Angela Ackerman's Blog: Writers Helping Writers, page 85

Conflict Thesaurus Entry: Being Unable to Save Everyone

Conflict is very often the magic sauce for generating tension and turning a ho-hum story into one that rivets readers. As such, every scene should contain a struggle of some kind. Maybe it’s an internal tug-of-war having to do with difficult decisions, morals, or temptations. Or it possibly could come from an external source���other characters, unfortunate circumstances, or the force of nature itself.

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It’s our hope that this thesaurus will help you come up with meaningful and fitting conflict options for your stories. Think about what your character wants and how best to block them, then choose a source of conflict that will ramp up the tension in each scene.

Conflict: Being Unable to Save Everyone

Category: Increased Pressure and Ticking Clocks, Failures and Mistakes, Duty and Responsibilities, Loss of Control, No-Win Situations

Examples:
Trying to rescue family members from a burning building
Arriving on the scene of an accident where multiple people have critical injuries and being unable to get to them all
Rescuing people who are drowning after a boat capsizes
An opportunity to liberate people in captivity but being unable to free everyone
Having a transport which can save some from a war zone or other imminent threat, but having limited seating
Sniping from a distance to support ground troops, but being unable to take out every enemy
Having two threats happening at the same time, and being forced to choose one to respond to (two bombs needing to be diffused, synchronized attacks happening on two different battle fronts, etc.
Coming across multiple people with the same illness, condition, or poisonings, and having only enough medicine or antidotes to help some

Minor Complications:
Remaining objective when faced with having to choose who to save when there are people the character knows
Having to choose between people the character cares about equally
Becoming paralyzed by the enormity of the situation and inactivity causing further challenges or risk
Having to reason with others who are involved and try to get everyone working together to save as many as possible
Arguments with others over who to save and why (if the threat isn’t immediate, leaving no time to think, only act)
Increased risk and danger to the character and those they are trying to save as the clock ticks down
Unshakable guilt and remorse
Damaged relationships and the anger of others due to the choices one made

Potentially Disastrous Results:
Making a decision too late (and therefor being unable to save someone, or possibly anyone)
Being injured in the process or falling victim to the same condition (being captured while trying to liberate others, inhaling toxic fumes while helping others escape, etc.)
Being held criminally responsible for the situation when the character did their best (a doctor being sued by the family of someone who was not attended to during a crisis, for example)
Being blamed or used as a scapegoat by others trying to use the tragedy to their advantage
Being cast out or shunned (by one’s family, community, etc.) for choosing to save certain people over others
Suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the aftermath (reliving the trauma)

Possible Internal Struggles (Inner Conflict):
Knowing they acted as fast as they could but feeling guilt over being unable to save anyone
Beating themselves up in the aftermath for the split second choices they made in the moment of crisis yet knowing they could not have done more
Knowing they made the right choice over who to save but being unable to voice it due to fear of repercussion
Being angry at themselves for not having better foresight (not being better prepared for the event, not having more training, not seeing how cause would lead to effect in the first place)
Guilt and shame if their own actions unknowingly contributed (a doorman saving building tenants from a fire only to discover that the person who started it accessed the building through a door they themselves forgot to lock)
Feeling terrible for the victims but also relief at being spared

People Who Could Be Negatively Affected: family and friends, the people involved in the situation (especially the victims), bystanders who have to live with the trauma of what they witnessed

Resulting Emotions: anguish, conflicted, connectedness, defeat, defensiveness, defiant, depressed, despair, desperation, determination, devastation, flustered, grief, guilt, horror, inadequate, panic, powerlessness, rage, regret, self-loathing, shame, terror, tormented, worthlessness

Personality Flaws that May Make the Situation Worse: cowardly, disorganized, flaky, forgetful, impulsive, indecisive, insecure, irresponsible, perfectionist, scatterbrained, self-destructive, selfish, unintelligent, weak-willed

Positive Outcomes: 
A greater appreciation for life and what’s truly important
A close call and brush with tragedy causing the character to reevaluate their own relationships, and hanging onto grudges
Realizing life is precious and deciding to live life free of regrets
The character re prioritizing their life so what’s most important comes first, living for today
Becoming more able to share emotion with others, ceasing to hold back
The situation leading to a drive to become more skilled or knowledgeable to be more prepared in the future

If you’re interested in other conflict options, you can find them here.

Need More Descriptive Help?

This conflict thesaurus is still being developed, but if you would like to access our entire descriptive collection (14 unique thesauri and growing), visit our main site, One Stop for Writers.

The post Conflict Thesaurus Entry: Being Unable to Save Everyone appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

Scrivener and One Stop for Writers: Perfect Tools For Crafting Powerful Scenes

Many of you know that Angela and I are super excited about One Stop for Writers and how it simplifies the writing process for authors. So when we get notes from writers going on about One Stop’s tools…well. Icing on the cake. Rodney Buxton recently reached out to let us know how much he appreciated the Scene Maps tool and the ability to export his One Stop tools to Scrivener. He was so excited, he asked if he could write a post about it. So of course we said yes…

For my first novel, I took the pantster approach. It worked, I finished the book, but it took forever. I wrote scenes I didn���t need; I wrote myself down dead-end paths. I quickly realized this wasn���t the way for me.

