Essential Guide to Writing a Novel
Episodes
Episode 13: More on dialogue, and techniques about foreshadowing and coincidences
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dialogue is so important to our stories that we'll talk more about it here. Then we'll move on to foreshadowing--including the Chekhov&apo...
Episode 12 - Dialogue
28 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A fictional character's dialogue sounds like a person speaking in real life, but not too much like a person speaking in real life. In this epis...
Episode 11: Point of view and voice.
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Here are techniques to control our point of view so that our story doesn't have a dizzying quality as the reader jumps from one character's ...
Episode 10: More show and tell, and the grammatical person.
16 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The difference between showing and telling is so important that we continue with it in this episode, including the technique of saving it for later. ...
Episode 9: Showing versus telling
09 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We'll talk about the most critical skill for vivid writing, showing versus telling. Showing reveals. Telling explains. Showing is almost al...
Episode 8 - Scene and summary
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We'll discuss the difference between summary and scene., and why writing scenes rather than summaries is so important. Point of view will also ...
Episode 7 - How to craft a scene.
27 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Crafting a scene involves mechanics hidden from readers. Here are techniques that lead to the success of a scene: ways to grab the reader, immerse h...
Episode 6: Villains and sidekicks.
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How can we create compelling villains and lovable and maybe eccentric sidekicks? How many characters should we put in a scene? How about basing a ...
Episode 5: Creating compelling characters.
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Characters in fiction come in a huge variety, and creating characters involves techniques that discussed in this episode. There are reasons we find ...
Episode 4: Pace, the first sentence, back-story, over-description
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We'll talk about how to keep the reader involved in the story, how to move a plot forward. And we'll discuss one of my favorite topics: ...
Episode 3 - Go big or go home.
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is there an idea dump where we can find a fresh plot for our novel or a strong plot point for the next chapter of our novel? No, but good methods ex...
Episode 2: Getting ready to start writing a novel.
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Getting ready to start a novel. Drafting a a plan (timetable). An outline (pros and cons). Other useful pre-writing and during-the-writing doc...
Episode 1: Learning and getting better at the craft of writing.
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Follow the rules. Go with what works to increase our chances of getting published. Writing can be learned. And if we know how to write, we can g...