Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

James Thayer
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Oct 24, 2025 • 29min

Episode 188 - How to make our writing fun.

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.Support the show
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Oct 17, 2025 • 29min

Episode 187 - Giving readers what they want.

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.Support the show
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Oct 10, 2025 • 27min

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.Support the show
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Oct 3, 2025 • 24min

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 sentences.Support the show
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Sep 26, 2025 • 27min

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 present it?Support the show
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Sep 19, 2025 • 28min

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 and what's a weak, story-ruining coincidence?Support the show
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Sep 12, 2025 • 24min

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.  Here are thoughts on how we can make sure we edit enough, and how we know when to quit editing.Support the show
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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
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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
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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

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