Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

Folks new to fiction may think because there are a million stories and dozens of genres, plots can be presented in any way imaginable.  But successful plots have time-tested patterns, and these are discussed here.  Plus, M.M. Kaye's lovely setting descriptions, so elegant her writing might be called the voice of magic.  And: how the best-selling romance novelist Emily Henry lives and works.Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.Support the showBuy the master class.

How and why should  we avoid our character traveling?  And how does Orson Scott Card not make blunders in his novels?  Here is his tool for having a mistake-free novel.  Also: here is why our scenes--almost all scenes--should have some action, and how to write that action.Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.Support the showBuy the master class.

Writing is magic.  We type on a keyboard, and then the words we type create powerful images in readers' minds.  Here is a discussion of our main tool for creating vivid images: detail.  Which details, how to use them, and examples from a detail master, Jean Shepherd.   And another angle: detail is as important in dialogue as it is in character and setting descriptions.Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.Support the showBuy the master class.

Sometimes an unreliable narrator can be great fun to create, and great fun to read about.  Here are techniques for developing a protagonist the reader learns not to trust.  Also, how can we avoid dull interior monologue and  instead show readers what a character is thinking?Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.Support the showBuy the master class.

Novelist John D. McDonald said he had more plot ideas than time to write them.  That's not the case for most of us writers.  We usually are in chronic need of more plot, more story.  Here are techniques for inventing plot from James Scott Bell and Lester Dent.  Also: vivid character descriptions from Jean Shepherd, showing us how to create unforgettable characters.Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.Support the showBuy the master class.

Sometimes we are full  of ambition to write.  Yet we don't.  We put off our writing, then put it off again.  Why do we do that?  And what can be done to get us in front of the keyboard?  Here are thoughts on what we can do to get us producing.  Also, powerful first sentences drop the reader into the story after the action is already underway.  Here's how to do it, with examples from excellent writers.Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.Support the showBuy the master class.

Some words don't add anything to a sentence other than confusion.   Here are several modifiers that our story is better without.  Also, is cutting ten percent of our manuscript a good goal when editing?  What should we cut to reach that ten percent? Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.Support the showBuy the master class.

Dialogue lets the reader become part of the story, as if the reader is standing next to the characters listening to them talk.  Not all conversation between characters is equal: argument is the most engaging dialogue.  An argument between characters in our story--the back and forth, the accusations and denials, the evasions and justifications--can be riveting.  Here are thoughts on writing the big argument scene.Support the showBuy the master class.

Writing fiction is work but it doesn't need to be a grind.  Here's how we can have fun while we write, things that'll give us a joyful kick, maybe even make us laugh.  Also: the important technique of the mini-backstory, which reveals so much about our character in so little space.Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.Support the showBuy the master class.

Physics loves formulas: E=MC2.  How about writing?  Here is a formula for writing strong sentences, ones that are clear and have energy.  Our setting and character descriptions can also benefit from a formula, one that shows how to engage the reader.  That formula is talked about here, too.Support the showBuy the master class.