Episode 215 - The ratchet, a strong plotting tool. episode artwork

EPISODE · May 1, 2026 · 25 MIN

Episode 215 - The ratchet, a strong plotting tool.

from Essential Guide to Writing a Novel · host James Thayer

How can we know if our scene pushes the story forward.  Does our scene contribute to the story?  The ratchet can test our scene.  I talk about the ratchet and show how Cormac McCarthy and F. Scott Fitzgerald used it.  Plus, a technique for searching for instances of telling in our manuscript so we can change them to showing.  And C.S. Lewis's rules of writing.Support the showBuy the master class.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published May 1, 2026

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Episode 215 - The ratchet, a strong plotting tool.

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