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writing advice

How to write good dialogue in a novel

October 31, 2022 by Nathan Bransford 109 Comments

Few storytelling elements in a novel are as powerful as dialogue. Writing good dialogue is a crucial way of letting characters speak for themselves outside of the narrative voice, and it’s one of the best ways of conveying personality and flavor. And, as with any powerful device, it can be abused. Over-use of dialogue has […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Dialogue, How to Write a Novel, writing advice

Novel revision checklist

June 20, 2022 by Nathan Bransford 196 Comments

Revision Checklist

Whether you’re pursuing traditional or self-publishing, self-editing is one of the most crucial skills any writer can possess. It’s not an exaggeration to say that novels are made or broken by the revision process. But it’s very difficult to see your work objectively, and novels are wondrously complex. I find it helpful to be systematic […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: revising, writing advice

What makes a great setting in a novel

October 25, 2021 by Nathan Bransford 113 Comments

What Makes a Great Setting

The Reading Rainbow theme song really had it right. One of the best parts of reading is the way books open up new worlds to us, whether a story is set in an unpronounceable ancient kingdom, the far reaches of outer space, ancient history, the distant future, or even the real world but maybe somewhere […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice, Writing Novels Tagged With: Cormac McCarthy, How to Write a Novel, Lord of the Rings, William Faulkner, writing advice

Don’t be too easy on your characters

September 7, 2021 by Nathan Bransford 45 Comments

We writers can get really, really attached to our characters. They become almost like family members. We want the best for them. Sometimes it can be difficult to see them make mistakes, to see their flaws, and to let the bad qualities shine through from time to time. We can be way too nice to […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: George R.R. Martin, How to Write a Novel, writing advice

J.K. Rowling…… (This week in books)

June 12, 2020 by Nathan Bransford 22 Comments

This week! Books! As thousands of people around the world continued protesting injustice and brutality in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and at the start of Pride month, J.K. Rowling decided to double down with views on transgender people widely seen as transphobic, first in a series of tweets, then on a more […]

Filed Under: This Week in Books Tagged With: #BlackLivesMatter, J.K. Rowling, Jane Friedman, Janet Reid, literary agents, Trans Rights, writing advice

The 8 essential elements of a story

December 10, 2019 by Nathan Bransford 8 Comments

Not only do I find editing novels and helping authors achieve their vision incredibly meaningful, it’s such an interesting exercise because it forces you to think very deeply about storytelling. It’s a wonderful challenge to be forced to articulate what’s working and not working in a story and, most importantly, why it’s not working. Lately […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: 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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