For my second novel, I wrote an outline of scenes with one sentence to describe the basic action. This worked much better, but there were still scenes I needed to add, a lot of thinking I had to do about why the characters were doing things, and what would move the story in the right direction. Fast forward to my discovery of One Stop for Writers��� Scene Maps.

Map out Your Scenes

There are two mapping tools, so I tried one of each. You can capture similar information in either, but the Formal Scene Map broke down into more detail and allowed me to identify the motivations for the scene. That, to me, was important���to know why the scene exists and what the characters want to achieve. If you feel both versions require too much information, the Timeline tool lets you enter a title and description with nothing else.

I started by adding scenes that moved the plot along. Initially, I just added the scene with the title and the primary emotion. I didn���t fill in any of the other boxes. This was just to get the ideas down and see where the story was going. 

Once I had all the scenes I thought I would need, I went back to the first one and entered the outer and inner motivation. 

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Here I referred constantly to the story map and character profiles I had already created. I took my time to ensure the storyline moved along logically and the motivations made sense. I also realized several times that I needed to add a new scene for the motivations to make sense. This is easy to do���just click the ���New Scene��� button, type the title, and move it to where you want it on the map.

Next, I tackled the outer conflict, inner conflict, and stakes for each scene. Conflict drives the story forward. Without it, nothing happens. What���s at stake goes hand in hand with the conflict, so it made sense to work on these three together. What���s helpful about this tool is that the information doesn���t have to be completed in order. Sometimes I knew the inner conflict and used that to figure out the outer conflict. Or I knew exactly what was at stake, which led me to the conflict.

Finally, I tackled emotional state. This could be done when choosing the primary emotion for a scene, but having all the other information beforehand allowed me to better define what the character was feeling. Since it���s a free-form text box, I either wrote a generic statement for the scene or detailed the emotional state for various characters involved. Whatever seemed appropriate. Again, referring to the character profile and emotion-related thesauruses helped build this.

And, presto! I had successfully mapped out a scene that was character-centric, contained all the right ingredients, and kept my story moving in the right direction. 

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At this point, pantsters are probably thinking this is way too much work and even ardent plotters may feel overwhelmed. I can assure you, this takes far less effort and thought than rewriting a scene five times because it doesn���t work, or writing a scene only to find it goes nowhere. It doesn���t take much time. Two days on and off, and I had more information to start with than ever before, even when I had spent weeks planning.

Export Them to Scrivener

At this point I printed the PDF, spread it out on the desk and got ready to write. I opened Scrivener���and my heart sank. All this great information was tied up in a PDF or printed sheets of paper. I���d already written my scenes in One Stop, and I didn���t want to go through that effort again. That���s when I discovered the Export My Data function at One Stop for Writers.

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This allows you to transfer your One Stop data to your own system���or, for Scrivener users, directly to your binder. There are two ways to do this.

OPML Format

On the Export My Data page, select the tools you���d like to export from the OPML column. Then, open Scrivener and navigate to the File menu. Choose Import, then OPML or Mindmap File, and click browse to select that file. Your data will be re-created in your Scrivener binder.

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While this process will take care of exporting your files to Scrivener, it���s not my preferred method. For one thing, the titles of the scenes aren���t used for the files in Scrivener. Also, each piece of text entered in the scene is created as a separate document in the sidebar, which isn���t the result I was looking for. So I���ve found a second method that results in a cleaner export.

TXT Format

Follow the same process above for exporting, but choose the desired files from the TXT column at One Stop. In the downloaded file, you���ll need to make a few format changes, but it only takes a minute. For each scene, replace the ���Point X��� and ���TITLE��� lines with ### (in front of the actual title). Save the file, and that���s it.

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In Scrivener, select the manuscript folder, then click File->Import->Import and split. Select your file, and enter ### in the box at the bottom of the dialog, then click OK.

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That���s it. All your scenes are created and your One Stop text is in the scene’s body rather than separated out into individual files in the sidebar.

Creating scenes that drive the story and push the protagonist through their arc can be challenging. But One Stop���s Scene Mapping tools make the job a lot easier. And if you���re using Scrivener, it���s a simple matter of exporting your data so you can get writing quicker. And isn���t that what we all want?

Want to give these tools a spin as you plan your novel? One Stop for Writers has a Free Trial!



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Rodney is a reformed pantster and an author of paranormal romance involving vibrant vampires. Capital Thirst is his first novel and Beverly Hills Torture will be available in early 2020. You can find him online at Facebook and Twitter.

