How can we get readers to admire and respect our hero, maybe even to fall in love with him?  Our hero can save the cat.  Here is how the screenwriters&apos; save the cat technique can apply to our novels.  Also, best seller Lawrence Block on how we can use our pleasure reading to improve our fiction writing skills.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.<a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron">Support the show</a><a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'>Buy the master class.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;How can we get readers to admire and respect our hero, maybe even to fall in love with him?  Our hero can save the cat.  Here is how the screenwriters&amp;apos; save the cat technique can apply to our novels.  Also, best seller Lawrence Block on how we can use our pleasure reading to improve our fiction writing skills.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'&gt;Buy the master class.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

How can we get readers to admire and respect our hero, maybe even to fall in love with him?  Our hero can save the cat.  Here is how the screenwriters' save the cat technique can apply to our novels.  Also, best seller Lawrence Block on how we can use our pleasure reading to improve our fiction writing skills. 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. &nbsp...

Episode 213 - Save the cat plotting.

Keeping a tight point of view is critical for our story.  Here&apos;s how we can stay inside the mind of our main character yet learn what others in the scene are thinking.  Plus, how John Grisham works.  And: how we can reveal what a character is thinking through facial expressions.  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.<a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron">Support the show</a><a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'>Buy the master class.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;Keeping a tight point of view is critical for our story.  Here&amp;apos;s how we can stay inside the mind of our main character yet learn what others in the scene are thinking.  Plus, how John Grisham works.  And: how we can reveal what a character is thinking through facial expressions.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'&gt;Buy the master class.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Keeping a tight point of view is critical for our story.  Here's how we can stay inside the mind of our main character yet learn what others in the scene are thinking.  Plus, how John Grisham works.  And: how we can reveal what a character is thinking through facial expressions.   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 foc...

Episode 212 - Getting skilled with point of view.

Sometimes writing can be a grind.  Here are things that are fun while writing that&apos;ll give us energy and keep us at our desks and allow us to pour joy into our words.  Also: we should avoid vanilla, meaningless word packages.  And here&apos;s how Kate Chopin worked.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.<a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron">Support the show</a><a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'>Buy the master class.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;Sometimes writing can be a grind.  Here are things that are fun while writing that&amp;apos;ll give us energy and keep us at our desks and allow us to pour joy into our words.  Also: we should avoid vanilla, meaningless word packages.  And here&amp;apos;s how Kate Chopin worked.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'&gt;Buy the master class.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Sometimes writing can be a grind.  Here are things that are fun while writing that'll give us energy and keep us at our desks and allow us to pour joy into our words.  Also: we should avoid vanilla, meaningless word packages.  And here's how Kate Chopin worked. 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. &nb...

Episode 211 - How to have fun while writing.

Folks new to fiction may think because there are a million stories and dozens of genres, plots can be presented in any way imaginable.  But successful plots have time-tested patterns, and these are discussed here.  Plus, M.M. Kaye&apos;s lovely setting descriptions, so elegant her writing might be called the voice of magic.  And: how the best-selling romance novelist Emily Henry lives and works.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.<a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron">Support the show</a><a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'>Buy the master class.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;Folks new to fiction may think because there are a million stories and dozens of genres, plots can be presented in any way imaginable.  But successful plots have time-tested patterns, and these are discussed here.  Plus, M.M. Kaye&amp;apos;s lovely setting descriptions, so elegant her writing might be called the voice of magic.  And: how the best-selling romance novelist Emily Henry lives and works.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'&gt;Buy the master class.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Folks new to fiction may think because there are a million stories and dozens of genres, plots can be presented in any way imaginable.  But successful plots have time-tested patterns, and these are discussed here.  Plus, M.M. Kaye's lovely setting descriptions, so elegant her writing might be called the voice of magic.  And: how the best-selling romance novelist Emily Henry lives and works. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering p...

Episode 210 - Timeless plot patterns.

How and why should  we avoid our character traveling?  And how does Orson Scott Card not make blunders in his novels?  Here is his tool for having a mistake-free novel.  Also: here is why our scenes--almost all scenes--should have some action, and how to write that action.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.<a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron">Support the show</a><a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'>Buy the master class.</a>

<description>&lt;p&gt;How and why should  we avoid our character traveling?  And how does Orson Scott Card not make blunders in his novels?  Here is his tool for having a mistake-free novel.  Also: here is why our scenes--almost all scenes--should have some action, and how to write that action.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;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.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://www.patreon.com/TheEssentialGuidetoWritingaNovel?view_as=patron"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href='https://www.patreon.com/posts/146939958/edit?purchase_only=true'&gt;Buy the master class.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

How and why should  we avoid our character traveling?  And how does Orson Scott Card not make blunders in his novels?  Here is his tool for having a mistake-free novel.  Also: here is why our scenes--almost all scenes--should have some action, and how to write that action. 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 abou...

Episode 209 - Avoiding blunders in our story.

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.

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

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