As authors and audiences have diversified, it might be time to look at the standards for formatting non-English words and explore some of our options.

Read More
How Should We Format Non-English Words?

A character’s backstory can be mined to add more emotion to our stories, such as by layering how their backstory’s defining moment affected them.

Read More
Backstory: Avoid Info Dumping by Making It Essential: Part 3 — Guest: Kris Kennedy

Even if we’ve read cover-design advice before, there’s always more to learn. Here are a few insights from Renee Wittman we might not have thought of before.

Read More
Cover Design: 4 Tips to Keep in Mind — Guest: Renee Wittman

Plotters might find any kind of pantsing hard to understand, but even pantsers can struggle with pantsing our characters’ development, as that process comes with a different set of problems from developing our plots.

Read More
How Do Pantsers Develop Characters?

A recent post by Diana Hurwitz explored the nature of antagonists in romance novels. Today, we’re taking a deeper look at our options for antagonists, especially in the romance genre, and how we can avoid creating unhealthy relationships.

Read More
Thursday Thoughts: The Antagonist Role in Romance

It’s time for another post as a Resident Writing Coach over at Writers Helping Writers, and this time we’re talking about plot holes, especially the kind that sneak into our stories.

Read More
Are Sneaky Plot Holes Lurking in Your Story?

Writers are often a neurotic, self-doubting lot, so many of us long for validation. However, any validation is only temporary, and the best we can do is try to develop a healthy relationship with those desires.

Read More
Writing Worries: Fighting the One-Hit-Wonder Problem

Recently, the U.S. election insanity dragged in the romance genre. Uh, wait, what? Some memes have claimed women shouldn’t be mad about the words used in Trump’s bragging because…Fifty Shades of Grey. Let’s explore this idea—without politics. *smile*

Read More
When Fiction Is Better Behaved than Reality