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
Claim This Podcastby James Thayer
4.8(426 reviews)
215 episodes
Updated Daily
Accepts GuestsHas Sponsors
43
Podcast Authority
BetaFairBased on show quality, social media presence, reviews, charts, and more
Quality47
Social0
YouTube0
Engagement99
Podcast Overview
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.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
3/2/2022
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43
Podcast Authority
BetaFairBased on show quality, social media presence, reviews, charts, and more
Quality47
Social0
YouTube0
Engagement99
8
Excellent Areas
0
Good Performance
11
Growth Opportunities
excellent
Publishing Consistency
Every 7 days
Performing excellently!
needs improvement
Show Notes Quality
2.0/5
Recommendations available
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Recent Episodes
May 1, 2026
Episode 215 - The ratchet, a strong plotting tool.
How can we know if our scene pushes the story forward. Does our scene contribute to the story? The ratchet can test our scene. I talk about the ratchet and show how Cormac McCarthy and F. Scott Fitzgerald used it. Plus, a technique for searching for instances of telling in our manuscript so we can change them to showing. And C.S. Lewis's rules of writing. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course covering plot, characters, dial...
April 24, 2026
Episode 214 - Famous writers show us how to write and live.
Host [Host Name] interviews acclaimed authors, revealing their writing habits and offering insights into crafting compelling narratives.
April 17, 2026
Episode 213 - Save the cat plotting.
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.  ...
215 total episodes available with 49 transcripts
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- What is Essential Guide to Writing a Novel?
- How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
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This podcast is available on 8 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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No, this podcast does not typically feature guests.
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