Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

How can we shake loose from our brains plots for our novels?  Here's my favorite way.  Plus, benefits and perils of writing with a partner.  More on accents.  And avoiding adverbs, which are not a writer's friend.Support the showBuy the master class.

Why don't we begin our novel?  Here's a reason, and a way to avoid it.  Plus, we'll talk about qualifiers and intensifiers, the leeches of language.  And some thoughts on profanity and slang.  And why age benefits novelists.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.

Dive into the pitfalls of modifiers that can make writing feel rickety. Discover how unnecessary adjectives can dilute your prose and create confusion. Learn the dangers of dangling modifiers and complex verbs, all while embracing the power of simplicity. With humorous examples, this discussion showcases the value of clear and concise language, emphasizing how a few precise words can elevate your narrative. Anecdotes from renowned authors further highlight the journey toward successful storytelling.

Dive into the art of vivid sentence construction and learn to dodge pitfalls like clichés and mixed metaphors. Discover how precise language can energize your storytelling. The discussion reveals how age and experience can enhance creativity, and even shares some hilarious bad analogies from high school essays. Balance is key—too many modifiers can weaken your prose. Unlock the secrets to powerful writing while finding inspiration from historical figures who thrived later in life.

Our writing should be a clear window to the story, and a technique is to, in Einstein's phrase, keep it simple but not too simple.  Here are some techniques for doing that, along with a discussion of metaphors and similes.Support the showBuy the master class.

As writers, should we be concerned with a themes for our stories?   And a critical question: are writers allowed to be weird?  We'll also return to the need for early conflict in our stories, and then go on to discuss vivid writing.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.

Our setting -- the place and time of the scene -- anchor our characters the the ground.  Here are techniques for writing our settings to get the most from them, so that they play a strong role in the story.Support the showBuy the master class.

Our topics this episode are how to avoid breaking the fourth wall, onomatopoeia (clunk, thud, kersplat), and techniques on ending the novel.  We'll also talk about some bad writing, really bad writing.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 is so important to our stories that we'll talk more about it here.  Then we'll move on to foreshadowing--including the Chekhov's famous gun--and coincidences., where one is fine but two are not.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.

A fictional character's dialogue sounds like a person speaking in real life, but not too much like a person speaking in real life.  In this episode we'll talk about dialogue techniques that draw the reader into the story.Support the showBuy the master class.