Essential Guide to Writing a Novel
Hosted by James Thayer, the podcast is a practical, step-by-step manual on how to craft a novel. It presents a set of tools for large issues such as story development and scene construction (Kirkus Reviews said Thayer's novels are "superbly crafted') and it also examines techniques that will make your sentence-by-sentence writing shine. The New York Times Book Review has said Thayer's "writing is smooth and clear. it wastes no words, and it has a rhythm only confident stylists achieve.
Episodes
186 episodes
Episode 186 - Showing--not telling--what a character is thinking.
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....
•
26:41
Episode 185 - The keys to musical writing.
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 sen...
•
24:15
Episode 184 - Skipping the dull stuff in our plot.
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 ...
•
26:30
Episode 183 - A key to making our sentences forceful.
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 an...
•
27:35
Episode 182 - Things to think about as we write the end of our story.
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.&...
•
23:48
Episode 181 - A critical difference between scene and summary.
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 writt...
•
26:11
Episode 180 - The critical distance between the reader and the action.
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--nea...
•
27:02
Episode 179 - The critical writing techniques all in one episode.
Here are the most important fiction writing techniques boiled down to twenty-five minutes. I've talked about all these elements in prior episodes but sometimes it's useful to hear things again. This episode is a refresher.
•
27:15
Episode 178 - How to make readers laugh.
We may be writing a comic novel or we may want to add humor to our thriller or romance or horror or literary novel. Humor adds a strong element to most any story. Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas: “Funny how? I...
•
27:34
Episode 177 - The description double duty technique.
Good descriptions of characters should do double duty: they can let the reader know what the character looks like and the description can also suggest something about the character's personality. Here are examples and thoughts on double d...
•
27:37
Episode 176 - Inventing a fabulous title.
The title is the book browser's first impression of our novel. The title should tempt the browser to pick up and open the book. Here are thoughts on how we can give our story a strong, enticing title. Also, how do famous autho...
•
24:47
Episode 175 - Writing funny dialogue.
We can write dialogue that makes readers laugh. Here are thoughts on creating funny conversations between our characters. Plus, we don't need to have our character look into a mirror to describe herself, which has been done time and...
•
25:48
Episode 174 - How to ruin our story's first sentences.
A story's first sentence should make the reader ask, "What's next?" They should propel the reader into the story. Here's how to do it right and how to do it wrongly. Also, three master writers show us how to describe a setting...
•
25:36
Episode 173 - The magic of dialogue.
Dialogue is fun to write and fun to read. Our story should have lots of it. Here's a powerful thing dialogue can do: it can reveal (that is, to show rather than tell) what a character is thinking. The character's conversation ...
•
23:56
Episode 172 - Our first fifteen pages.
The first pages of our novel should contain certain elements and avoid certain elements. Here's a list of things to include and exclude in those first pages. Plus, ways to write forceful, clear, and lovely sentences.
•
25:53
Episode 171 - Top ten list of bad advice for writers.
In these episodes I try to set out good writing advice but a lot of bad advice is out there, so here is a list of bad advice, and the list may help us avoid writing blunders. Here are also ten dialogue mistakes, and avoiding them likely m...
•
29:09
Episode 170 - Writing the crowd scene. And guilt and pride.
Here are techniques for keeping focus in a scene where there is a crowd, with an example from Harper Lee. And how Margaret Mitchell worked. Plus: how can we show rather than tell about a character's guilt or pride.
•
28:09
Episode 169 - How to find a surefire plot.
Stephen King says there is no idea dump we can visit to find a good plot. We have to create our own plots. How can we do so? Here's a discussion on creating plots. Also, if Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedit...
•
25:03
Episode 168 - Making our first sentence sparkle.
Does our story's first sentence cause the reader to ask, "What's next?" Or does the reader say, "So what?" Here are thoughts on creating a tense, sparkling first sentence. Also, how the masters use specific, definite, and conc...
•
27:17
Episode 167 - Revealing our character by the setting.
Our setting descriptions should do more than describe a place. They can also show the reader much about our character. Here's how to do so. Also: what's the main thing our plot needs: trouble. Here's why. And how E...
•
26:48
Episode 166- Showing our character's thoughts.
Two mistakes can ruin our presentation of what our character is thinking: telling rather than showing, and interior monologue. Here are ways to present thoughts in a way that grabs the reader. Also, how Octavia Butler worked. ...
•
24:30
Episode 165 - The rule of exceptions.
Sometimes the strongest writing technique isn't the strongest in our story. Every writing rule has exceptions, and here's a discussion on when to make exceptions. Also, how to create a strong title for our novel and short story.&nbs...
•
28:41
Episode 164 - Design our cover? And the masters on setting details.
We are learning fiction techniques, and we are or soon will be skilled fiction writers. Does this mean we should design our own book covers? Also, Michael Chabon's terrific sense of smell. And the use of details in the haunted...
•
28:36