How can we make our character memorable for the reader?  How can we make the character leap off the page and stay in the reader's memory?  Here's how Sherwood Anderson did it.  And here are also character descriptions from another master, William Faulkner, showing us how to create big and bold characters.

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Readers want a character who can grow and change over the course of the story. Here is a discussion of the character arc: how we can use the arc to develop our character and the plot, giving the reader the big reward at the end of the story of a character who has met the moment with change.  Plus, here is how we can show (rather than tell) about a character's thoughts such as confusion and dread.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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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.

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How we dress our character will show--that is, to reveal--much about our characters to the reader.  Clothing is evidence of our character's personality, and a strong tool for us writers.   Also, Jack Bickham has solid advice on how to end our chapters.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Huge rewards for fiction readers are a character's emotions; love, fear, gratitude, respect, loathing, and many others.  Here are techniques on how to create emotions in our characters that will  be intensely rewarding for readers.  Also: an example of the rule of exceptions regarding likeable characters..

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In the last episode we talked about major dialogue techniques.  Here are smaller ones--but still important techniques--that'll make our dialogue shine.  And: how does the best-selling novelist Jonathan Franzen work?  We'll find out.

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Dialogue in fiction is fun to write and fun to read.  Here are seven techniques that'll help make our dialogue shine.  Also, why should we create a character readers hate?  Because those characters can be riveting, and are a strong element in the story.   Here are some famous examples from novels, not main villains, but rather secondary characters who make readers groan when they appear on the page.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Let's talk about stupid writing,  And: how to get our story going without over-explanation and back-story.  How John Updike and Frank Baum wrote.  And an encounter with Aphrodite in English 101.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Here is a list of the fourteen biggest mistakes we can make when creating our scene, and how to avoid them.  Also, we'll talk about how to avoid the dull tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock metronome beat when writing sentences.  And: showing rather than telling about a character's personality.

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Adding a close friend for our story's protagonist offers many benefits.  Here are some thoughts on buddies.  And: how did novelists Willa Cather and Nathaniel Hawthorne work?  Plus, techniques for avoiding interior monologue when our character is alone in the scene.  And: should we write the story that's loudest in our head or should we aim for the market?

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Bland settings works against the story, and riveting settings propel the story forward.  Here are techniques for creating powerful settings that will engage the reader.  Also, the Wall Street Journal's interview of best-selling Ken Follett is fascinating, and here is some of it.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Here are thoughts on how to avoid early mistakes in our writing,  those blunders we might make before we write the first sentence of our story.    Also, a couple of wonderful quotation about writing.  And: new technology tools to help us writers.

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Action is the most interesting element in most novels, and a fight is action.   Here are some techniques for writing a fight scene.   Also, here's an almost sure-fire way to prime the pump of our plotting, a way to invent more plot for our story.   And: thoughts about naming our characters.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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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.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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The first sentence of our story should suggest to the reader, "Come on in and listen."  A good first sentence propels the reader into the story, and here are some ways to write them.   Also: Stephen King's twenty important techniques for writing.

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Why should we keep a tie-up later list?   How to create one and their importance are mentioned.   And Angelou, King, and Tolstoy.  Also: should we plan a sequel?

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Listening to characters speak is a great pleasure for readers.  It's as if the reader is a character in the scene, listening in, eavesdropping.  Here are the three most important dialogue writing techniques I can think of.   Also; how can we make our third-person narrator as intimate with the reader as a first-person narrator?  Some thoughts are offered on how to get the reader close to the third-person character.   And: Mark Twain's daily writing habits.

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Humorous characters are fun to read about and fun to write about.  Here are some thoughts on why funny characters are important in our stories, and some techniques for creating funny characters.  Also: Charles Dickens' daily work schedule.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Here are ways to show with action and dialogue what our character is thinking so we can avoid visiting the character's mind for interior monologue, usually the least interesting element of a story.   And we visit Somerset Maugham, Truman Capote, and Herman Melville.

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Do we need courage to write our first novel?  If so, where do we find it?  Also, writing the physical description of our hero in a first-person novel can be tricky.  Here are thoughts on how we might do so.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Here's a list of the most important techniques we should think about when plotting and writing our novel or short story.  Also, more on making our settings work for our story.  And, how we can show rather than tell about love.

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Did soon-to-be famous writers know as they drafted their novels that they were creating magic for readers?   Maybe.   Maybe not.   And how can we choose the strong word instead the the weak, so that our sentence shines?  Also, here are thoughts on how long our chapters should be, and how to make sure they are not too long and not too short.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Young adult fiction is a vast market, and many wonderful writers create YA novels.  Here are some thoughts on YA, some techniques we might keep in mind as we put together a story meant for teenagers.  Also, what is the balance between not enough detail and too much detail in our scenes?   I'll set out a formula.

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A distinctive voice can add a charming or compelling aspect to a story.  What is voice?  And do we need a distinctive voice?  Maybe not, maybe so.  Here are thoughts about a voice for our stories.  Also mentioned are ideas and techniques regarding flashbacks.

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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.

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The words on our page should be a clear window to our story.   How can we do that?  Here are eleven techniques to make our sentences forceful and clear.   Also, some comments on the story arc.   What is a story arc?  Is the concept useful?

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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A literary agent or a publisher may ask for a synopsis of our novel, a three to five-page summary.  Here are techniques on how to write one.  Also, can artificial intelligence write fiction?  We'll find out.  Plus, ridding our sentences of filters to get the reader closer to the scene.

