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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The show where you join me, Oliver Brackenbury, on the journey of writing my next novel, from first ideas all the way to publication & promotion. In this unique, one-man-reality show I'll share you with you my ever evolving thoughts and feelings on how I write, being a writer, and everything that entails at each stage of the process. I'll also answer listener questions and, sometimes, interview people who write fiction. If you're the kind of person who likes to learn how things are made, and ...
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Write Your Damn Novel (formerly How to Win NaNo) is a no-nonsense guide to writing a novel in 30 days. Like it or not November comes every year, but don't you worry — your hosts are here for you! Kristina Horner and Liz Leo are 'writing-50k-words-in-a-month' experts (and lifelong writing friends) with a passion for helping people write their damn novel. Join them each week as they share their personal tips, tricks and other things they've learned over almost two decades of consecutive NaNoWr ...
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Author Keith McNally describes his process while writing a novel.
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Face it. We all want to write novels. “Write A Novel” is the podcast you need to make that goal a reality. It doesn't matter if you don't know what to write about or how to tell a story. I'm here to walk you through the process as many times as you need to make your dreams of being an author come true.
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I’m just a young writer trying to figure out how to write her first novel so I’m going to share my experiences with you. This includes me reading sections of my book, trying to figure out how to write sections of my book, and giving a few tips that I’ve learned through my experience with writing.
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Matt Bird (author of "The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers") and James Kennedy (author of the novel "The Order of Odd-Fish") have raucous debates about the craft of novel writing, screenwriting, storytelling (and anything else they want to fight about!) Through their discussion you will learn how to be a better storyteller.
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Episode 155 - The single most important ingredient in an unforgetable story.
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24:54Manon in Paris asked, "Why do some novels move us more than others?" Here is the single best way to make our story unforgettable, a story that moves the reader. Also, have we heard the advice, "Write what you know?" It's bad advice, and here are thoughts on it. Support the showJames Thayer
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Episode 154 - Learning from the masterful writer Edna Ferber.
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24:50Edna Ferber was a master of character description. Here are a few of her characters, and maybe we can pick up some of her skill. Also, how many words a day do famous writers write, and how many words a day should we write? And showing pain, as opposed to telling about pain. Support the showJames Thayer
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Episode 153 - A legendary novelist's lesson for us writers.
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24:58Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre is a classic of western literature, a novel that endures and still hugely entertains because . . . it's so great. (How that for being profound?) Charlotte Bronte offers an important lesson for today's writers, and I'll talk about her lesson in this episode. Plus, the trouble with prologues. Support the show…
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Episode 152 - How the masters create their settings.
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28:32Why are some novels so good? One of the reasons is that the author is a master at setting descriptions. How did Charlotte Bronte and Edna Ferber make their settings magical? We'll talk about their techniques here. Also, strong verbs versus weak verbs: how and why to choose the stronger action word. Support the show…
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0175: Back to the grind
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35:07Keith McNally
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Episode 151 - Mad Magazine, and techniques for riveting dialogue.
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27:23My first encounter with Mad Magazine, a life changer. And dialogue techniques that can help make our characters' conversations fascinating. Support the showJames Thayer
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Episode 150 - How to deliver a surprise in the story.
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27:36Good stories are filled with surprises for the reader. There are right and wrong ways for us writers to deliver surprises, and I'll talk about them here. Also, the importance of a tie-up-later list. Support the showJames Thayer
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Episode 149 - How masterful writers use details.
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25:53What do George Orwell, Sara Gruen, Jean Shepherd, and John Steinbeck have in common? Many things but foremost among them is their expert use of details that take readers away, that lift us readers out of our chairs and transport us to their places and times. Here are thoughts on their use of details. Also, we should avoid cliches like the plague. S…
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Episode 148: A magical way to end one scene and begin another.
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26:02Here is a magical way to end a scene and to begin another without worrying about travel and time between scenes. Also: avoiding dangling modifiers. And how Bernard Malamud worked, and Helen Dunmore's rules of writing. Support the showJames Thayer
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0174: The writer's dream
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25:10Keith McNally
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Episode 147 - Make sure it's important and make it short.