The post Scrivener and One Stop for Writers: Perfect Tools For Crafting Powerful Scenes appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

Six Steps to Setting Yourself up Financially as a Writer in 2020

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I���ve always loved the energy of a New Year. It���s alive with intentions and goals and the buzz of a fresh start. This New Year feels even more special because it���s the start of a new decade too. With that in mind, do you know where you want to be in ten years? What do you think 2030 will see you doing? 

I spent years dreaming of writing full-time but it wasn���t until I developed a money mindset that the dream of quitting my day job became a reality. This post outlines some of the tips and tricks I used to set myself up, which I hope will help you move into the next decade able to make your dreams a reality too.

Tip 1: Know What You Need



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Before you can embark on quitting your job to write full-time you need to know one fundamental figure:

How much money do you need each month in order to survive?

I get asked this question a lot, but no one other than you can answer it. Depending on the cost of living where you are, the amount of bills you have and the amount of debt, that figure will be different for everyone. 

Action: create a spreadsheet with your incomings and outgoings. 

If you don���t want to create one, head to Google���there are plenty of budget templates available there. 

If you do create one, include everything that costs you money. For example:

Utility bills, local taxes, food, insurances, TV licences, Netflix or other subscriptions, internet, sports memberships, childcare, school fees etc.

You should also include potential spending. For example, I go to the local coffee shop once a week to write so I know I need $20 a month to cover that. I also spread the cost of Christmas and summer holidays out over the year by saving each month, so I include that figure too. And, I may or may not give myself a monthly book-buying budget because, you know��� we���re all book addicts here.

Essentially, anything that will cost you money needs to go on the list. Once you���ve got your list, tot it up and see what the monthly figure is. That is the minimum amount of money you need to earn regularly from your writing business before you leave your job.

Tip 2: Lose the Debt

A controversial one, I know. But, the fastest way to leave your job is to need as little as money as possible. The more money you have to earn, the harder it is to reach that figure���especially as a new business owner. Most businesses don���t earn a good profit for the first 2-3 years.

If your monthly bills (including debt) total $3000 a month, that���s a lot harder to earn than if you���ve paid off all your debt and reduced your outgoings and as a result only need $1500 a month.

Before I quit my job, I paid off ��40,000 in student and car loans and fertility treatments. It meant I needed ��800 less each month and that made my monthly figure far easier to reach.

No one���s saying you���re only going to earn $1500 a month from your business forever, but if you want to quit, then the lower the ���must-earn��� value is, the easier it is to achieve. 

Tip 3: Have Savings

I know it���s boring and no one wants to hear it. But trust me, every business will have cash flow issues at some point. 

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Once you leave your day job, you also leave the security of consistent paydays each month. It means you have to be stricter about pulling money out of your business and ensure you have enough to cover bills no matter what date they���re coming out. 

If you do client work too, you have to factor in that sometimes they���ll pay late, and you might need to pay bills in the meantime. Having a pot of cash set aside for this (and also any emergency flat tires, doctor���s appointments, or new tumble dryers) is vital so you don���t put yourself in a financial hole.  

A great book covering this topic is called The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape.  You could also check out Rich Dad���s Cashflow Quadrant by Robert T. Kiyosaki, which is specifically about business and money. 

Tip 4: Separate Bills from Income

If you���ve published a book, are providing a service (or you���re about to), or you have any other form of secondary income, then I implore you to separate out your finances. It���s easy enough to set up another current account. You don���t need a fancy business account when you start, but you do need to separate the business costs from the normal day-to-day cost of living.

Why? Because come the end of the tax year, you���re going to need to go through your spending and income line by line to work out whether you���ve made a loss or a profit. Having it separated from your household bills will make your life an awful lot easier.

Tip 5: Track it All

We���re words people, not numbers people. But this is one set of numbers we all need to track. If numbers scare you, then keep it simple. All you really need are a few columns in a spreadsheet and a habit of putting in your income and outgoings each month.

I have two spreadsheets, an income one and an expenditure one, though if you���re spreadsheet savvy, I���m sure you could amalgamate them. For your spreadsheets, include these basic columns:

Income and any explanatory title you want to give it like Amazon sales, Kobo sales, editing work, etc. Expenditure, and (again) a description of the type of expenditure, like office furniture, software, or stationery.Dates. It���s helpful to keep dates associated with the income or expenditure so you know what tax year it falls into and can find any associated receipts if necessary.



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If you���re more technical, consider using a piece of software. There are lots out there that will pull the transactions from your bank into their software and make the accounting and end-of-year tax assessments super simple. I moved to using Xero this year, but there are lots of other options like QuickBooks and Sage. Carefully read the terms and conditions and check for hidden costs.

Tip 6: Have Multiple Income Streams

Lots of writers want to write all day rather than deal with the business or marketing side. And that���s fine, we all have our preferences. What���s dangerous is to leave yourself with only one income stream���e.g. only book sales. 

