I had a fellow writer email me not that long ago. She’d just found out that she didn’t finalise in a competition and was feeling
Author: Tamar Sloan
Author of heart-hugging, smile tugging young adult romance and the PsychWriter blog - where psychology meets writing.
Psychology for Writers: Narcissism
The term ‘narcissism’ comes from Greek mythology, where beautiful, proud Narcissus fell in love with his own image in a pool of water. It’s not
Is your character pretending to be something they’re not?
We all spend some time pretending to be something we’re not. We pretend we’re feeling happy when we’re not, we maintain a façade of polite
Childhood Trauma and its Impact on Your Character
The word ‘trauma’ is derived from the Greek term for ‘wound’. Very frightening or distressing events may result in a psychological wound or injury –
Learning to Live with Your Inner Editor
As we discussed last week, our Inner Editor is a direct descendant of the Inner Critic. The Origins of the Inner Editor showed us that
Therapy for Writers: The Origin of Your Inner Editor
I have an inner editor. She keeps up an inner monologue in my head when I’m writing – usually the whole time. When I’m thinking
Psychology For Writers: Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol has played a central role in almost all human cultures since the Stone Age. Interestingly, there’s evidence that the development of agriculture – a
How Your Character’s Beliefs Colour their Perspective
Whether its first person, third person, or the see-all-know-all omniscient point of view, the power of a story is the vicarious adventure of living someone
When Your Characters Form a Group: What Writers Need to Know
When Frodo agreed to take that cursed ring to Mount Doom, he didn’t know he was going to join a group of fellow fantastical and
When Life Gets You Down: Therapy For Writers
I’m going to wager that many, no most, writers have some strong commonalities. We all have responsibilities outside of our writing. Pretty much every one
Psychology of the Villain
Villains. We love to hate them, and at times hate to find we love them. If you’ve got one developing on your pages right now,
Understanding Adultery for Writers
Faithfulness in a relationship is a moral (and legal) expectation in many cultures, largely because it maintains trust and fidelity (and reduces the incidence of
Psychology for Writers: Depression
We’ve all felt sad, lost, or hopeless at some stage in our life. It’s a natural part of the 10,000 highs and 10,000 lows Buddha
Your Book Needs These 6 Psychological Ingredients
Psychology has given us such a wonderful understanding into human behaviour that’s it’s a veritable gold-mine for writers. It not only lets us understand our
Is Your Character Ready to Change? The Stages of Change for Writers
Narratives are all about change – protagonists changing their perspectives as they see, hear and learn new things, choosing to do things differently as
Straight From An Agent: YOUR Questions Answered
Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media is back, this time answering YOUR questions. There were quite a few responses (thank you!) so I didn’t manage to