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25:58What should we do if we must--absolutely must--have an element in our story that might not be fully entertaining and engaging? 1) Make sure it's important and 2) make it short. Here are thoughts about this critical technique. Also, details in our descriptions are important, but which should we use and which should we leave out? Support the show…
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Ep82 – The Eyrie
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1:01:45THE PENULTIMATE STORY OUTLINE THE LAST STORY OUTLINE EPISODE FOR...PROBABLY QUITE A WHILE Voe and Oliver dive into The Weird by way of a "Zone Story", as both seek a way for Voe to escape cosmic debt slavery to a still-mysterious entity! What does all that mean? Listen to find out!Oliver Brackenbury
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Episode 146 - How to make our character unforgettable.
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26:01We writers can use lovely phrases and perceptive observations when describing our character in our story, and yet the reader may still quickly forget the character. Here's how to make a character stick in the reader's mind. Also, are you a born writer? Maybe so. Here's why you might be. Support the show…
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Ep81 – An Imported God
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1:25:01Sword & Planet time! In which Voe fends off cosmic callousness as she rides strange beasts through a blend of colorful high adventure with grim thematic underpinnings.Oliver Brackenbury
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Episode 145 - Bringing our settings to life.
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27:03We can show (as opposed to tell) as we create a setting for our story. Showing will make our settings vivid, and will allow the setting description to do double duty: describe the place and suggest a mood. Also, reasons to avoid meetings in our story. Support the showJames Thayer
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Ep80 – Love Letter to a Sailor
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1:01:28In which Oliver writes a love letter/homage to Sailing to the Future, the first third of Michael Moorcock's most excellent Sailor on the Seas of Fate starring Elric of Melniboné. In this way Voe finds herself to encountering multiverse fatigue, an Eternal Champion labour union, a nihilist scientist, and more!…
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Episode 144 - One sentence can bring our character to life.
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26:20We'll build our character as we write along, adding descriptions and actions and dialogue. But there is a way with only one or two sentences to reveal something powerful and memorable about the character--in just a few words--and I'll talk about the technique here. Also, Joyce Carol Oates's rules of writing. And punctuating dialogue, with important…
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"How do you create a warning which will outlast your own language?" is the question at the heart of this first tale in Voe's final act, the story which introduces us to her new life of cosmic debt slavery by taking her deep, deep underground in an irradiated world to search for a cure to a virulent poison running through her veins...…
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Keith McNally
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Episode 143 - The three most important sentences when writing a scene.
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26:53Jack Bickham's three sentences on scene construction are the best I've found regarding how to write a scene. Here are why these sentences are important for us writers. Also: Sarah Ann Waters' terrific ten rules of writing. And avoiding the word "not." Support the showJames Thayer
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THE NOVEL RETURNS! Yes, in this episode we provide a refresher on the novel and its contents so far, then do an overview of what the final act is about, and what Oliver needed to figure out before drilling down into its individual stories that will tell a tale of cosmic horror and Voe's indebted servitude to a mysterious entity...…
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Episode 142 - A big technique for literary writing.
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24:50Many listeners are writing literary novels and stories. Here is an important technique regarding construction of a literary story, and it also applies to commercial novels. Support the showJames Thayer
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Ep77 - Interview with Graham Thomas Wilcox
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1:05:46Oliver speaks with Old Moon Quarterly editor about his Gothic Fantasy novella, Contra Amatores Mundi, that grew out from a story he published in the magazine.Oliver Brackenbury
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Tropes we love & tropes we hate
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45:49Send us a text Love 'em or hate 'em, tropes are a major part of narrative storytelling. The important thing is understanding them, so you can either use (or avoid!) them to your heart's content. In today's episode, your hosts Liz and Kristina talk through popular tropes in many different genres of novels and discuss which ones they love, which ones…
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Episode 141 - How to begin and end scenes.
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27:31The easiest thing for a reader to do is to quit reading our story. Here are ways to begin and end scenes that'll prevent that from happening. Our scenes' beginnings and endings will propel the reader farther into the story. Support the showJames Thayer
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Oh no I'm behind on my word count
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17:14Send us a text You know, sometimes it happens. You prepare in whatever way works for you, you carve out time, you buy new fuzzy socks... and you still manage to fall behind. In today's episode, your hosts Liz and Kristina give you some #realtalk about what to do when your graph is looking bleak. Spoilers: It's going to be okay. Support the show Enj…
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Episode 140 - Tips from Stephen King on writing dialogue.
