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.

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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.

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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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. 

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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.

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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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.

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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.

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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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.

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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.

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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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.

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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.  

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.

Support the show

Buy the master class.