Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

Latest Episodes:

Episode 219 - How to get our story going. May 29, 2026

Show notes

Here is a checklist of things we likely should think about as we begin our first chapter: some elements to have in the beginning pages of our story and some things to avoid. Also: the strong technique of using contrast in consecutive scenes so that lights shine on both scenes.

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Episode 218 - Our writer's voice. May 22, 2026

Show notes

What is a singular attribute that separates Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, and Edgar Alan Poe? Their literary voices. Here are thoughts on our own voices: if and how we should try to develop them. Also: the strong tool of contrast, when the character contrasts with the setting.

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Episode 217 - Why and how to practice. And Edgar Alan Poe. May 15, 2026

Show notes

Writing is like learning the violin. We can get better. Here are reasons we should practice, and suggestions how to do so. And what sparked Edgar Alan Poe's imagination? Also: how much of our story should be scenes rather than summary? The answer: should fill our story with scenes that play out in real time in front of the reader like a movie.

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Episode 216 - Too many characters is a scene. May 08, 2026

Show notes

What's the problem with having a lot of characters in a scene? Aren't lots of people needed to make street scenes and party scenes and sports scenes and battle scenes credible? I'll talk about the problem of too many characters, and how we can fix the crowded scene so it doesn't lose focus. Also, a quick almost magical way to make our sentences stronger using the global search function on our computer. And lovely setting descriptions from Rachel Joyce.

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Episode 215 - The ratchet, a strong plotting tool. May 01, 2026

Show notes

How can we know if our scene pushes the story forward. Does our scene contribute to the story? The ratchet can test our scene. I talk about the ratchet and show how Cormac McCarthy and F. Scott Fitzgerald used it. Plus, a technique for searching for instances of telling in our manuscript so we can change them to showing. And C.S. Lewis's rules of writing.

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Episode 214 - Famous writers show us how to write and live. Apr 24, 2026

Show notes

If we emulate famous authors, won't we get better at writing? Here are how some highly-skilled, best-selling authors write and live. Plus: the three dumbest pieces of advice for writers. And: George Orwell's rules of writing.

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Episode 213 - Save the cat plotting. Apr 17, 2026

Show notes

How can we get readers to admire and respect our hero, maybe even to fall in love with him? Our hero can save the cat. Here is how the screenwriters' save the cat technique can apply to our novels. Also, best seller Lawrence Block on how we can use our pleasure reading to improve our fiction writing skills.

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Episode 212 - Getting skilled with point of view. Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

Keeping a tight point of view is critical for our story. Here's how we can stay inside the mind of our main character yet learn what others in the scene are thinking. Plus, how John Grisham works. And: how we can reveal what a character is thinking through facial expressions.

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Episode 211 - How to have fun while writing. Apr 03, 2026

Show notes

Sometimes writing can be a grind. Here are things that are fun while writing that'll give us energy and keep us at our desks and allow us to pour joy into our words. Also: we should avoid vanilla, meaningless word packages. And here's how Kate Chopin worked.

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Episode 210 - Timeless plot patterns. Mar 27, 2026

Show notes

Folks new to fiction may think because there are a million stories and dozens of genres, plots can be presented in any way imaginable. But successful plots have time-tested patterns, and these are discussed here. Plus, M.M. Kaye's lovely setting descriptions, so elegant her writing might be called the voice of magic. And: how the best-selling romance novelist Emily Henry lives and works.

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