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People employed by others generally have more stability than those who are self-employed. But you only have to look at the 2008 financial crash to know that you could be made redundant and lose your income at any time. Which is why, even if you want to write all day, you should protect yourself financially by having other sources of income. If you don���t want to take away from your writing time, then choose passive sources like investments or affiliate income. 

Having multiple sources of income will keep your business stable and ensure that no one source has the power to cripple you if it vanished. Some ideas, if you���re confident and have the right skills:

Editing / critiquingCoaching writersFormattingOrganizing writer events etcPatreon

You could also think about:

Investing in the stock marketInvesting in propertyFreelance consulting back into your old careerUtilizing other skills you might have, like making cakes or sewing, and selling those services  

If you only do a few things this year on the business side of your writing, let it be these. Separating out finances and tracking your income and outgoings are the foundations of any business, creative or otherwise. And who knows, 2030 might see you writing full-time.

Sacha BlackResident Writing Coach

Sacha is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers,��13 Steps To Evil ��� How To Craft A Superbad Villain.��Her blog for writers,��www.sachablack.co.uk, is home to regular writing, marketing and publishing advice sprinkled with dark humour and the occasional bad word. In addition to craft books, she writes YA fantasy. The first two books in her Eden East Novel: Keepers and Victor, are out now. You can find her manning the helm at The Rebel Author Podcast, and on social media:
Twitter �� Facebook �� Instagram �� Pinterest

The post Six Steps to Setting Yourself up Financially as a Writer in 2020 appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

Conflict Thesaurus Entry: Misaligned Goals

Conflict is very often the magic sauce for generating tension and turning a ho-hum story into one that rivets readers. As such, every scene should contain a struggle of some kind. Maybe it’s an internal tug-of-war having to do with difficult decisions, morals, or temptations. Or it possibly could come from an external source���other characters, unfortunate circumstances, or the force of nature itself.

It’s our hope that this thesaurus will help you come up with meaningful and fitting conflict options for your stories. Think about what your character wants and how best to block them, then choose a source of conflict that will ramp up the tension in each scene.

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Conflict: Misaligned Goals

Category: Power struggles, relationship friction, duty and responsibilities

Examples:

One character wants to have a baby while her partner doesn’tOne character wants to get married while the partner doesn’tOne character wants to right a wrong while the other seeks to maintain the status quoOne character seeks growth and improvement while the other just wants to coastThe protagonist is romantically interested in someone who doesn’t feel the same wayBusiness executives who have different goals for their companyOne business partner has altruistic goals while the other is only out for profitAcquaintances enter into conversation with different goals (one wants to be heard and affirmed while the other wants to dominate the exchange)A parent wants to protect or control a child who is pursuing autonomyOne teen pursues a friendship because she wants to develop a relationship while the other person only does so to access an asset

Minor Complications:
Tension in the relationship
Making assumptions about the other person based on their goals (they don’t want kids so they must be selfish, their assertive business tactics mean they’re aggressive and domineering, etc.)
Misunderstandings delaying the decisions that would lead to improvements (forward-thinking business decisions, pursuing self-actualization, etc.)
Not recognizing the root problem (misaligned goals), and getting stuck in the conflict

Potentially Disastrous Results:
Avoiding the issue (to keep the peace), allowing it to fester and grow
The character pushing their agenda to the point of driving away the other person or damaging their own reputation
Being blocked by the other person from doing what’s right or best
Both parties digging in their heels, resulting in a stalemate
The character determining to get their own way regardless of what it takes
Being manipulated, undermined, or sabotaged by the other party to further their goal
The conflict turning personal and irrevocably damaging the relationship
The character backing down even though their goal was the correct one
The relationship being categorized by friction and conflict
Slipping into “roles” (the frugal executive, the selfish spouse, the controlling parent, etc.) that deepen tensions and stymie growth

People Who Could Be Negatively Affected: the party opposing the character’s goal, people who are close to the situation (co-workers, the boss, clients or customers, family members, friends, etc.)

Resulting Emotions: Anger, annoyance, betrayed, bitterness, conflicted, confusion, contempt, defensiveness, determination, disappointment, disbelief, dissatisfaction, doubt, frustration, hurt, impatience, inadequate, indignation, insecurity, intimidated, irritation, powerlessness, reluctance, remorse, resentment, unappreciated, uncertainty

Personality Flaws that May Make the Situation Worse: Confrontational, controlling, greedy, gullible, indecisive, know-it-all, manipulative, melodramatic, oversensitive, paranoid, resentful, selfish, stubborn

Possible Internal Struggles (Inner Conflict):
Growing frustration
Feeling personally slighted or invalidated
Resenting the other party
The character feeling limited or unable to reach their full potential when they can’t get what they feel they need
Wanting to be right rather than being open to a differing viewpoint
A crisis of confidence (if the character gave in despite their goal being the right one for the situation)
Being conflicted about the right path forward (seeing potential in both goals and not knowing which one is correct)

Positive Outcomes: 
Opening up to new or challenging ideas
Becoming teachable
Learning how to compromise in a healthy way
Recognizing what’s important and what doesn’t need to be fought over
Learning to give in (when the character is used to always getting their way)
Valuing people over plans or processes
Recognizing how the other party complements the character’s weaknesses (seeing them as an ally instead of the enemy)
Learning how to work with the other party and defuse conflict

If you’re interested in other conflict options, you can find them here.

