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Writing Advice

Your protagonist’s plans are useful, especially when they don’t pan out

June 2, 2025 by Nathan Bransford 2 Comments

When I’m editing novels, one of my most common margin notes–particularly at the start of scenes–is “What’s the plan here?” Providing the reader with insight into a character’s plans is an incredibly powerful storytelling technique. Plans build anticipation and suspense. They give the reader a sense of what’s at stake if the character succeeds or […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice

How to rein in wandering characters

April 28, 2025 by Nathan Bransford

Sometimes as writers we don’t really know what’s going to happen next. Even the best outliner may find their characters wandering straight off the map. There may be stretches in a novel when we have to write our way toward figuring out what’s supposed to happen. Letting your characters wander can be very productive! It […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice

The answer is always community

April 14, 2025 by Nathan Bransford

I’m on record saying that the solution to every problem that ever existed is to keep writing. That doesn’t mean you can solve everything alone. We live in perennially stressful times, and the writing vocation is uniquely challenging. You are not likely to be chased by a pack of wild hyenas in the throes of […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice

How to use hopes and dreams to make a character come alive

April 7, 2025 by Nathan Bransford

You probably already know that motivation is everything in a novel. Nearly everything worth reading flows from a character who wants something and actively goes after it. In writing advice land, it’s popular to subdivide a character’s motivations into conscious motivations and unconscious motivations. Meaning, there’s something on the surface that’s motivating the character (saving […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Characters

There was s*** going on before you got here

March 3, 2025 by Nathan Bransford

David Lynch’s recent passing inspired me to revisit my favorite of his movies, Mulholland Drive, which I hadn’t seen since I first watched it in a theater in 2001. Of course it holds up. Of course it’s heads and shoulders above nearly anything else made this century. What struck me watching it this time was […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice

Stamp out vague catchalls in your writing

February 24, 2025 by Nathan Bransford

Here’s a near-ironclad maxim that’s worth taping above your laptop: You’re a more confusing writer than you think you are. You know exactly what your words mean. You can visualize every scene you write in vivid detail no matter how scant your physical description may be. Writers inevitably project details onto the page that aren’t […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice

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About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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My Books

How to Write A Novel
Cover of How to Publish a Book by Nathan Bransford
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapo
Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe
Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp

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