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Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

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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 […]

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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

So What Makes Good Dialogue Good Anyway?

May 21, 2008 by Nathan Bransford 50 Comments

Yowsa. 532 entries so far! Please continue to enter until 5:00 PM today in the preposterously magnificent original thread. Also, if you are having trouble locating your entry, please keep in mind that Blogger has instituted a new system for long threads. At the top and bottom of the comments threads you’ll see links that […]

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Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Dialogue, You Tell Me

How do you revise?

March 12, 2008 by Nathan Bransford 98 Comments

Ah, revisions. Achilles heel of the impatient, the great equalizer of the hardworking, and nearly as important as writing itself. So how do you do it? Do you start at the beginning? Trust your critique group? Do one sweep? Throw it out and write again? Kill scenes? And if your answer is “I don’t”….. well, […]

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Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: How to Write a Novel, revising, writing advice, You Tell Me

Novel Word Count

February 26, 2008 by Nathan Bransford 114 Comments

I’m not a stickler for word count. Yes, there are certain word count expectations for certain genres, some are stricter than others, you can look these up on the Internet if you’re interested, but my modus operandi on word count is my usual refrain about writing: if it works it works. Within reason. If your […]

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Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: David Foster Wallace, How to Write a Novel, literary agents, writing advice

Your Similes Are Like a Giant Flood Washing Over Me

February 21, 2008 by Nathan Bransford 104 Comments

More common than air…. Damaging like a giant tornado hitting a chainsaw factory…. Similes are sweeping the nation as fast as a cheetah on a motorcycle. For the grammatically disinclined (you know who you are, or rather, you SHOULD know who you are), a simile is a comparison between two or more things, often using […]

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Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: How to Find a Literary Agent, writing advice

Shock and Awe

January 31, 2008 by Nathan Bransford 105 Comments

Holly and I are still very hard at work poring over the entries in the Surprisingly Essential First Page Challenge, so I don’t have an update on when we’ll have finalists. Instead, I know there are a lot of new visitors to the blog, and I want to encourage everyone to stick around! Consider this […]

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Filed Under: Contests, Writing Advice Tagged With: Charles Dickens, contests, How to Find a Literary Agent, Moby-Dick, 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 chase their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

My blog has everything you need to know to write, edit, and publish a book. Can’t find what you need or want personalized help? Reach out.

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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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