x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

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

24:35

Episode 191 - Do we know enough to write the first...

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/11/14

When do we know enough writing techniques to start our novel? And when is the story ready to be written? I'll try to answer both questions. Also, how do great writers describe a character's appearance in ways that reveal the character's past and personality? Here's how masterful writers do it. Support the show

en-us

27:10

Episode 190 - The right way to leave red herrings.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/11/07

Red herrings--false clues--are used in most all stories in all genres. Here are the right and wrong ways to insert red herrings into our stories. Also, here's how we can show--reveal--much about a character by describing a setting. Support the show

en-us

25:07

Episode 189 - Start as close to the end as possible.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/10/31

Kurt Vonnegut said we should "Start as close to the end as possible." What did he mean? How can we do so? Here are thoughts on this famous piece of advice from a legendary novelist. Also, avoiding the word "not" to give our sentences more energy. And Orson Scott Card on creativity. Support the show

en-us

29:15

Episode 188 - How to make our writing fun.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/10/24

Is your writing time becoming a grind? If so, here are some things that may reduce the grind and maybe even make writing fun. Also, here are thoughts on how we might write a sentence that is a timeless truth told in lovely language, an immortal sentence that will live forever. Support the show

en-us

28:46

Episode 187 - Giving readers what they want.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/10/17

We writers should consider giving readers what they want. Well, what do they want? Here is a discussion of the five things readers want in a novel. Also: the dual timeline plot structure. And F. Scott Fitzgerald's seven tips on writing. Support the show

en-us

26:41

Episode 186 - Showing--not telling--what a character...

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/10/10

Thoughts are interior, in our minds. But there are ways to show--to give evidence--that reveal to the reader what our character is thinking. Also, here is an important ingredient that many writers forget when describing a character. Support the show

en-us

24:15

Episode 185 - The keys to musical writing.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/10/03

The three most important words in our fiction are, "Story, story, story." But we can also shoot for lovely, musical language that makes each sentence and paragraph a pleasure to read. Here are thoughts on how to add music to our sentences. Support the show

en-us

26:30

Episode 184 - Skipping the dull stuff in our plot.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/09/26

In his famous ten rules of writing, Elmore Leonard says that we shouldn't write things readers tend to skip. What are those things? How can we avoid writing them? Also, should our story have theme and, if so, how can we present it? Support the show

en-us

27:35

Episode 183 - A key to making our sentences forceful.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/09/19

What do Ernest Hemingway, Cormac McCarthy, and Elmore Leonard have in common? Powerful stories, yes. But also lean and forceful sentences. Here's how they do it. Also: in our plotting,what's an acceptable coincidence and what's a weak, story-ruining coincidence? Support the show

en-us

23:48

Episode 182 - Things to think about as we write the...

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/09/12

After months and month if writing, we'll near the end of our story. Our novel is almost finished. Here are things we should consider as we wrap up our story. Also, for many of us editing our own story isn't as fun as writing. Here are thoughts on how we can make sure we edit enough, and how we know when to quit editing. Support the show

en-us

26:11

Episode 181 - A critical difference between scene and...

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/09/05

Why should almost all of our story be scenes rather than summaries? Here's how we can avoid summaries and instead write moment-by-moment real-time scenes in our fiction. Also: here are perhaps the most beautiful sentences ever written in fiction. Support the show

en-us

27:02

Episode 180 - The critical distance between the...

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel ·

2025/08/29

The reader is like a camera as the scene unfolds. Where should that camera be? How far away from the characters and the action? Here are thoughts on authorial distance, about the benefits of placing the camera--the reader--near or far. Plus, how Charlotte Bronte worked. Support the show

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

191 results

Similar Podcasts

Science Talk

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

五分钟心理学

柠檬心理

Daily Facts

Amalia Dupray and Montgomery Jones.

Les dents et dodo

BFMTV

Veterinary Clinical Podcasts

The Royal Veterinary College