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?How to Start a Podcast Guide: The Complete Guide
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Episode 91 - The benefits of a buddy, and Willa Cather and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

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.

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It's critical for us writers to make multiple simultaneous submissions.  Here are some thoughts on why it's so important.   And I mention a wonderful but counterintuitive technique that makes our dialogue smoother.   Also: the importance of a scene playing out minute-by-minute, without time skips.How to Start a Podcast Guide: The Complete Guide
Learn how to plan, record, and launch your podcast with this illustrated guide.
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Episode 117 - Making multiple submissions, and a strong dialogue technique.

Where can we turn when wondering about whether we should continue reading a novel?  Right here, for some thoughts on reading.  Also, here is a discussion on big mistakes we might make when creating our story's setting, and how to avoid them.How to Start a Podcast Guide: The Complete Guide
Learn how to plan, record, and launch your podcast with this illustrated guide.
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Episode 116 - Advice from your lifestyle counselor, and mistakes when describing our setting.

Some novels--even novels that are great literature--have titles that are downers: titles that are sour and pessimistic.  Here are thoughts on why we might not want to give our novels downer titles.   Also, why we should avoid words that when too close together echo poorly, creating a distracting dissonance.   And how we writers can practice.How to Start a Podcast Guide: The Complete Guide
Learn how to plan, record, and launch your podcast with this illustrated guide.
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Episode 115 - Downer titles and words that echo poorly.

Details are proofs, evidence offered to the reader about our story.   Details will make our fiction engaging and will allow the story to grab readers.  But there are right and wrong ways to use details, and we'll talk about the difference.  Also, how should we handle back-story, politics, and society in our story?  And a goofy pop quiz.How to Start a Podcast Guide: The Complete Guide
Learn how to plan, record, and launch your podcast with this illustrated guide.
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Episode 114 - A critical technique to make our story engaging.

For most of us our sentence-by-sentence writing should be a clear window to our story rather than a barrier to seeing the story.  Here are thoughts on the clear window.  Also, how George Orwell worked.How to Start a Podcast Guide: The Complete Guide
Learn how to plan, record, and launch your podcast with this illustrated guide.
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Episode 91 - The benefits of a buddy, and Willa Cather and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

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