How do you use dialogue and dialect to reveal character?
Learn how to use word choice, syntax, and dialect in dialogue to create realistic characters with examples from Tana French's The Searcher.
How do you open a mystery novel?
See how Tana French uses sentence style, summary, and suspense to pull readers into the first chapter of The Searcher.
How do you balance multiple points of view?
Why and how can you use multiple point-of-view narration in your novel? We’ll analyze NK Jemisin’s The City We Became to find out.
Great Sentences, by Brooks Landon
Brooks Landon’s method for creating rich, complex sentences.
Artful Sentences, by Virginia Tufte
Virginia Tufte’s collection of beautiful sentences and her explanations of how they work will teach you new tools to use in your own writing.
The Sense of Style, by Steven Pinker
Stephen Pinker’s exploration of how good sentences work.
It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences, by June Casagrande
June Casagrande’s advice for writers about how to craft clear, correct sentences.
Brian Shawver, The Language of Fiction
If you are a novelist looking to improve your sentences, Brian Shawver’s The Language of Fiction should be on your reading list.
Sin and Syntax, by Constance Hale
How to play with words: lessons from Constance Hale’s Sin and Syntax.
Dreyer’s English, by Benjamin Dreyer
Learn why Dreyer’s English is an indispensable reference for fiction editors and how it can help you improve your writing.