Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEpisode 180 - The critical distance between the reader and the action.
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 placi…
Published on 2 months, 1 week ago
Episode 179 - The critical writing techniques all in one episode.
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. Thi…
Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Episode 178 - How to make readers laugh.
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 Goodf…
Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Episode 177 - The description double duty technique.
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. He…
Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago
Episode 176 - Inventing a fabulous title.
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 tit…
Published on 3 months ago
Episode 175 - Writing funny dialogue.
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 he…
Published on 3 months, 1 week ago
Episode 174 - How to ruin our story's first sentences.
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 sho…
Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Episode 173 - The magic of dialogue.
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. …
Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Episode 172 - Our first fifteen pages.
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, a…
Published on 4 months ago
Episode 171 - Top ten list of bad advice for writers.
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 dialo…
Published on 4 months, 1 week ago