Following on from the last post, where we explored how important emotion is in story, now we’re going to delve into how we can do
Tag: writers
Engaging Emotion: Every Best-Seller Does It
Our brain is driven by emotion. I know we like to think we’re rational beings, applying the rules of logic calmly and sensibly to those
How Story Affects Us
Continuing in our four post series on the foundation for harnessing your readers’ psychology, today we’re exploring how story affects us. We’ve already explored where
5 Things a Writer Needs to Know About a Character with a Mental Illness
To make a character real, they need to mirror the reality that we experience. This is a challenge, because the world each person lives in
Writing Characters Through the Lens of the #MeToo Movement
I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again – connecting with fellow lovers of the written word is the best part of
Dependent Personality Disorder: Psychological Disorders for Writers
Personality disorders are fascinating–many are comparatively rare and they all lead to some pretty unreasonable and difficult to understand behaviours…which kind of makes them ideal
Capturing an Unhappy Relationship: A Writer’s Roadmap
Relationships are a complicated beast, and if you write romance like me, then you’re wed (pun intended) to the HEA (happily ever after) ending. But
The Halo Effect: Your Readers are Applying it
So the hero in my latest release has a few unlikeable traits (as in, pretty unethical and unsavoury behaviours), which would be fine in some
Narrative Therapy and Your Character: The Story Within The Story
Narrative therapy is not the dominant therapeutic framework I utilise in my clinical work, but like most eclectic practitioners, I have enough of an understanding
Developing a Character with a History of Sexual Assault
There’s many things I love about the landscape of writing, but one of the most wonderful discoveries is the breadth of knowledge out there waiting
Paranoid Personality Disorder: Psychological Disorders for Writers
Personality disorders are fascinating. They have their very own section in the Diagnostic Services Manual, Fifth Edition (the psychologist’s and psychiatrist’s bible when it comes
The Importance of Mental Health Research When writing Fiction
I’ve mentioned before that I believe we’re all psychologists at heart. The study of the human psyche fascinates us all because it gives us a
The 5 Keys to Writing with Depression
Anyone that has ready book Grit for Writers knows that I share my personal story of grit and the challenges that mental health means for a
Eye Witness Testimony for Writers
We’ve explored the fallibility of our memory when exploring The Girl on the Train, discovering that that memories are malleable – influenced by our internal
Narcissistic Abuse and Codependence for Writers
I firmly believe we’re all psychologists at heart, because psychology is founded on the desire to know ourselves (yes, that is a little narcissistic…), but
Shame: The Driving Force for Your Character’s Actions?
I was spending some time trying to figure out one of my main character’s motivation recently. I knew her backstory, and I knew it was