The post Conflict Thesaurus Entry: Misaligned Goals appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

Critiques 4 U

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Happy New Year! We hope that your holidays were everything you expected them to be���a relaxing and peaceful foray into what is to come or a spectacularly fabulous goodbye to the past. Angela and I are jumping with both feet (as we tend to do) into 2020 and are excited about the year ahead. We hope you are, too. And I can’t think of a better way to kick things off than with some free critiques!

If you���re working on a first page (in any genre except erotica) and would like some objective feedback, please leave a comment. Any comment :). As long as the email address associated with your WordPress account/comment profile is up-to-date, I���ll be able to contact you if your first page is chosen. Just please know that if I���m unable to get in touch with you through that address, you���ll have to forfeit your win.

Two caveats:

      Please be sure your first page is ready to go so I can critique it before next month���s contest rolls around. If it needs some work and you won���t be able to get it to me right away, let me ask that you plan on entering the next contest, once any necessary tweaking has been taken care of.

      I���d like to be able to use portions of winning submissions as illustrations in an upcoming presentation on first pages. By entering the Critiques 4 U contest, you���ll be granting permission for me to use small writing samples only (no author names or book titles).

Three commenters��� names will be randomly drawn and posted tomorrow morning. If you win, you can email me your first page and I���ll offer my feedback. 

We run this contest on a monthly basis, so if you���d like to be notified when the next opportunity comes around, consider subscribing to our blog (see the left-hand sidebar).

Best of luck!

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Capturing an Unhappy Relationship: A Writer’s Roadmap

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Relationships are a complicated beast, and if you write romance like me, then you���re wed (pun intended) to the HEA ending (happily ever after). But the reality is, we have a divorce rate of almost 1 in 2 marriages; so as much fun as it is to delve into the romanticized ideal of soulmates wandering hand-in-hand into the sunset, the challenges of relationships can equally lead to hearts broken and relationships fractured.

Capturing the unwinding threads of a relationship is complex. Just like the real world, our characters have a history of weaving those threads together, usually with the intent that their fabric will be as tight as Egyptian cotton. 

But people evolve, circumstances change, and sometimes a relationship isn���t strong enough. Usually these ruptures don���t happen quickly; they involve little tears and big tears over days, months, and sometimes years.

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John Gottman, the guru of relationship therapy and founder of the Gottman Institute, outlines the following four factors as tell-tale signs that all is not well with a married couple. In fact, when the frequency of these four behaviors are measured within the span of a 15-minute conversation, Gottman and his fellow psychologists can predict which marriages will end in divorce with striking precision.

If you���re looking to capture this heart-breaking (or cathartic) process in your story, either with your main characters or with those memorable secondary characters, then consider these four predictors of relationship breakdown (they are a wonderful way to capture ���show, don���t tell��� and to create some interesting moments into your story).

Contempt

Far more toxic than frustration, contempt is a virulent mix of anger and disgust which involve seeing your partner as beneath you. Apart from its direct consequences of either belittling or angering a partner, contempt involves one character closing themselves off to their partner���s needs and emotions. 

If you constantly feel smarter than, better than, or more sensitive than your significant other, you���re not only less likely see his or her opinions as valid, but, more importantly, you���re far less willing toput yourself in their shoes to try to see a situation from their perspective.

Consider these examples:

Jane sends Jo a list of groceries for tonight���s dinner. When Jo gets home, Jane realizes that Jo picked up self-rising flour instead of plain flour. Jane becomes frustrated, asking Jo what sort of idiot doesn���t know the difference between the two. She even posts it on Facebook so her sisters can see what she has to live with.Barry is organizing his next fishing weekend with his two sons. Daria laughs as they are packing their tackle boxes, pointing out to their sons that she caught the biggest fish last time she went out in their godforsaken tin-can-of-a-boat.

Criticism

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Like contempt, criticism involves turning a behavior (something your partner did) into a statement about his or her personal character (the type of person he or she is). As many of us have experienced or observed, fault-finding and belittling behaviors add up. Over time, darker feelings of resentment and contempt are likely to brew.

Alex has a habit of leaving her cereal bowl���soggy, uneaten Wheaties and all���on the coffee table every morning. Sam makes sure she notes it each day as she collects them, pointing out what a lazy and inconsiderate partner Alex is.After a sleepless night, Jake overheats baby Bobby���s mashed pumpkin. When Bobby spits it out and starts screaming, Sally scoops him up, shouting over the top that when it comes to parenting Jake couldn���t raise a sweat let alone a child.

