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PODCAST

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

Hosted by James Thayer, the podcast is a practical, step-by-step manual on how to craft a novel. It presents a set of tools for large issues such as story development and scene construction (Kirkus Reviews said Thayer"s novels are "superbly crafted") and it also examines techniques that will make your sentence-by-sentence writing shine. The New York Times Book Review has said Thayer"s "writing is smooth and clear. it wastes no words, and it has a rhythm only confident stylists achieve.

education how to

All Episodes

27:15

Episode 179 - The critical writing techniques all in...

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/08/22

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. This episode is a refresher. Support the show

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27:34

Episode 178 - How to make readers laugh.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/08/15

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 Goodfellas: “Funny how? I mean, funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh?" Well, yeah. Let's see how we can make readers laugh. Support the show

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27:37

Episode 177 - The description double duty technique.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/08/08

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. Here are examples and thoughts on double duty descriptions. Also, how Alice Walker works. Support the show

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24:47

Episode 176 - Inventing a fabulous title.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/08/01

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 title. Also, how do famous authors edit their own manuscripts? Maybe we can learn from them the best way to self-edit our stories. Support the show

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25:48

Episode 175 - Writing funny dialogue.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/07/25

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 herself, which has been done time and again. Here are ways to avoid the mirror. Support the show

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25:36

Episode 174 - How to ruin our story's first sentences.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/07/18

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 show us how to describe a setting. Support the show

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23:56

Episode 173 - The magic of dialogue.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/07/11

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. The character's conversation can be lively and fun, and hearing the character speak is so much stronger than reading the character's mind. Here are thoughts on writing revealing dialogue. Support the show

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25:53

Episode 172 - Our first fifteen pages.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/07/04

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, and lovely sentences. Support the show

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29:09

Episode 171 - Top ten list of bad advice for writers.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/06/27

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 dialogue mistakes, and avoiding them likely means we end up with engaging and even riveting dialogue for our characters. Support the show

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28:09

Episode 170 - Writing the crowd scene. And guilt and...

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/06/20

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: how can we show rather than tell about a character's guilt or pride. Support the show

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25:03

Episode 169 - How to find a surefire plot.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/06/13

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 on creating plots. Also, if Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition can learn to write, so can we. And the critical technique of using the active sentence form. Support the show

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27:17

Episode 168 - Making our first sentence sparkle.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/06/06

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, sparkling first sentence. Also, how the masters use specific, definite, and concrete details to convince the reader. Support the show

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26:48

Episode 167 - Revealing our character by the setting.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/05/30

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: what's the main thing our plot needs: trouble. Here's why. And how Edna Ferber worked. Support the show

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24:30

Episode 166- Showing our character's thoughts.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/05/23

Two mistakes can ruin our presentation of what our character is thinking: telling rather than showing, and interior monologue. Here are ways to present thoughts in a way that grabs the reader. Also, how Octavia Butler worked. And examples of wonderful character descriptions from masterful writers. Support the show

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28:41

Episode 165 - The rule of exceptions.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/05/16

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 make exceptions. Also, how to create a strong title for our novel and short story. Support the show

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28:36

Episode 164 - Design our cover? And the masters on...

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/05/09

We are learning fiction techniques, and we are or soon will be skilled fiction writers. Does this mean we should design our own book covers? Also, Michael Chabon's terrific sense of smell. And the use of details in the haunted house. Support the show

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25:36

Episode 163 - The benefits of an underdog.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/05/02

Having readers fall in love with our character is so important, and making our hero an underdog is a good way to do it. Here are thoughts on underdog characters. Also, I'll read a few character descriptions from master story-tellers that may make us stronger writers. Support the show

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27:19

Episode 162 - The state fair plotting technique.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/04/25

Our story should be like a state fair: one thing after another. Here are some ideas on state fair plotting. Plus: settings shouldn't be inert locations in our novel or short story but rather should work for our story. Here's how to get the most from our settings. Also: my experiment with AI proofreading. Support the show

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26:46

Episode 161 - Ways to give readers what they want.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/04/18

Readers want five things in a story, three of which are right in the beginning. Here's a discussion of how to deliver those five things. Plus, a character's thoughts are the least interesting aspect of a story. How can we show what a character is thinking without entering her mind? Support the show

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24:01

Episode 160 - Should our story have a theme?

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/04/11

Best-selling writers disagree on the importance of a theme in stories. Here are thoughts on whether we should present a theme in our novel or short story. And famous authors on their writing discipline. Plus, mixing genres when telling an agent or publisher about our novel. Support the show

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199 results

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