Ep. 617: Genre Tips: How to Write Mystery

How do you write subplots without ending up with a story that feels like a collection of disconnected pieces? In this episode, I explore how to write subplots that strengthen the main plot by integrating secondary characters, conflicts, relationships, and themes into one cohesive ...  Show more

If you've ever wondered how to write subtext without leaving readers confused—or explaining so much that the subtext disappears—these five principles can help. Subtext is everything a story communicates without saying it outright. It can deepen characters, relationships, dialogue ...  Show more

Good 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. Here is a 20-episode master class on fiction writing—a start-to-finish course cov ...  Show more

Mightly push your powerful writing to the top of the highest literary peaks! Or… work on your craft. CONSUME: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett or its sequel, World Without End. Or, for a less committal and free option, the BBC fiction podcast "Home Front" CREATE: Think abo ...  Show more

Your Hosts: Howard, Mary Robinette, Dan, and Amal Many of us write characters who know more than we know, and/or who think faster than we do. Writing those characters is tricky. In this episode we talk about our own tricks, and the tricks we've seen others use. Credits: This epis ...  Show more