Defensiveness

Defensiveness involves a sense of protectiveness and guardedness about our thoughts and feelings. A character who is being defensive will often play the victim in; at times that may be justified���others, not so much.

A couple are late to a cousin���s wedding. Ashleigh is the first to say, ���It wasn���t my fault!��� as they slip into a back pew.Jane is online to her best friend, typing furiously that she never got a chance to tell her husband about the dint in the car door because all he does is watch YouTube. If he gets upset about it, he can���t say she didn���t try to tell him.

Stonewalling

If your character can sense an argument brewing and their response is to shut down or walk away, you���ve got a stonewaller. Stonewalling can be just as toxic for a relationship as criticism or contempt because it keeps your characters from addressing their underlying issues. When perspectives don���t get a chance to be explored, then frustration is likely to morph into resentment.

Ian and Sarah are arguing about their credit card debt. When Ian asks Sarah exactly how much those shoes cost, she turns and walks away. Picking up her phone, she retreats to the bedroom.During a parent teacher interview, Jacqui suggests that maybe their son isn���t succeeding in math because of the children he���s sitting next to. Her husband, Jed, rolls his eyes at the teacher, shifts his seat forward, and tells the teacher that their son just needs more challenging work as he���s obviously bored. Jed starts enquiring about extension work.

Are you seeing how you could weave these behaviors into your own narrative? I hope so! I���d love to hear how you���ve already done this, or how you plan on showing your characters’ unravelling relationship. 

Tamar SloanResident Writing Coach

Tamar is a freelance editor, consultant and the author of��PsychWriter����� a fun, informative hub of information on character development, the science of story and how to engage readers. Tamar is also a USA Today best-selling author of young adult romance, creating stories about finding life and love beyond our comfort zones. You can checkout Tamar���s books on her��author website.
Twitter �� Facebook �� Instagram

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Conflict Thesaurus Entry: Having to Work with an Enemy

Conflict is very often the magic sauce for generating tension and turning a ho-hum story into one that rivets readers. As such, every scene should contain a struggle of some kind. Maybe it’s an internal tug-of-war having to do with difficult decisions, morals, or temptations. Or it possibly could come from an external source���other characters, unfortunate circumstances, or the force of nature itself.

It’s our hope that this thesaurus will help you come up with meaningful and fitting conflict options for your stories. Think about what your character wants and how best to block them, then choose a source of conflict that will ramp up the tension in each scene.

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Conflict: Having to Work with an Enemy

Category: Power struggles, increased pressure and ticking clocks, relationship friction, duty and responsibilities, loss of control, ego, no-win situations

Examples:
Competitive co-workers placed on the same project or team
Teammates with a common goal of winning
Ex-spouses co-parenting during a challenging time (a difficult health diagnosis, a child who suffers from depression, etc.)
Feuding family members trying to save a family business
Enemies engaged in a cover up that will ruin both their lives if discovered
Enemies stuck in a situation they cannot handle alone (escaping a danger, being lost in the woods, etc.)
Siblings teaming up to stand against abusive parents
Estranged family members having to plan a mutual loved one’s funeral

Minor Complications:
Flaring tempers and arguments
Making others involved feel uncomfortable
Having to swallow one’s pride for the greater good
Having to monitor one’s tone and words to avoid splintering the group
Being distracted by resentment and negativity
Holding back to not give up an advantage, leading to self-sabotage
Wasting mental energy on questioning the other’s motives
Struggling with mistrust

Potentially Disastrous Results:
Revealing secrets that will have repercussions after the crisis is over
Unintentionally giving an enemy Intel they can use later
Being manipulated into giving up an advantage that wasn’t necessary

Possible Internal Struggles (Inner Conflict):
Discovering likeable qualities about someone one should hate
Resentment warring with appreciation (hating to need help but being glad to have it)
Trying to hang onto knowledge or a strength to keep the advantage but being forced to share it solve the current situation
Worrying about what others will think regarding the collaboration Worrying about what will happen after the crisis has ended
Achieving growth through the awareness of one’s flaws due to the perspective of an enemy unafraid to point them out
Wanting to dismiss a great idea only because of its source

People Who Could Be Negatively Affected: family members who will be disappointed by the collaboration, friends invested in the friction remaining in place or who are invested in the enemy’s downfall, other people who have something riding on the outcome, win or lose, people who are relying on the two to succeed so they can avoid negative consequences themselves

Resulting Emotions: agitation, anger, betrayed, bitterness, certainty, conflicted, contempt, defensiveness, defiant, denial, dread, emasculated, frustration, guilt, humiliation, inadequate, insecurity, intimidated, irritation, jealousy, paranoia, powerlessness, reluctance, resentment, resignation, schadenfreude, scorn, self-pity, skepticism, smugness, stunned, suspicion, unappreciated, vengeful, vindicated, vulnerability, wariness

Personality Flaws that May Make the Situation Worse: abrasive, catty, childish, cocky, confrontational, controlling, dishonest, hostile, inflexible, insecure, jealous, martyr, melodramatic, oversensitive, paranoid, stubborn, tactless, temperamental, uncommunicative, uncooperative, vindictive

Positive Outcomes: 
Discovering common ground that helps each gain a better perspective
The adversity forcing each character to deal with internal hangups that hold them back
Overcoming difficult circumstances leads to greater self-confidence
The experience gained makes the character better able to work with people in the future
Working out past issues that really needed to be dealt with to move forward

If you’re interested in other conflict options, you can find them here.

