Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

We writers may never know to whom our words will have a profound meaning.  Plus, the importance of cause and effect.  And the perils of interior monologue. Support the show Buy the master class.

Should we show friends and family our manuscripts as we compose them?  Good reasons for and against exist.  The key to vivid writing: be specific, definite, and concrete.  Plus, famous romantic lines, avoiding useless analogies, and a technique for vivid writing: using verbs rather than verb objects. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, chara...

What should we look for when editing our own manuscript?  How do famous authors do it?  What should we look for as we edit?  This episode discusses the editing process, the good and bad of it. Support the show Buy the master class.

Topics of earlier episodes are boiled down to sixteen points, and we'll talk about them briefly.  Also, here are some things we can do to make our sentence-by-sentence writing more pleasing to readers' eyes and ears. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode...

How can we shake loose from our brains plots for our novels?  Here's my favorite way.  Plus, benefits and perils of writing with a partner.  More on accents.  And avoiding adverbs, which are not a writer's friend. Support the show Buy the master class.

Why don't we begin our novel?  Here's a reason, and a way to avoid it.  Plus, we'll talk about qualifiers and intensifiers, the leeches of language.  And some thoughts on profanity and slang.  And why age benefits novelists. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more. ...

Many adjective and adverb s do nothing but pad a sentence, making the sentence rickety.  Here are some techniques on avoiding these useless or unintentionally funny modifiers.  Plus, some words are just too much.  We'll avoid these, too. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much mor...

In this episode we focus on sentence-by-sentence writing.  How can we make our sentences vivid and powerful?   Some strong techniques are discussed, such as avoiding cliches like the plague. Support the show Buy the master class.

Our writing should be a clear window to the story, and a technique is to, in Einstein's phrase, keep it simple but not too simple.  Here are some techniques for doing that, along with a discussion of metaphors and similes. Support the show Buy the master class.

As writers, should we be concerned with a themes for our stories?   And a critical question: are writers allowed to be weird?  We'll also return to the need for early conflict in our stories, and then go on to discuss vivid writing. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  E...

Our setting -- the place and time of the scene -- anchor our characters the the ground.  Here are techniques for writing our settings to get the most from them, so that they play a strong role in the story. Support the show Buy the master class.

Our topics this episode are how to avoid breaking the fourth wall, onomatopoeia (clunk, thud, kersplat), and techniques on ending the novel.  We'll also talk about some bad writing, really bad writing. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and abou...

Dialogue is so important to our stories that we'll talk more about it here.  Then we'll move on to foreshadowing--including the Chekhov's famous gun--and coincidences., where one is fine but two are not. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focu...

A fictional character's dialogue sounds like a person speaking in real life, but not too much like a person speaking in real life.  In this episode we'll talk about dialogue techniques that draw the reader into the story. Support the show Buy the master class.

Here are techniques to control our point of view so that our story doesn't have a dizzying quality as the reader jumps from one character's mind to another character's mind.  We'll also discuss a writer's narrative voice. Support the show Buy the master class.

The difference between showing and telling is so important that we continue with it in this episode, including the technique of saving it for later.  Plus, we'll talk about the grammatical person. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30...

We'll talk about the most critical skill for vivid writing, showing versus telling.  Showing reveals.  Telling explains.  Showing is almost always more involving for the reader, and we'll discuss how to show rather than tell.. Support the show Buy the master class.

We'll discuss the difference between summary and scene., and why writing scenes rather than summaries is so important.  Point of view will also be briefly touch on, along with techniques on how to end a scene  Rhythmic placement of scenes is also a topic in this episode. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes,...

Crafting a scene involves mechanics hidden from readers.  Here are techniques that lead to the success of a scene: ways to grab the reader, immerse him or her in the scene, and then launch the reader into the next scene.   Support the show Buy the master class.

How can we create compelling villains and lovable and maybe eccentric sidekicks?  How many characters should we put in a scene?  How about basing a character on a friend or relative?  And are there tips for naming our characters?  Learn these techniques and more ini this episode. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scen...

Characters in fiction come in a huge variety, and creating characters involves techniques that discussed in this episode.  There are reasons we find Scout Finch and Hermione Granger and Jack Aubrey and Katniss Everdeen so compelling, and let's find out why. Support the show Buy the master class.

We'll talk about how to keep the reader involved in  the story, how to move a plot forward.  And we'll discuss one of my favorite topics: the novel's first sentence. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full cl...

Is there an idea dump where we can find a fresh plot for our novel or a strong plot point for the next chapter of our novel?  No, but good methods exist to develop plots, and that's the topic of this episode. Support the show Buy the master class.

Follow the rules.  Go with what works to increase our chances of getting published.  Writing can be learned.  And if we know how to write, we can get better.  A critical ingredient: persistence.  One negative thing about learning to write.  Leaning to concentrate.  And a technique about weeping. Support the show Buy the master class.

Getting ready to start a novel.  Drafting a  a plan (timetable).  An outline (pros and cons).  Other useful pre-writing and during-the-writing documents.  Recommendations for a novel's length. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minu...