Our Articles

Over the past month, the Jericho Writers team has been tightly focused on helping you to write better scenes.

Through the Write With Jericho video course – free for Premium Members – we’ve explored:

• Making each scene purposeful
• Creating atmosphere in your scene
• Dynamic dialogue and internal monologue
• Show, don’t tell - and when to break the rule.

Many of you have shared examples of your work with us during the course, and our four tutors fed back on the writing they saw via the forums over on Townhouse.

Here, I’ll share some of the most common challenges authors experienced as they worked on perfecting their scenes – as well as our top tips for overcoming them.

Making each scene purposeful

Following lesson one, best-selling author Becca Day had the following advice to share with her fellow writers:

Remember the purpose of your B plot: This seemed to be a sticking point for some authors, but – in a nutshell – the B plot sums up the reason why the A plot is your character’s story to tell. What is it that makes this tale, and this scene within it, so personal to your protagonist?

Make sure the stakes are personal: Even if you think you’ve come up with something suitably emotive, Becca suggests digging a little deeper to see if you can make it more so. Instead of ‘My character will lose her job if XYZ,’ consider: ‘If XYZ, my character will lose her job – and it’s the job her father always wanted for her. She’ll be letting down his memory if she’s sacked.’ This calls into question whether the character actually cares about her job as much as her father did, or if she’s merely doing it because she feels like she owes it to him. See how much more powerful that just became?

Creating atmosphere in your scene

Meanwhile, Jericho Writers founder Harry Bingham shared these thoughts after teaching Write With Jericho lesson two:

Consider what to leave out, as well as what to put in: Repeated words and phrases, or detail where it isn’t necessary, can detract from the atmosphere you’re working so hard to create. It might sound contrary, but keeping your writing spare – choosing your words carefully – is a terrific technique for building atmosphere.

Be mindful of pace: On the flip side, make sure you’re not hurrying past moments where the reader might like to linger. As you’re describing a setting, ask yourself – does this need a reaction shot? Do I need to dwell, just for a moment, on the feeling this elicits in the character(s)?

If you create a moment, let it live: To some extent, this is about pace, too – but also the natural ways people react to things. When you introduce some action into your setting – a loud noise, say – make sure your character(s) respond to this in a way, and in an order, that feels believable. They won’t know what the sound is, so let’s see their experience of it, their shock and confusion, and then perhaps their relief at figuring out the reason for the din. Don’t name the noise or its source until your character(s) could reasonably know what it is and where it’s coming from or the moment will lose its authenticity.

Dynamic dialogue and internal monologue

In the lesson three forum, I shared the following feedback with our authors:

Avoid excessive formality: In my Write With Jericho lesson, I talked about the importance of keeping speech natural and appropriate for your characters and setting. This advice applies to internal monologue, too. If you want readers to feel close to your protagonist or narrator, you must make them feel like a friend. That means using contractions (‘won’t’ instead of ‘will not’ / ‘don’t’ instead of ‘do not’), and avoiding the sort of stiffness that might feel more ‘job interview’ than ‘intimate, honest conversation’.

Keep an eye on your POV: All writers are guilty of letting their point of view wander from time to time – but it’s important not to let it amble too far! If you’re working in first person or third person close, you need to be vigilant and stay mindful of what your main character can reasonably know about others’ thoughts, feelings and motivations. Be careful not to stray too far into omniscience, if this isn’t the mode you’re actually working in.

Watch out for clunky self-referencing: This is a pet peeve of mine, but in first person narratives (where protagonists are forced to think and talk about themselves constantly), I think it’s important to keep self-references natural. Does anyone really think about the colour of their own hair as they shove it out of their face? Or the precise shade of their eyes as they close them in despair? Obviously, your readers want this information – they need to know what your protagonist looks like – but real internal monologues simply don’t work like this. You need a reason for your character to be thinking about whatever they’re contemplating, so find one! Or, save the eye colour info for a moment where it will slot in seamlessly.