The post Conflict Thesaurus Entry: Having to Work with an Enemy appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

Make 2020 Your Year: Finding Experts Who Can Help

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Do you feel it, deep in your chest? That tingling spark that expands, radiating outward. You’re lighter. Breaths come easier. A smile tugs at your lips. All because your mind is casting forward to the year ahead, the weeks and months to come, each an unwritten page of what you will accomplish as a writer.

I love the start of a new year, even when it brings change.

The end of a year is when we glance back at what happened (or didn’t) on our writing path and as we review, it’s easy to lose sight of our accomplishments. We might focus too much on what we didn’t get done, or worry about the struggles and problems we identified but didn’t manage to resolve. So January is a great time to turn a fresh page and let go of the can’ts and didn’ts.

To start a year off right we want to think about what we can do…and choose goals that are within our power to achieve.

I recently posted about how to How to Build a Roadmap to the Author Future You Want. (If you missed it, I recommend having a read.) In the post I talked about how defining what we need is important as then we can seek out resources and tools which will help us grow.

Today I’d like to focus on a few of the women in our industry that I’ve learned from, experts I think can help us all with the learning curve. So please check these ladies out as you chart your course in 2020!

Writing Experts



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Jami Gold

Becca and I have know Jami for eons it seems like. In fact, I think we probably started blogging at the same time. Jami has so much insight and I recommend following her blog as her articles break down and demystify important aspects of storytelling. You can find beat sheets to help you with story structure (for pantsers & plotters!) and she has workshops that will help you grow by leaps and bounds.

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Janice Hardy

Janice is another superstar when it comes to writing. Her site (Fiction University) is a goldmine. I honestly don’t know how she manages to continually post such a great variety of topics, everything from writing craft to the author mindset, and beyond. She’s an amazing teacher and if you’d like to learn from her, Janice will be launching a series of courses this year. I recommend signing up for her newsletter to stay in the loop for those.

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K.M. Weiland

Katie has mastered the art of teaching writing craft. How? She’s really thought about the delivery of education by making it accessible through different formats: blog posts, books, video, and software. I love how she shares bite-sized lessons that are easy to digest so you can grow your knowledge without being overwhelmed. The more time you spend with Katie, the more you see how all the different elements of story are connected. Check her out if you have not yet done so!

Publishing & Marketing Experts



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Kristen Lamb

Kristen is a wicked smart writer’s advocate who studies the industry and shares her thoughts on it so writers can better navigate publishing without being bitten by its dark side. Her other superpowers are marketing and branding, and she guides writers on how to master both by focusing on connection, relationship-building, and living your brand. These are things Becca and I live by and unlike many of the shortcut solutions that some marketing folks try to peddle, they will help you grow your reach and build a tribe. Kristen’s a great writing teacher too, so visit her blog and check out her classes to take your knowledge to the next level.

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Jane Friedman

There aren’t many who don’t know Jane because she’s one of the most trusted sources of knowledge when it comes to publishing. With a long history in the industry and as someone who studies its currents, Jane is very savvy when it comes to the different routes, best practices, and the technology and resources to help you. If Jane’s blog is not yet on your radar, make sure it is for 2020. You may also wish to subscribe to the Hot Sheet, an essential newsletter on all things publishing.

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Joanna Penn

Another leader in author advocacy is Joanna Penn, a successful author who shares what she learns at her site, The Creative Penn. Joanna is passionate about personal growth and evolving her career, and while the business side of writing can be intimidating to many, it isn’t to Joanna. She thrives on understanding the ins and outs of publishing and loves to research and experiment with new processes and technology. Thankfully she shares all this hard-won knowledge on her site, in books, and her stellar podcast, The Creative Penn.

Experts Shorten the Learning Curve



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To avoid this post becoming novel-length I’ll stop at these six, but our community is full of leaders who can help you move toward your writing goals. So I encourage you to think about what you need most and seek out experts in those areas.

Building a career is much easier if you don’t try to do it solo. So, to see a much, MUCH larger list of experts (and a giant database of incredible resources), visit this link.

What experts do you rely on to navigate your writing career? Leave a link in the comments so we can expand our connections!

The post Make 2020 Your Year: Finding Experts Who Can Help appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

Happy Holidays!

