Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEpisode 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…
3 years 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…
3 years, 1 month 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…
3 years, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 1 month 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, 2 months 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, 2 months ago
Episode 70 - Writing a story in the first-person.
Here are some thoughts about how we can write our story in the first-person, some techniques that will capture the reader. Also, usually the fewer …
3 years, 2 months ago
Episode 69 - Learning character and setting descriptions from the masters.
One of the best ways to learn the craft of fiction is to read the works of great writers, those novelists who know how to offer the reader unforgetta…
3 years, 2 months ago
Episode 68 - Do we have an idea or a plot? Also: how to write joyful dialogue.
What's the difference between an idea and plot? It's important to know as we begin writing. Also, readers love joyous dialogue. Here are thoughts …
3 years, 2 months ago