Remember, punctuation affects pace: The way you punctuate speech can have a huge impact on how it sounds – and whether it lands with a big bang or a whimper. If in doubt, read it aloud (even if your nearest and dearest will fear you’ve lost the plot). Consider the difference between: ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean that,’ and ‘Sorry. Really. I didn’t mean that.’

Show, don't tell - and when to break the rule

Finally, over on the lesson four feedback forum, Sophie Flynn suggested the following fixes for writers trying to strike the right balance between showing and telling.

Beware of filtering: Words like ‘seemed’, ‘appeared’, ‘noticed’ and ‘felt’ can signal you’re a step too far away from your main character’s point of view – that you’re filtering their experience through a second pair of eyes. Minimise this if you can, and you’ll find your writing feels sharper and more immediate.

Watch out for showing that feels like telling: Running a fingertip over a barely healed wound, for example, is an act that needs to be connected to a thought or conversation that’s happening in the moment. Otherwise, it won’t feel natural.

Don’t show where telling would be clearer: Again, this is a question of getting the balance right – but if trying to show something takes longer, is more effortful and is potentially confusing for the reader, don’t be afraid just to state a few simple facts.  

Ready to dive in...?

If you haven’t yet taken this year’s Write With Jericho course, what are you waiting for? All four lessons are now available for Premium Members to watch at their own pace.

Not yet a Premium Member? Join us today to access Write With Jericho, plus a host of other video courses, live events and writing resources. Fancy watching lesson one of Write With Jericho 2025 for free? Check it out here.

If you’re anything like me, writing the opening pages of a novel is one of the best, most magical parts of the entire drafting process. Everything is new and interesting! The idea is still shiny, still full of potential! The words practically pour onto the page.  

Then — quite rudely, and without any warning — the words only drip. A few sentences here, a single paragraph there, until your brain feels clogged, the ideas stopped up.  

While it’s common to hit a creative block or two (…hundred) as you’re drafting your novel, there are three techniques I always recommend to writers for pushing through those barriers and consistently getting words on the page. 

1. Set a goal for yourself every time you sit down to write — and keep it reasonable.     

Your goal will be dictated by what makes the most sense to your process. Perhaps that’s a word-count goal, or a page-count goal, or a certain number of scenes you want to write that day. Whatever it is, be sure to keep it reasonable, i.e. keep it small.  

You might think setting a small goal for yourself is a counterproductive way of making good progress on your draft, but I’ve found that small goals actually take the pressure off. There’s a huge difference for me, mentally, at the beginning of a writing session when I have a goal of five hundred words versus one or two thousand. When it’s only five hundred, I feel like I have a chance! After all, five hundred is only one hundred words five times, and I can definitely write a hundred words.  

The best part is: once you hit your reasonable goal (which you will; I believe in you), you get to feel like an absolute rockstar for accomplishing exactly what you set out to do, and I find that when I have that feeling, the words keep coming! And if they don’t, that’s okay, because you still accomplished your goal and still made progress.  

2. Give yourself “short assignments” 

This technique comes from Anne Lamott in her excellent craft text, Bird by Bird. She  notes how easy it is to become overwhelmed by the huge scope of writing a novel, so she recommends breaking it down into much smaller chunks, i.e. short assignments.  

Examples of short assignments might be writing the first paragraph of a chapter, writing just the dialogue in a scene, or finding the right transition between one section and the next.  

Once you finish one assignment, you can take a break (or, my favourite, reward yourself with chocolate) and then dive into another.  

Dialogue is one of the cornerstones of great fiction writing. Whatever genre you’re working in, and whether your novel is literary or commercial, your characters need to speak to one another.

Why? First, because talking is just what people do. A book where the characters didn’t have conversations would feel totally unrealistic, not to mention decidedly odd.

Just as importantly, dialogue provides blessed relief from long stretches of narrative description. While these are crucial for establishing context, worldbuilding and setting readers’ expectations, they simply aren’t sustainable over 300 pages. Dialogue is immediate and immersive: it lifts the tone of a scene and quickens its pace, providing vital balance. I think of it as a load-bearing wall: something that keeps the shape of your story sound, and its structure strong. Without it, your novel could sink beneath the weight of too much ‘telling’.

