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Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

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.

Episode 111 - If we have to have a big meeting, show rather than tell.

28 mins; May 03, 2024

Episode 110 - Book cover design, and regaining enthusiasm.

26 mins; April 26, 2024

Episode 109 - How we can stop stalling and get going.

26 mins; April 19, 2024

Episode 108 - Every description should do double duty.

27 mins; April 12, 2024

Episode 107 - The differences between literary and commercial fiction.

29 mins; April 05, 2024

Episode 106 - How to write a scene's sequel, and plotting the novel's middle.

27 mins; March 29, 2024

Episode 105 - A technique for plotting scene to scene, and my failed writing experiment.

27 mins; March 22, 2024

Episode 104 - Let's get to work, and showing with dialogue.

27 mins; March 15, 2024

Episode 103 - The joy of creating something out of nothing. And, is our new plot point a strong one?

25 mins; March 08, 2024

Episode 102 - Lovely sentence-by-sentence writing, and pumping up our creativity.

25 mins; March 01, 2024

Episode 101 - The phrases notebook, and avoiding our plot bogging down.

26 mins; February 23, 2024

Episode 100 - Getting into the flow, and the power of fiction.

29 mins; February 16, 2024

Episode 99 - Traps when writing character-driven stories.

24 mins; February 09, 2024

Episode 98 - Counterintuitive techniques that new writers might resist.

25 mins; February 02, 2024

Episode 97 - Clothing our characters. Also, how to end a scene.

25 mins; January 26, 2024

Episode 96 - How to create emotions in our characters and readers.

28 mins; January 19, 2024

Episode 95 - More strong dialogue techniques.

24 mins; January 12, 2024

Episode 94 - Seven big dialogue writing techniques.

27 mins; January 05, 2024

Episode 93 - Can we avoid stupid writing?

30 mins; December 29, 2023

Episode 92 - Fourteen scene mistakes and how to avoid them.

26 mins; December 22, 2023

Episode 91 - The benefits of a buddy, and Willa Cather and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

27 mins; December 15, 2023

Episode 90 - Techniques for creating riveting settings.

26 mins; December 08, 2023

Episode 89 - Avoiding the biggest mistakes before we begin to write.

25 mins; December 01, 2023

Episode 88 - Writing the fight scene.

29 mins; November 24, 2023

Episode 87 - How to write a fabulous first sentence.

29 mins; November 17, 2023

Episode 86 - The importance of a tie-up later list. Also: sequels.

24 mins; November 10, 2023

Episode 85 - Dialogue's three most important techniques.

26 mins; November 03, 2023

Episode 84 - Why we should create a funny character, and how to do so.

24 mins; October 27, 2023

Episode 83 - How to show our character's thoughts to avoid interior monologue.

26 mins; October 20, 2023

Episode 82 - Finding the courage to write, and describing our first-person hero.

29 mins; October 13, 2023

Episode 81 - The top ten fiction writing techniques.

26 mins; October 06, 2023

Episode 80 - Maybe we are writing magic, and strong versus weak words.

26 mins; September 29, 2023

Episode 79 - Tips for writing YA fiction. Also: adding detail to our scenes.

27 mins; September 22, 2023

Episode 78 - Developing a distinctive voice, and flashbacks.

26 mins; September 15, 2023

Episode 77 - Eleven techniques for writing strong sentences.

26 mins; September 08, 2023

Episode 76 - Writing our synopsis, and avoiding filters.

25 mins; September 01, 2023

Episode 75 - The magical difference between scene and summary.

25 mins; August 25, 2023

Episode 74 - How to describe our villainous villain, and how to get unstuck.

25 mins; August 18, 2023

Episode 73 - How to make settings work for our story, and how writers get to work each day.

25 mins; August 11, 2023

Episode 72 - Finding an agent, and writing a query.

32 mins; August 04, 2023

Episode 71 - Using the critical tool of contrast. And writing vivid character descriptions.

27 mins; July 28, 2023

Episode 70 - Writing a story in the first-person.

23 mins; July 21, 2023

Episode 69 - Learning character and setting descriptions from the masters.

25 mins; July 14, 2023

Episode 68 - Do we have an idea or a plot? Also: how to write joyful dialogue.

25 mins; July 07, 2023

Episode 67 - Lighting the writing fuse, and showing rather than telling about the setting.

27 mins; June 30, 2023

Episode 66 - Creating characters readers love. Also; techniques for writing sad dialogue.

25 mins; June 23, 2023

Episode 65 - A writer's thoughts on ChatGPT. And the benefits of identifying our genre.

27 mins; June 16, 2023

Episode 64 - How to get started writing, and tips on romantic and angry dialogue.

26 mins; June 09, 2023

Episode 63 - How to bring our settings to life, and writing the romantic scene.

31 mins; June 02, 2023

Episode 62 - A technique for bringing our characters to life, and writing the action scene.

