Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

Latest Episodes:

Episode 239 - A method for ramping up our dialogue. Oct 16, 2026

Show notes

We writers should give readers what they want, and readers like dialogue. Here is a technique for making our dialogue more engaging. Also: the ten most beautiful words in the English language. And: how to change telling to showing so the scene grips the reader.

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Episode 238 - My favorite writing technique. Oct 09, 2026

Show notes

Among hundreds of fiction writing techniques, here is my favorite, and it involves weeping. Also, a review of a critical skill for us: controlling the point of view.

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 class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars. If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Episode 237 - Read to learn rhythm. Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

Thomas Cullen writes, "the brains of skilled writers are wired over many years to mimic the rhythms, structures, patterns and prose of their favorite authors.” We can learn lovely rhythms by reading famous fiction passages. And: how to overcome the possible grind of writing the middle of the novel.

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Episode 236 - Six questions to ask if we want to be a novelist. Sep 25, 2026

Show notes

Do we have what it takes to write a novel? Here are six questions we can ask ourselves that'll shed light on the issue. Also, when should a writer make an exception to a tried-and-true rule of writing?

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Episode 235 - Ten small writing techniques. Sep 18, 2026

Show notes

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.

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Episode 234 - Creating a character readers will love. Sep 11, 2026

Show notes

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.

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Episode 233 - Peeling the onion. Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

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.

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Episode 232 - More on making our dialogue engaging for readers. Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

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.

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Episode 231 - Techniques to make our dialogue grab readers. Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

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.

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Episode 230 - Creating a dastardly villain. Aug 14, 2026

Show notes

The shark. Dracula. Draco Malfoy. Cathy Ames. Annie Wilkes, Hannibal Lecter. Jadis the White Witch. Aren't these villains masterful creations, and don't they keep readers glued to the story? Here are ideas on how we can create wonderful--is that the right word?--villains. Also, we can keep our first-person narrator from being off-puttingly self-referential.

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