Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

We want to write but we don't have our story fully figured out. What can we do? Here are thoughts on inventing plot, things we can do to shake loose the plot from our brains. Also, the techniques of a master of...

Fiction's job is to entertain. A main way to entertain is to be bold with our plot. Here are thoughts on how to avoid the dull in our plot and how to create a story that keeps readers turning the pages. Also, how to...

In fiction in all genres only trouble is interesting. How do we writers use trouble in our story? Here are thoughts on how we can plot using conflict, crisis, and resolution, a technique important for all genres. Also...

When do we know enough writing techniques to start our novel? And when is the story ready to be written? I'll try to answer both questions. Also, how do great writers describe a character's appearance in ways that...

Red herrings--false clues--are used in most all stories in all genres. Here are the right and wrong ways to insert red herrings into our stories. Also, here's how we can show--reveal--much about a character by...

Kurt Vonnegut said we should "Start as close to the end as possible." What did he mean? How can we do so? Here are thoughts on this famous piece of advice from a legendary novelist. Also, avoiding the word "not" to give...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

We may be writing a comic novel or we may want to add humor to our thriller or romance or horror or literary novel. Humor adds a strong element to most any story. Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas: “Funny how? I...

Good descriptions of characters should do double duty: they can let the reader know what the character looks like and the description can also suggest something about the character's personality. Here are examples and...

The title is the book browser's first impression of our novel. The title should tempt the browser to pick up and open the book. Here are thoughts on how we can give our story a strong, enticing title. Also, how do...

We can write dialogue that makes readers laugh. Here are thoughts on creating funny conversations between our characters. Plus, we don't need to have our character look into a mirror to describe herself, which has been...

A story's first sentence should make the reader ask, "What's next?" They should propel the reader into the story. Here's how to do it right and how to do it wrongly. Also, three master writers show us how to describe a...

Dialogue is fun to write and fun to read. Our story should have lots of it. Here's a powerful thing dialogue can do: it can reveal (that is, to show rather than tell) what a character is thinking. The character's...

The first pages of our novel should contain certain elements and avoid certain elements. Here's a list of things to include and exclude in those first pages. Plus, ways to write forceful, clear, and lovely sentences...

In these episodes I try to set out good writing advice but a lot of bad advice is out there, so here is a list of bad advice, and the list may help us avoid writing blunders. Here are also ten dialogue mistakes, and...

Here are techniques for keeping focus in a scene where there is a crowd, with an example from Harper Lee. And how Margaret Mitchell worked. Plus: how can we show rather than tell about a character's guilt or pride...