Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEpisode 207 - When the hero lies to the reader.
Sometimes an unreliable narrator can be great fun to create, and great fun to read about. Here are techniques for developing a protagonist the reade…
6 months, 4 weeks ago
Episode 206 - How to get lots of plot ideas.
Novelist John D. McDonald said he had more plot ideas than time to write them. That's not the case for most of us writers. We usually are in chroni…
7 months, 1 week ago
Episiode 205 - How to stop stalling and get going.
Sometimes we are full of ambition to write. Yet we don't. We put off our writing, then put it off again. Why do we do that? And what can be done…
7 months, 2 weeks ago
Episode 204 - Meaningless modifiers and what to cut.
Some words don't add anything to a sentence other than confusion. Here are several modifiers that our story is better without. Also, is cutting te…
7 months, 3 weeks ago
Episode 203 - Argument makes our dialogue riveting.
Dialogue lets the reader become part of the story, as if the reader is standing next to the characters listening to them talk. Not all conversation …
7 months, 4 weeks ago
Episode 202 - How to have fun while writing.
Writing fiction is work but it doesn't need to be a grind. Here's how we can have fun while we write, things that'll give us a joyful kick, maybe ev…
8 months ago
Episode 201 - A formula for strong sentences.
Physics loves formulas: E=MC2. How about writing? Here is a formula for writing strong sentences, ones that are clear and have energy. Our setting…
8 months, 1 week ago
Episode 200 - How can we know if we can write?
Do we have the skill to write a novel or short story? Here are early clues that may let us know. Also, top writers' ten best rules of writing. An…
8 months, 2 weeks ago
Episode 199 - Writing a scene with many people and lots of motion.
Sometimes in our story we'll have a scene filled with people where everyone is moving all at once, such as a battle scene or mob scene or festival sc…
8 months, 3 weeks ago
Episode 198 - A big way to make our dialogue riveting.
Readers love dialogue, the chance to eavesdrop on the characters. Here is a good way to make that dialogue really worth listening to. Also, here ar…
9 months ago