Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEpisode 80 - Maybe we are writing magic, and strong versus weak words.
Did soon-to-be famous writers know as they drafted their novels that they were creating magic for readers? Maybe. Maybe not. And how can we cho…
2 years, 10 months ago
Episode 79 - Tips for writing YA fiction. Also: adding detail to our scenes.
Young adult fiction is a vast market, and many wonderful writers create YA novels. Here are some thoughts on YA, some techniques we might keep in mi…
2 years, 10 months ago
Episode 78 - Developing a distinctive voice, and flashbacks.
A distinctive voice can add a charming or compelling aspect to a story. What is voice? And do we need a distinctive voice? Maybe not, maybe so. H…
2 years, 11 months ago
Episode 77 - Eleven techniques for writing strong sentences.
The words on our page should be a clear window to our story. How can we do that? Here are eleven techniques to make our sentences forceful and cle…
2 years, 11 months ago
Episode 76 - Writing our synopsis, and avoiding filters.
A literary agent or a publisher may ask for a synopsis of our novel, a three to five-page summary. Here are techniques on how to write one. Also, c…
2 years, 11 months ago
Episode 75 - The magical difference between scene and summary.
New writers tend to put too much summary into their stories. I'll talk about how to avoid that mistake, making sure that most of our novels are scen…
2 years, 11 months ago
Episode 74 - How to describe our villainous villain, and how to get unstuck.
A great pleasure in our fiction reading is coming across a dastardly villain, someone so bad and so well-described we will never forget him or her. …
3 years ago
Episode 73 - How to make settings work for our story, and how writers get to work each day.
Here are two errors we might make when describing our setting. First, using a dull setting. And, second, making the setting inert, that is, not hav…
3 years ago
Episode 72 - Finding an agent, and writing a query.
Once we have completed our novel, it may be time to obtain the services of a literary agent. Here are thoughts on how to find good ones, and how to …
3 years ago
Episode 71 - Using the critical tool of contrast. And writing vivid character descriptions.
Blue is bluer when placed next to yellow. Here are techniques on the use of contrast to make our scenes and characters more vivid. Also, we can lea…
3 years ago