Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

235 Episodes

Reverse

Episode 235 - Ten small writing techniques.

2026-09-1827:02

Here are ten smaller techniques that'll improve our story, each maybe not big enough for a full segment but worthwhile to help make our story gripping and our sentences shine. Also, here are thoughts about our story's ending; isn't HEA (happily-ever-after) a formula and cliche? And: how to show rather than tell about the weather. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, an...

Episode 234 - Creating a character readers will love.

2026-09-1126:10

What do Elizabeth Bennett, Anne Shirley, Frodo Baggins, Jo March, Harry Potter, and Huckleberry Finn have in common? Readers love them. We can create such a character, one readers will long remember and maybe reread the storyl just to be with the character again. Also, adverbs and adjectives can weaken sentences. Here is why and how to avoid them. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, ...

Episode 233 - Peeling the onion.

2026-09-0424:59

We writers can train ourselves to peel the onion: to look more deeply at places and people, and so set forth our discoveries in lovely language in our stories. Here's how the masters do it. Also, F. Scott Fitzgerald's "action is character" is a strong technique for revealing our characters' personalities to readers, and I talk about "action is character" here. Support the show Buy the master class.

Episode 232 - More on making our dialogue engaging for readers.

2026-08-2827:42

Readers love dialogue. It's as if they are part of the scene, sitting there and listening to our characters argue or romance each other or plan something important. Here are additional techniques to grip readers with our dialogue. Also: V.S. Naipaul's rules of 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 about 30 m...

Episode 231 - Techniques to make our dialogue grab readers.

2026-08-2125:06

Dialogue is like a Snickers candy bar: it's good. Here are eight techniques for making conversations in our story engage the reader, things we should do and things we should avoid. Also, how did Sue Monk Kidd handle her first rejection? And Meg Cabot on how to keep going so we finish our story. Support the show Buy the master class.

#box-pro-ellipsis-179003204026445{-webkit-line-clamp:2;}Essential Guide to Writing a Novel