28 mins; May 26, 2023

Episode 61 - How to detect and fix a sloppy scene. Also: how to unleash story ideas.

22 mins; May 19, 2023

Episode 60 - Fabulous sentences of fiction, font fiddling, and slow motion.

22 mins; May 12, 2023

Episode 59 - Plotting with a spreadsheet. And the unreliable narrator. Also, fiddling with the flow of time.

24 mins; May 05, 2023

Episode 58 - Making writing less daunting, and some techniques to avoid weak sentences.

28 mins; April 28, 2023

Episode 57 - An important tool, the timeline. Also, authorial distance.

23 mins; April 23, 2023

Episode 56 - How many characters are too many? And he wore his guilt like a harness.

27 mins; April 14, 2023

Episode 55 - How many words should we write a day? And the use of contrast.

24 mins; April 07, 2023

Episode 54 - Fear of failure, author photos, and the use of humor.

25 mins; March 31, 2023

Episode 53 - Embarrassing stuff, and the middle of the novel.

23 mins; March 24, 2023

Episode 52 - Making our sentences more lively, and avoiding reader disbelief.

25 mins; March 17, 2023

Episode 51 - The wonder factor.

25 mins; March 10, 2023

Episode 50 - The right kind of surprise ending, and wonderful character descriptions.

27 mins; March 03, 2023

Episode 49 - Avoiding the biggest mistake, and keeping the POV tight.

22 mins; February 24, 2023

Episode 48 - Writing strong dialogue, and Ray Bradbury on plotting.

25 mins; February 17, 2023

Episode 47 - A strong plotting technique, and leeches.

22 mins; February 10, 2023

Episode 46 - What if no one comes to our book signing? And crafting our narrative voice.

26 mins; January 06, 2023

Episode 45 - Techniques to make our dialogue riveting.

20 mins; December 30, 2022

Episode 44 - How to avoid another prospect-killing mistake.

21 mins; December 23, 2022

Episode 43 - Dialogue should do double duty. Here's how.

26 mins; December 16, 2022

Episode 42 - The single most important writing technique.

24 mins; December 09, 2022

Episode 41 - How can we know if we have the talent to write?

26 mins; December 02, 2022

Episode 40 - Creating villainous villains.

26 mins; November 25, 2022

Episode 39 - How to create characters readers love.

25 mins; November 18, 2022

Episode 38 - We shouldn't write these scenes, and strong techniqes for character description.

28 mins; November 11, 2022

Episode 37 - When to stop preparing and start writing.

26 mins; November 04, 2022

Episode 36 - The most interesting to the least interesting aspects of a novel.

27 mins; October 28, 2022

Episode 35 - A close look at scene structure, and avoiding mushy sentences.

23 mins; October 21, 2022

Episode 34 - Why and how to practice writing, and more thoughts on thoughts.

24 mins; October 14, 2022

Episode 33 - Danger signs our plot is dull.

24 mins; October 07, 2022

Episode 32 - A formula for showing, and clear and spare writing.

26 mins; September 30, 2022

Episode 31 - Favorite novels and check-mark plotting.

22 mins; September 23, 2022

Episode 30 - Plotting and the power struggle.

26 mins; September 16, 2022

Episode 29 - The pattern of a novel.

27 mins; September 09, 2022

Episode 28 - The enchanter quality, and weather and rudeness.

27 mins; September 02, 2022

Episode 27 - The importance of genres and formulas. And thoughts about titles.

24 mins; August 26, 2022

Episode 26 - Navel gazing and how to avoid it. And more on showing

27 mins; August 19, 2022

Episode 25: The magic of writing. Cause and effect. And thinking.

25 mins; August 12, 2022

Episode 24 - Showing others our work. And strong sentence-by-sentence writing techniques.

24 mins; August 05, 2022

Episode 23: Editing our own manuscript

26 mins; July 29, 2022

Episode 22: A summary of earlier episodes, and techniques for musical writing.

29 mins; July 22, 2022

Episode 21: Creativity and how to get it.

26 mins; July 15, 2022

Episode 20 - Reasons we fail to start.

26 mins; July 07, 2022

Episode 19 - More on modifiers, including the useless and the dangling. And clunky reach words.

27 mins; June 06, 2022

Episode 18 - Lots of things to avoid: the negative, cliches, and too many modifiers.

26 mins; June 04, 2022

Episode 17 - Keep it simple but not too simple, and metaphors.

25 mins; May 29, 2022

Episode 16: Theme, odd questions, more on conflict, and vivid writing.

27 mins; May 21, 2022

Episode 15 - Techniques for writing about settings.

30 mins; May 16, 2022

Episode14: The fourth wall, the ending, and some bad writing.

27 mins; May 11, 2022

Episode 13: More on dialogue, and techniques about foreshadowing and coincidences

26 mins; May 06, 2022

Episode 12 - Dialogue

25 mins; April 28, 2022

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Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

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