Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEpisode 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…
9 months 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 sho…
9 months, 1 week 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 fi…
9 months, 2 weeks 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 u…
9 months, 4 weeks ago
Episode 170 - Writing the crowd scene. And guilt and pride.
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: h…
10 months ago
Episode 169 - How to find a surefire plot.
Stephen King says there is no idea dump we can visit to find a good plot. We have to create our own plots. How can we do so? Here's a discussion o…
10 months, 1 week ago
Episode 168 - Making our first sentence sparkle.
Does our story's first sentence cause the reader to ask, "What's next?" Or does the reader say, "So what?" Here are thoughts on creating a tense, s…
10 months, 2 weeks ago
Episode 167 - Revealing our character by the setting.
Our setting descriptions should do more than describe a place. They can also show the reader much about our character. Here's how to do so. Also: …
10 months, 3 weeks ago
Episode 166- Showing our character's thoughts.
Two mistakes can ruin our presentation of what our character is thinking: telling rather than showing, and interior monologue. Here are ways to pres…
11 months ago
Episode 165 - The rule of exceptions.
Sometimes the strongest writing technique isn't the strongest in our story. Every writing rule has exceptions, and here's a discussion on when to ma…
11 months, 1 week ago