Podcast Episodes

Episode 154 - Learning from the masterful writer Edna Ferber.

Edna Ferber was a master of character description.  Here are a few of her characters, and maybe we can pick up some of her skill.  Also, how many wor…

1 year, 1 month ago

Episode 153 - A legendary novelist's lesson for us writers.

Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre is a classic of western literature, a novel that endures and still hugely entertains because . . . it's so great. …

1 year, 2 months ago

Episode 152 - How the masters create their settings.

Why are some novels so good?  One of the reasons is that the author is a master at setting descriptions.  How did Charlotte Bronte and Edna Ferber ma…

1 year, 2 months ago

Episode 151 - Mad Magazine, and techniques for riveting dialogue.

My first encounter with Mad Magazine, a life changer.  And dialogue techniques that can help make our characters' conversations fascinating.

Support t…

1 year, 2 months ago

Episode 150 - How to deliver a surprise in the story.

Good stories are filled with surprises for the reader.  There are right and wrong ways for us writers to deliver surprises, and I'll talk about them …

1 year, 2 months ago

Episode 149 - How masterful writers use details.

What do George Orwell, Sara Gruen, Jean Shepherd, and John Steinbeck have in common?  Many things but foremost among them is their expert use of deta…

1 year, 3 months ago

Episode 148: A magical way to end one scene and begin another.

Here is a magical way to end a scene and to begin another without worrying about travel and time between scenes.  Also: avoiding dangling modifiers. …

1 year, 3 months ago

Episode 147 - Make sure it's important and make it short.

What should we do if we must--absolutely must--have an element in our story that might not be fully entertaining and engaging?   1) Make sure it's im…

1 year, 3 months ago

Episode 146 - How to make our character unforgettable.

We writers can use lovely phrases and perceptive observations when describing our character in our story, and yet the reader may still quickly forget…

1 year, 3 months ago

Episode 145 - Bringing our settings to life.

We can show (as opposed to tell) as we create a setting for our story.  Showing will make our settings vivid, and will allow the setting description …

1 year, 3 months ago