Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

When can a book coach help us and when can a coach not help us?  Here are thoughts on book coaches.  Also, the master George Orwell on describing a character.  Plus, improving our sentence-by-sentence writing by 1) showing, 2) offering details, and 3) avoiding summary words: three big techniques in one.Support the show

Sometimes we don't need to use the standard and strong writing technique, and we can deviate from the proven technique.  When?  We'll talk about it here.  And here are some fun writing quotes.  Also, an example of how interior monologue deadens a scene, and how to change it to a scene that will engage and entertain the reader.  Support the show

Blake Snyder's famous Save the Cat plotting--where he describes fifteen beats a movie screenplay should have--is useful for us novelists.  And wonderful setting descriptions from Willa Cather.  Also, what's wrong with this sentence: He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion?  And Neil Gaiman's eight rules of writing.Support the show

How can we submit a manuscript that meets the industry's format expectations and so avoids an amateurish look?  Here's how to do it.  Also, how the best-selling novelist Elin Hilderbrand live and work?  And a few comments on pumping up our creativity.Support the show

We aren't villains, and we likely don't have the background and personality of a villain.  How can we get inside the mind of a villain for our story, so the villain engages the reader?  Here are techniques to do so.  Also, big and small things in a novel should be foreshadowed.  I'll mention why and how to use foreshadowing to give clues and red herrings to the reader, focusing on small things we might otherwise forget to tie up.  Also, here are my favorite funny titles of novels.Support the show

Sometimes new writers have a strong plot idea and they begin writing without learning much about fiction writing.  Here are the ten most common mistakes new writers make, mistakes that are often prospect killers.   Also, how does Kristen Hannah work?  And: maybe the best way to learn how to write a novel.Support the show

We learn many techniques to improve our fiction writing.  Is there one big thing we should think about first, the most important element?  Yes, and we talk about it here.  Also, avoiding mixing up the grammatical person and the point of view.   How William Faulkner worked.  And; making a direct connection between our hero and the reader by showing kindness.Support the show

Here is a technique--it's magical--to make our sentence-by-sentence writing instantly stronger; avoiding qualifiers.  And how to use good dialogue tags so the reader hears the dialogue rather than the clunky tags.  And important tips regarding back-story.Support the show

Naming our story's characters is fun but there is a big technique involved, which we talk about in this episode.  Also; the iceberg theory of writing, and the story framing device.  Plus, examples of showing rather than telling about characters' moods.Support the show

It's critical for us writers to make multiple simultaneous submissions.  Here are some thoughts on why it's so important.   And I mention a wonderful but counterintuitive technique that makes our dialogue smoother.   Also: the importance of a scene playing out minute-by-minute, without time skips.Support the show