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Shakespeare

Tips if you’re struggling to write right now (This week in books)

April 10, 2020 by Nathan Bransford Leave a Comment

This week! Books! It’s really difficult to concentrate these days and few people I know are as productive as usual. Anne R. Allen has a great post on why it’s so tough to write right now as we deal with our collective grief, and she has some tips on how to keep moving forward. In […]

Filed Under: This Week in Books Tagged With: Amazon, Anne R. Allen, Book Marketing, book recommendations, BookEnds, coronavirus, Janet Reid, literary agents, Moby-Dick, Shakespeare

How to create a great villain

September 23, 2019 by Nathan Bransford 2 Comments

Bleak painting of two old men

Bill Sikes. Lady MacBeth. Captain Ahab. Voldemort. The Wormwoods. Sauron. Iago. The best villains in literature send a shiver down our spine and make our blood pressure rise. Why do some villains have such a hold on us while others feel like weak sauce? Here are some tips on how to craft a memorable villain. […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Charles Dickens, Herman Melville, J.K. Rowling, J.M. Barrie, J.R.R. Tolkien, Roald Dahl, Robert Louis Stevenson, Shakespeare

Who is the Greatest Villain in Fiction?

July 28, 2010 by Nathan Bransford 225 Comments

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the greatest villain of them all? Iago? Ahab? Fagin? Voldemort? Sauron? Villains are just plain scarier when they only have one name, aren’t they? Who’s your choice?

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Charles Dickens, Culture, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Moby-Dick, Shakespeare, You Tell Me

The Importance of Basic Computer Skills

July 27, 2009 by Nathan Bransford 111 Comments

Shakespeare had to know how to sharpen a quill and dip it in ink. Hemingway had to know how to use a typewriter. You need to know how to use a computer. Computer skills are completely imperative for the modern writer. And I don’t just mean opening up whatever word processing application that comes with […]

Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: Facebook, How to Promote a Book, Life of a Writer, Shakespeare, Twitter

Guest Blog Week: Everything You Need to Know About Writing a Novel, in 1000 Words

July 10, 2009 by Nathan Bransford 126 Comments

By: Victoria Mixon PLOT Plots are myriad, but plot structure is simple: hook, development (with backstory interwoven), climax. Shakespeare’s five-act play, Syd Field’s three-act story, Freytag’s triangle (although Freytag called complications climax and climax resolution—causing untold confusion): like a holograph, hook-development-climax works on all levels, from the big picture down through chapters, sequences, scenes, to […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: F. Scott Fitzgerald, guest blog, How to Write a Novel, Shakespeare, writing advice

Character and plot are inseparable

June 24, 2008 by Nathan Bransford 40 Comments

You may have the idea that you somehow have to choose between writing a plot-oriented novel and a character-oriented novel, and that one has to come at the expense of the other. I’m here to tell you why you don’t worry about these categories. It’s a completely false choice. UPDATED 5/30/19 There’s no such thing […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Harry Potter, Hemingway, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, How to Write a Novel, J.D. Salinger, Moby-Dick, Shakespeare, Star Wars, 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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