Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

Latest Episodes:

Episode 69 - Learning character and setting descriptions from the masters. Jul 14, 2023

Show notes

One of the best ways to learn the craft of fiction is to read the works of great writers, those novelists who know how to offer the reader unforgettable images of new places and new people. Here are examples of character and setting descriptions from skilled writers. Listening to them, we'll be inspired to create vivid and enchanting descriptions

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 68 - Do we have an idea or a plot? Also: how to write joyful dialogue. Jul 07, 2023

Show notes

What's the difference between an idea and plot? It's important to know as we begin writing. Also, readers love joyous dialogue. Here are thoughts on how to write it.

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Episode 67 - Lighting the writing fuse, and showing rather than telling about the setting. Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

What in our lives made us want to write? Here's a discussion about lighting that fuse. Also: here are techniques for showing rather than telling about our story's setting. And discussed also is a wonderful way to learn to write that takes little extra time or effort. Finally, how to write dialogue when the characters are afraid.

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Episode 66 - Creating characters readers love. Also; techniques for writing sad dialogue. Jun 23, 2023

Show notes

A main reason readers put a novel on their all-time top-ten favorites list is because they fall in love with a character. Here's how we can create characters readers will love. Also discussed are techniques for writing sad dialogue. And also: how to get unstuck when writing or novel or short story.

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Episode 65 - A writer's thoughts on ChatGPT. And the benefits of identifying our genre. Jun 16, 2023

Show notes

I've been checking out the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, and here are some impressions of its use for writers. And: what are the benefits of identifying our novel as being in a genre? Also, more on those pesky dialogue tag modifiers.

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Episode 64 - How to get started writing, and tips on romantic and angry dialogue. Jun 09, 2023

Show notes

How can we get off the dime and start writing our novel or short story? Here are some thoughts. Also, readers love emotional dialogue; techniques to write romantic dialogue and angry dialogue are discussed.

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Episode 63 - How to bring our settings to life, and writing the romantic scene. Jun 02, 2023

Show notes

Here is a strong technique for immersing readers in our settings. Readers will think they are right there with our characters. Also, almost all stories should have a romance, and keys to writing romance scenes are reviewed.

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Episode 62 - A technique for bringing our characters to life, and writing the action scene. May 26, 2023

Show notes

Here is a strong technique to make our characters vivid and memorable for the reader. And also: most novels should have action scenes. The craft of writing a powerful action scene is reviewed.

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Episode 61 - How to detect and fix a sloppy scene. Also: how to unleash story ideas. May 19, 2023

Show notes

Sometimes a scene we've written just doesn't feel right. Something is amiss but we can't put our fingers on it. Here's a method to figure out what might be wrong and how to fix it. Also: we can get stuck in our thinking about the plot. Where should the story go next? What should we add? Here are ideas on inventing plot points.

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Episode 60 - Fabulous sentences of fiction, font fiddling, and slow motion. May 12, 2023

Show notes

A terrific way for writers to find inspiration is to hear legendary sentences from famous novels. Here are a few. Should we fiddle with fonts in our manuscript? And slow motion is a powerful tool for our scenes.

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