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New writers tend to put too much summary into their stories.  I'll talk about how to avoid that mistake, making sure that most of our novels are scenes.   Why is this so important?   Scenes are much more engaging for the reader than are summaries.   Also, here's how to show--rather than tell--about our characters' aches and pains.   And here's a list of the twelve best novels of all time.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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A great pleasure in our fiction reading is coming across a dastardly villain, someone so bad and so well-described we will never forget him or her.  Hannibal Lecter.  Nurse Ratched.  Huckleberry Finn's father Pap.   How can writers create such a villain?  Here are techniques, in particular regarding the physical description of the villain.   Also discussed is how we can get unstuck in our plotting or writing.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Here are two errors we might make when describing our setting.  First, using a dull setting.  And, second, making the setting inert, that is, not having the setting contribute to the story.   Here are techniques to avoid both mistakes.  Plus, we'll look at how other novelists get to work each day, how they manage to sit themselves down and start writing.

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Once we have completed our novel, it may be time to obtain the services of a literary agent.  Here are thoughts on how to find good ones, and how to write a query asking them to look at your manuscript 

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Blue is bluer when placed next to yellow.  Here are techniques on the use of contrast to make our scenes and characters more vivid.  Also, we can learn how to describe characters--and we can be inspired--by reading how the masters create their characters.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Here are some thoughts about how we can write our story in the first-person, some techniques that will capture the reader.   Also, usually the fewer the adverbs and adjectives, the stronger the writing.  Here's how we can reduce the number of modifiers in our fiction.  And here's a list of the six funniest novels of all time.

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One of the best ways to learn the craft of fiction is to read the works of great writers, those novelists who know how to offer the reader unforgettable images of new places and new people.   Here are examples of character and setting descriptions from skilled writers.   Listening to them, we'll be inspired to create vivid and enchanting descriptions

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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What's the difference between an idea and plot?  It's important to know as we begin writing.  Also, readers love joyous dialogue.  Here are thoughts on how to write it.

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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?

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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What in our lives made us want to write?  Here's a discussion about lighting that fuse.  Also: here are techniques for showing rather than telling about our story's setting.  And discussed also is a wonderful way to learn to write that takes little extra time or effort.  Finally, how to write dialogue when the characters are afraid.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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A main reason readers put a novel on their all-time top-ten favorites list is because they fall in love with a character.  Here's how we can create characters readers will love.  Also discussed are techniques for writing sad dialogue.  And also: how to get unstuck when writing or novel or short story.

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I've been checking out the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, and here are some impressions of its use for writers.  And: what are the benefits of identifying our novel as being in a genre?  Also, more on  those pesky dialogue tag modifiers.  

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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How can we get off the dime and start writing our novel or short story?  Here are some thoughts.  Also, readers love emotional dialogue; techniques to write romantic dialogue and angry dialogue are discussed.

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Here is a strong technique for immersing readers in our settings.  Readers will think they are right there with our characters.  Also, almost all stories should have a romance, and keys to writing romance scenes are reviewed.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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Here is a strong technique to make our characters vivid and memorable for the reader.   And also: most novels should have action scenes.   The craft of writing a powerful action scene is reviewed.

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Sometimes a scene we've written just doesn't feel right.  Something is amiss but we can't put our fingers on it.  Here's a method to figure out what might be wrong and how to fix it.  Also: we can get stuck in our thinking about the plot.  Where should the story go next?  What should we add?  Here are ideas on inventing plot points.

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A terrific way for writers to find inspiration is to hear legendary sentences from famous novels.  Here are a few.  Should we fiddle with fonts in our manuscript?   And slow motion is a powerful tool for our scenes.

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Can we use a spreadsheet to plot our novels?   Some authors do.   Here are thoughts about using Excel for outlining a story.   Also, most main characters in a novel tell the truth to the reader.   But some don't.   Sometimes an unreliable narrator is a strong tool for plotting.   Plus, should authors fiddle with the speed of time in our novels?   Hurrying time and skipping time?   Here are some techniques regarding the flow of time in our stories.

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How can we handle the dispiriting feeling that writing our novel is a huge, endless, and hard chore with completion far in the future, if ever?  Here are some thoughts about facing our big writing project.  Also mentioned are some sentence-by-sentence writing mistakes that are easy to avoid.  And this episode presents some specific words we can delete from our manuscript, and our story will magically be better.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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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?

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Creating a timeline can help us keep things straight as we plot and write.  Also, here's a discussion of authorial distance, which is the closeness or distance the reader feels from the scene's subjects.  And a list of ways to avoid sentence-by-sentence weak writing.

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For each scene, the perfect number of characters exists.  We'll talk about that number.  Too few, and we don't have a scene.  Too many, and the scene is like a subway at rush hour.  Also, here are some techniques regarding metaphors and similes, a skill that can make our writing more lyrical and engaging.   Please note: I will be out of the office next week, and so won't upload a new episode next Friday, but will return for a new episode the following Friday.

Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dialogue, scenes, sentence-level craft, and much more.  Each episode is focused and about 30 minutes.  The full class—all 20 episodes—is available now for a one-time price of forty-nine dollars.  If you want structured, concise guidance, click the Buy the Master Class link in the show notes to get started.

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How many words a day?  Too fast, and our story might be sloppy.  Too slow, and we'll never finish.  Here are some thoughts about our pace of writing.  And also; contrast is a critical tool for us writers.  How can we use it?

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