by Lisa Hall-Wilson Shame is one of the most powerful and underused emotions in a fiction-writer’s toolbox. Shame is pervasive and common, it’s ugly and hard to capture well. Readers cheer for characters who are relate-able. They cheer for characters who stand up to bullies, who stay and fight when they don’t have to. They […]

Lisa Hall-Wilson offers solid tips and ideas for writing alpha female characters who are believable AND likable.

Lisa Hall-Wilson There’s a pretty basic storytelling flaw that trips up many writers and that’s creating villains/antagonists who aren’t successful. Let’s define what I mean by successful. A successful antagonist moves the story ahead, directly challenges the protagonist, and has a better than 50% chance of success. Without a powerful antagonist, your protagonist has nothing […]

Lisa Hall-Wilson   Boo! What better day to write about the body language of fear than the scariest day of the year! Fun Fact: Fear and excitement create the exact same physiological response. What I mean by that is our bodies react the same way to both emotions. The difference between how our bodies respond […]

by Lisa Hall-Wilson Life is hard and as writers, we aren’t doing our jobs unless our characters struggle. Am I right? Good fiction isn’t borne out in the comfortable and easy living we might dream about, but in the tension and conflict between characters and/or their own desires. Giving a character a backstory that includes trauma […]