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28:00Stephen King is a powerful storyteller, of course, and he is also a highly-skilled sentence-by-sentence writer. Here are his tips on writing dialogue, plus thoughts from me about making our characters' dialogue riveting. Support the showJames Thayer
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NESS Book Club #3 – The Dark Eidolon
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1:07:39Valerie Valdes, Molly Tanzer, Prashanth Srivatsa and JM Clarke for a discussion of Clark Ashton Smith's classic story The Dark Eidolon. You can read the story here: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/212/the-dark-eidolon Valerie Valdes: https://candleinsunshine.com Molly Tanzer: https://mollytanzer.com Prashanth Srivatsa: https://pr…
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Episode 139 - Writing in the first person.
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27:04Readers love first person novels, where the hero talks directly to the reader. Here are some techniques for first person writing. Also, famous novelists reveal the books that made them want to be writers. Support the showJames Thayer
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Writing with a full time job
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25:23Send us a text Listen, we get it. You go to work, and then you come home exhausted. All you want to do is relax, or watch TV, or collapse in bed. How do you prioritize writing when your job leaves you lacking in energy or inspiration? In today's episode, your hosts Kristina and Liz tackle the topic of how to continue to make progress on your writin…
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0172: Laundromat Romance
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38:09Keith McNally
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Episode 138 - How to live a writer's life.
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27:04Usually I talk about writing techniques but here are some living techniques for us writers. And some famous writers' favorite writers and novels. Plus: what Ernest Hemingway did when he was stuck. Also: the magic of avoiding dialogue tag modifiers. And Snoopy. Support the showJames Thayer
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Episode 137 - Twenty-one rules of writing.
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28:00How can an injury be good for us writers? It was for Roald Dahl. And here are Strunk and White's twenty-one rules of writing. Also, Stephen King on descriptions. And several famous setting descriptions, settings so good they are magical. Plus, Toni Morrison reveals how she works. Support the showJames Thayer
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November 2024 Pep Talk + Updates
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13:54Send us a text Generic store-brand November Writing Challenge begins in 2 days! Listen for words of encouragement and an update on the ways your hosts Kristina and Liz will be tackling the challenge in this most unprecedented year. Most importantly: we've chosen our tracking tool for the year and have a LEADERBOARD you can join! Best of luck this N…
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Ep 76 – Shatter the Sun with Dave Ring
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55:24Dave Ring of Neon Hemlock Press joins us to discuss his upcoming queer Sword & Sorcery anthology. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/davering/shatter-the-sun-queer-tales-of-untold-adventure https://www.neonhemlock.comOliver Brackenbury
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NESS Book Club #2 – The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth
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1:00:46We discussed 'The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth' by Lord Dunsany, a proto-Sword & Sorcery tale. You can read it for free here: https://sacred-texts.com/neu/dun/swos/swos10.htm Free Audiobook: https://ia802904.us.archive.org/17/items/sword_of_welleran_1409_librivox/swordofwelleran_10_dunsany_128kb.mp3 Panelists: Jay Wolf - https://linktr…
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Side characters are people too
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22:08Send us a text How do you make your side characters feel like real people? Do you need side characters? How many should you have? There's so much to consider when developing your cast of characters! In today's episode, hosts Kristina and Liz dive into the wonderful world of character development. We discuss how many characters is too many character…
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Episode 136 - Benefits of a character's otherness.
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27:06A strong way to make a character likeable, and to have the reader root for her, is to have the character experience "otherness." She's out of place. She doesn't fit. Here are techniques on how to do so. Also, how F. Scott Fitzgerald worked. And, no whining. Support the showJames Thayer
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Episode 135 - Maybe the strongest writing tool - contrast.
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25:38Contrast is among the strongest tools we writers can use. It's magic. Here is a discussion of how and where to use contrast. Also, Henry Miller's rules of writing and how John Grisham works. Support the showJames Thayer
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Can I write fanfiction in November?
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27:21Send us a text This is something we hear a lot when people are considering what to write in November: does fanfiction count? is it allowed? can I write it? In today's episode, hosts Kristina and Liz discuss why their answer is an incredibly enthusiastic yes, including the many merits of fanfiction writing and a bit about why it sometimes has a bad …
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Episode 134 - A stong technique for describing a character's personality.
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29:51We can show (as opposed to tell) about a character's personality by describing the character's face and body, so that our physical description does double duty. Jonathan Franzen's ten rules of writing. And techniques to add atmosphere to our scenes. Support the showJames Thayer
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How to write a novel in November without NaNoWriMo
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29:50Send us a text This year, it's the wild west for novelists who still want to participate in some kind of November writing challenge. Where do we track our words? Will it feel the same? How do we find our commmunity? Will winning still "count"? In today's episode, hosts Kristina and Liz discuss options for how to still write in November without supp…
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