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Thanksgiving and December are such wonderful months, filled with reminders of blessings and gratitude. Angela and I have so much to be thankful for, and you all are definitely on our list. We love being part of this beautiful community and being able to contribute to it.

One thing in particular that I’m thankful for is Ms. Angela. My life is better for her being in it, and I know she’s blessed many of you in a similar way. Today’s her birthday, so if you have a spare minute, leave a comment here or hop over to her facebook page to wish her a happy day :).

Now that we’ve wrapped up our annual Advent blowout, it’s time for us to collapse take a break to share this special time of year with our families. So if you celebrate, we’d like wish you all the happiest of holidays. Rest up. Read a good book. Make memories. Laugh. Remember what’s important.

We’ll see you in the new year, refreshed, relaxed, and ready to get back to work!

The post Happy Holidays! appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

How to Build a Roadmap to the Author Future You Want

When the clock turns forward, we tend to think about what the next year will bring. With a new decade on the horizon, perhaps this time, the question carries a bit more weight.

Now personally I’m not one for making New Years resolutions, but I absolutely do think forward, solidifying what I want to accomplish, how I want to change, and then I make a plan on how to do both.

Right now, a big change is going on behind the scenes (I apologize for being vague but I really can’t talk about it yet) and the stakes have raised. Becca and I had to make a decision, and we made it. Our path forward means doubling down in what we believe in and embracing risks that will greatly challenge our knowledge and abilities. It’s a bit scary. No, that’s the wrong word. It’s terrifying.

But if we have learned anything, it is that if we want something, the only way to get it is to turn intent into action. This means engaging in some deep thinking and planning, and then moving on to the hard work of doing.

If you want to accomplish big things as an author, ask yourself these questions. They will help you move from Thinking, to Planning, to DOING.



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Thinking



ASK: As a writer, what do I want for myself in the coming year that is within my control to do, will bring me joy, and leave me satisfied at year’s end? EVALUATE: How can I better steer my time and energy so I grow, improve, and move forward in ways I can measure? IDENTIFY: What stepping stones will help me get closer to my goals this next year?



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Planning



RESEARCH: What tools, information, education, communities, and opportunities will help me grow in the ways I need most? PRIORITIZE: How can I make it a priority to obtain these things?NAVIGATE: What tasks must I finish to ensure I make progress toward reasonable and achievable goals?



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Doing

This is the hard part. We can think and plan, but unless we’re ready to do the hard work, we won’t succeed. So consider the following:

COMMIT: Reject excuses and change your habits. Better manage your writing time. Create a to-do list or set achievable mini-goals each day. If you have one, make choices that align to your business plan.

Why is this important? When more is getting done (revisions completed, new projects started, a book published, a website created, etc.) you can’t help but be motivated by your progress. Small successes lead to big ones, and each day that you choose action over inaction, you will see how YOU and YOUR CHOICES are shaping your future.

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INVEST: Buy that course (or workshop, marketing guide, etc.) if you truly need it. Invest in the subscription that will give you access to knowledge and mentorship so you can achieve important stepping stones. Trade your time to work with critique partners so you can learn from each other.

Why is this important? I’m not trying to be flippant or cause anyone financial hardship. It’s not easy to spend time and money up front, especially when there are other things going on in our lives. We feel guilt, we worry. But like any other professional career, we writers need to invest in knowledge and a toolkit to do our best work. Be smart about it, but if you need something to succeed, make it a priority.

SACRIFICE: Decide what you are willing to let go of to get what you want. Trade a TV show for more writing time. Get up a bit earlier on the weekends to have more time to focus on your goals. Give up those fancy coffees and put the money toward a resource you know will make writing easier.

Why is this important? When you walk the walk, that’s powerful. It proves to your biggest critic (that’s YOU, by the way) that you will not be deterred, how this is important and meaningful, and you’re willing to do whatever it takes. So make sacrifices.

Don’t Be Afraid of a Business Plan

Years ago, Becca and I realized we needed to make a change if we wanted to get anywhere. Our career was overloaded with “all the things we felt we needed to juggle” to succeed. We decided to narrow our focus on what would help us reach specific goals and we created a business plan.

My gosh, the difference has been astounding! I wrote about our plan long ago at Jane Friedman’s blog and still have people asking for the template, so if it will help you, check it out.

One More Thing…



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Every December Writers Helping Writers sponsors a charity.

This year, we’ve selected A21, who’s mission is to abolish slavery by ending human trafficking and restoring freedom to the world’s most vulnerable. Earlier this year, Becca participated in a marathon fundraiser and we wanted to help out a bit more now, so Writers Helping Writers will be sending $1000 their way. To find out more about this charity and the work they do, visit them here.

When you buy our books, or subscribe to One Stop for Writers, you’re doing more than just building your career…you’re also putting light and compassion into the world, and that should be celebrated. So thank you!

The post How to Build a Roadmap to the Author Future You Want appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.