a journalism degree and has decades of professional experience as an award-winning magazine editor and journalist, content writer, and corporate communications manager. In addition to story coaching, she is a developmental and line editor, aided by an industrious team of retired greyhounds. Her popular Baker’s Dozen newsletter shares 13 fresh resources for emerging authors every month. Find Lisa at LisaPoisso.com, download her free Manuscript Prep guide, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Sue Coletta is an award-winning crime writer and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Feedspot and Expertido.org named her Murder Blog as “Best 100 Crime Blogs on the Net” (2018-2021). She’s also a member of the Kill Zone (Writer’s Digest “101 Best Websites for Writers” 2013-2021). 

Sue lives with her husband and two spoiled guinea pigs in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire and writes two psychological thriller series (Tirgearr Publishing) and true crime/narrative nonfiction (Rowman & Littlefield Group, Inc.). Sue appeared on the Emmy award-winning true crime series, Storm of Suspicion. She’ll be a panelist at 2021 New England Crime Bake, and will be teaching an advanced education course on serial killers for Foothills Regional (CT) via Zoom. Sue is happy to discuss murder and mayhem all across social land, including at her website, and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

These coaches are joined by returning masterminds…

Marissa Graff has been a freelance editor and reader for literary agent Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary Agency for over five years. In conjunction with Angelella Editorial, she offers developmental editing, author coaching, and more. She specializes in middle-grade and young-adult fiction, but also works with adult fiction. Marissa feels if she’s done her job well, a client should probably never need her help again because she’s given them a crash-course MFA via deep editorial support and/or coaching. Find out more about Marissa here.

Colleen M. Story inspires writers to overcome modern-day challenges and find creative fulfillment. Her latest release, Your Writing Matters, helps writers overcome self-doubt and determine once and for all where writing fits in their lives. Her previous release, Writer Get Noticed!, was the gold-medal winner in the Reader’s Favorite Book Awards. Overwhelmed Writer Rescue was named Book by Book Publicity’s Best Writing/Publishing Book in 2018, and her novel, Loreena’s Gift, was a Foreword Reviews’ INDIES Book of the Year Awards winner, among others. Find out more about Colleen here.

Lucy V. Hay aka Bang2write is a script editor, author and blogger who helps writers. Lucy is the script editor and advisor on numerous UK features and shorts. She has also been a script reader for over 15 years, providing coverage for indie prodcos, investors, screen agencies, producers, directors and individual writers.

Publishing as LV Hay, Lucy’s debut crime novel, The Other Twin, is out now and is being adapted by Agatha Raisin producers Free@Last TV. Her second crime novel, Do No Harm, was a finalist in the 2019 Dead Good Book Readers’ Awards. Her next title is Never Have I Ever for Hodder Books. You can find out more about Lucy here.

Christina Delay is the hostess of Cruising Writers and an award-winning psychological suspense author. She also writes award-winning supernatural suspense for young adult and adult readers under the name Kris Faryn.

Fun fact: Faryn means ‘to wander or travel.’ Since that’s exactly what she loves to do, you’ll find juicy tidbits on exotic and interesting places in all her books! Find out more about Christina here.

Jami Gold, after muttering writing advice in tongues, decided to become a writer and put her talent for making up stuff to good use. Fueled by chocolate, she shares writing tools, presents workshops, and offers insights on her blog about the craft, business, and life of writing. Jami is the winner of the 2015 National Readers’ Choice Award in Paranormal Romance for the novel Ironclad Devotion in her Mythos Legacy series. Read more about Jami here.

September C. Fawkes can scare people with her enthusiasm for writing and reading. She worked as an assistant to a New York Times bestselling author and writing instructor, and now does freelance editing at FawkesEditing.com. She has edited manuscripts of bestselling and beginning writers. She has published poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction articles, and her award-winning writing tips have appeared in classrooms, conferences, and on Grammar Girl.

She holds an English degree, has served as the managing editor of The Southern Quill literary journal, and had the pleasure of writing her thesis on the worldwide appeal of Harry Potter. Read more about September here.

Lisa Hall-Wilson is a writing teacher and award-winning writer and author. She’s the author of Method Acting For Writers: Learn Deep Point Of View Using Emotional Layers. Her blog Beyond Basics For Writers explores all facets of the popular writing style deep point of view and offers practical tips for writers. She is also the founder of the Deep Dive Author Club which offers a five-week online masterclass on writing in deep point of view and an ongoing membership class with critiques and support. Find out more about Lisa here.

Here’s to another year of amazing posts. As always, if there’s a topic you’d like help with, feel free to add it to the comments below!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

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