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Education
Essential Guide to Writing a Novel
by James Thayer
Today: #172 in Education, Australia on our combined chart.
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Latest episodes
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Episode 240 - Make readers laugh out loud.
October 23, 2026 · 27 minNot just comedy novels but rather almost all novels will benefit from humor. Here is how to exaggerate to make readers laugh. Also, avoiding dialogue tag modifiers so that our dialogue doesn't become unintentionally funny. Here is a…
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Episode 239 - A method for ramping up our dialogue.
October 16, 2026 · 26 minWe writers should give readers what they want, and readers like dialogue. Here is a technique for making our dialogue more engaging. Also: the ten most beautiful words in the English language. And: how to change telling to showing so…
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Episode 238 - My favorite writing technique.
October 9, 2026 · 24 minAmong hundreds of fiction writing techniques, here is my favorite, and it involves weeping. Also, a review of a critical skill for us: controlling the point of view. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish…
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Episode 237 - Read to learn rhythm.
October 2, 2026 · 27 minThomas Cullen writes, "the brains of skilled writers are wired over many years to mimic the rhythms, structures, patterns and prose of their favorite authors.” We can learn lovely rhythms by reading famous fiction passages. And: how to…
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Episode 236 - Six questions to ask if we want to be a novelist.
September 25, 2026 · 26 minDo we have what it takes to write a novel? Here are six questions we can ask ourselves that'll shed light on the issue. Also, when should a writer make an exception to a tried-and-true rule of writing? Here is a 20-episode master class…
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Episode 235 - Ten small writing techniques.
September 18, 2026 · 26 minHere are ten smaller techniques that'll improve our story, each maybe not big enough for a full segment but worthwhile to help make our story gripping and our sentences shine. Also, here are thoughts about our story's ending; isn't HEA…
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Episode 234 - Creating a character readers will love.
September 11, 2026 · 26 minWhat do Elizabeth Bennett, Anne Shirley, Frodo Baggins, Jo March, Harry Potter, and Huckleberry Finn have in common? Readers love them. We can create such a character, one readers will long remember and maybe reread the storyl just to be…
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Episode 233 - Peeling the onion.
September 4, 2026 · 25 minWe writers can train ourselves to peel the onion: to look more deeply at places and people, and so set forth our discoveries in lovely language in our stories. Here's how the masters do it. Also, F. Scott Fitzgerald's "action is…
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Episode 232 - More on making our dialogue engaging for readers.
August 28, 2026 · 28 minReaders love dialogue. It's as if they are part of the scene, sitting there and listening to our characters argue or romance each other or plan something important. Here are additional techniques to grip readers with our dialogue. Also…
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Episode 231 - Techniques to make our dialogue grab readers.
August 21, 2026 · 25 minDialogue is like a Snickers candy bar: it's good. Here are eight techniques for making conversations in our story engage the reader, things we should do and things we should avoid. Also, how did Sue Monk Kidd handle her first rejection?…
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Episode 230 - Creating a dastardly villain.
August 14, 2026 · 27 minThe shark. Dracula. Draco Malfoy. Cathy Ames. Annie Wilkes, Hannibal Lecter. Jadis the White Witch. Aren't these villains masterful creations, and don't they keep readers glued to the story? Here are ideas on how we can create…
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Episode 229 - Juice up the setting.
August 7, 2026 · 26 minEvery element of our story should add interest, including the settings. What if--because of the plot or characters--we must place a scene in an otherwise dull place? We can juice it up. We can make it lively and fascinating. Here is…
About the show
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.