Essential Guide to Writing a Novel
James Thayer
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
Mentioned books
Sep 5, 2025 • 26min
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 written in fiction.Support the show
Aug 29, 2025 • 27min
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--near or far. Plus, how Charlotte Bronte worked. Support the show
Aug 22, 2025 • 27min
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.Support the show
Aug 15, 2025 • 28min
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 mean, funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh?" Well, yeah. Let's see how we can make readers laugh.Support the show
Aug 8, 2025 • 28min
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 duty descriptions. Also, how Alice Walker works. Support the show
Aug 1, 2025 • 25min
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 authors edit their own manuscripts? Maybe we can learn from them the best way to self-edit our stories.Support the show
Jul 25, 2025 • 26min
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 again. Here are ways to avoid the mirror.Support the show
Jul 18, 2025 • 26min
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.Support the show
Jul 11, 2025 • 24min
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 can be lively and fun, and hearing the character speak is so much stronger than reading the character's mind. Here are thoughts on writing revealing dialogue. Support the show
Jul 4, 2025 • 26min
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.Support the show
