Hosted by James Thayer, the podcast is a practical, step-by-step manual on how to craft a novel. It
Why are some novels so good? One of the reasons is that the author is a master at setting descripti
My first encounter with Mad Magazine, a life changer. And dialogue techniques that can help make ou
Good stories are filled with surprises for the reader. There are right and wrong ways for us writer
What do George Orwell, Sara Gruen, Jean Shepherd, and John Steinbeck have in common? Many things bu
Here is a magical way to end a scene and to begin another without worrying about travel and time bet
What should we do if we must--absolutely must--have an element in our story that might not be fully
We writers can use lovely phrases and perceptive observations when describing our character in our s
We can show (as opposed to tell) as we create a setting for our story. Showing will make our settin
We'll build our character as we write along, adding descriptions and actions and dialogue. But
Jack Bickham's three sentences on scene construction are the best I've found regarding how
Many listeners are writing literary novels and stories. Here is an important technique regarding co
The easiest thing for a reader to do is to quit reading our story. Here are ways to begin and end s
Stephen King is a powerful storyteller, of course, and he is also a highly-skilled sentence-by-sent
Readers love first person novels, where the hero talks directly to the reader. Here are some techni
Usually I talk about writing techniques but here are some living techniques for us writers. And som
How can an injury be good for us writers? It was for Roald Dahl. And here are Strunk and White&apo
A strong way to make a character likeable, and to have the reader root for her, is to have the chara
Contrast is among the strongest tools we writers can use. It's magic. Here is a discussion of
We can show (as opposed to tell) about a character's personality by describing the character&ap
In our novel should we leave plot questions unanswered so we have compelling questions for a sequel?
