Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

Latest Episodes:

Episode 189 - Start as close to the end as possible. Oct 31, 2025

Show notes

Kurt Vonnegut said we should "Start as close to the end as possible." What did he mean? How can we do so? Here are thoughts on this famous piece of advice from a legendary novelist. Also, avoiding the word "not" to give our sentences more energy. And Orson Scott Card on creativity.

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Episode 188 - How to make our writing fun. Oct 24, 2025

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Is your writing time becoming a grind? If so, here are some things that may reduce the grind and maybe even make writing fun. Also, here are thoughts on how we might write a sentence that is a timeless truth told in lovely language, an immortal sentence that will live forever.

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Episode 187 - Giving readers what they want. Oct 17, 2025

Show notes

We writers should consider giving readers what they want. Well, what do they want? Here is a discussion of the five things readers want in a novel. Also: the dual timeline plot structure. And F. Scott Fitzgerald's seven tips on writing.

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Episode 186 - Showing--not telling--what a character is thinking. Oct 10, 2025

Show notes

Thoughts are interior, in our minds. But there are ways to show--to give evidence--that reveal to the reader what our character is thinking. Also, here is an important ingredient that many writers forget when describing a character.

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Episode 185 - The keys to musical writing. Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

The three most important words in our fiction are, "Story, story, story." But we can also shoot for lovely, musical language that makes each sentence and paragraph a pleasure to read. Here are thoughts on how to add music to our sentences.

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Episode 184 - Skipping the dull stuff in our plot. Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

In his famous ten rules of writing, Elmore Leonard says that we shouldn't write things readers tend to skip. What are those things? How can we avoid writing them? Also, should our story have theme and, if so, how can we present it?

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Episode 183 - A key to making our sentences forceful. Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

What do Ernest Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy, and Elmore Leonard have in common? Powerful stories, yes. But also lean and forceful sentences. Here's how they do it. Also: in our plotting,what's an acceptable coincidence and what's a weak, story-ruining coincidence?

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Episode 182 - Things to think about as we write the end of our story. Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

After months and month if writing, we'll near the end of our story. Our novel is almost finished. Here are things we should consider as we wrap up our story. Also, for many of us editing our own story isn't as fun as writing. Here are thoughts on how we can make sure we edit enough, and how we know when to quit editing.

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Episode 181 - A critical difference between scene and summary. Sep 05, 2025

Show notes

Why should almost all of our story be scenes rather than summaries? Here's how we can avoid summaries and instead write moment-by-moment real-time scenes in our fiction. Also: here are perhaps the most beautiful sentences ever written in fiction.

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Episode 180 - The critical distance between the reader and the action. Aug 29, 2025

Show notes

The reader is like a camera as the scene unfolds. Where should that camera be? How far away from the characters and the action? Here are thoughts on authorial distance, about the benefits of placing the camera--the reader--near or far. Plus, how Charlotte Bronte worked.

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