This leads me on to another reason why dialogue is so very useful for us authors. It allows us to show, clearly and effectively, all sort of things that might be tiresome to describe. Want to make clear that one character has history with another? Give them an opportunity to bicker about something that happened years ago. Need to signal that someone in your novel is more educated than they claim? Give them a short speech where jargon they’ve no business knowing creeps in.

In my Write With Jericho lesson, I go deep into the theory and practice of writing great dialogue – and I also explain how internal monologue can intersect with what your characters say out loud. Here, I’m going to share a few dos and don’ts that should help you while you craft or edit your characters’ dialogue. I hope you find them useful.

Do give your characters distinct voices.

Think about accents, dialect and vocabulary. A wealthy, Oxbridge-educated lawyer will likely sound different from someone who’s grown up in poverty, left school at sixteen and has spent time in prison – and please note, that remains true even if the characters are of equal intelligence!

What can the way your character speaks tell us about their background, upbringing, education and social status? Does their voice truly reflect who they are inside? If not, why not? (I’m looking at you, Charlotte from The Traitors…)

Do make characters' speech appropriate for the situation.

We all modify the way we speak, depending on who we’re speaking to; we chat with friends and family in a very different way than we’d talk to a job interview panel! While your character’s dialogue needs to stay consistent with who they are, you also need to allow for subtle shifts in how they speak.

Do remember that most speech is informal.

Unless you’re writing dialogue for a novel set in another world or time period, I’d always recommend using contractions and keeping your characters’ speech casual. In real life, we usually say ‘I can’t’, or ‘I don’t’, not ‘I cannot’ or ‘I do not’. Informality is key for making your characters’ speech believable. It ensures their conversations feel overheard, rather than artificial.

Don't allow your characters to speak in soliloquy or conduct Q&As.

Unless you’ve created a Winston Churchill-style character, it will feel unnatural for them to make long, uninterrupted speeches. Likewise, most conversations involve meandering and obfuscation – especially if one person is trying to extract information that another isn’t keen to share. Very rarely do any of us give a straight answer when we’re asked a point-blank question, so bear this in mind as you write.

Do make your dialogue work hard.

We’ve all heard the advice to strip adverbs out of our work and use simple dialogue tags – and I’m not the woman to gainsay it. Broadly speaking, if you’re choosing the words your characters speak carefully enough, they can do an awful lot of heavy lifting for you. Want to imply your character is shouting? Show their growing exasperation through the words inside the speech marks. Want to make it clear they’re grief-stricken? Use words that show this, so you don’t need to tell readers how they feel.

Don't overuse exclamation marks and italics.

This is an especially useful tip for when you’re editing dialogue: if it’s riddled with exclamations and italics, you probably need to tighten it up. Too much shouty, slanty content is a sign your dialogue isn’t strong enough, or that you didn’t have full confidence in it as you were drafting. Review it and see what could change.

Finally, don't worry that everything your characters say needs to match up perfectly with what's going on inside.

In fact, it’s thrilling for a reader when a character’s internal monologue contradicts what they’re doing and saying. This dichotomy is often key for developing a strong connection between your reader and your story’s protagonist – so exploit it if you can. Show them that your character’s outward loathing of their workplace rival hides a powerful, secret crush; signal that the perfect wife’s devotion to her husband is the smokescreen for her dastardly murder plot.

For more on dialogue and internal monologue, don’t miss lesson three of Write With Jericho – now available for Premium Members.

As always, happy writing!

Embarking on the journey to write a novel is both thrilling and intimidating. For me, the decision to pursue writing courses through Jericho Writers was about more than just learning to write — it was about growth, connection, and finding my voice in the literary world.

Here’s how these courses shaped my writing journey and why they might be the stepping stone you need, too.

Why I chose writing courses with Jericho Writers

Writing a novel has always been my dream, but like many aspiring authors, I felt unsure of where to start. I sought professional guidance to refine my writing and push my creative boundaries. I wanted to gain technical skills, build confidence, and surround myself with a community of like-minded storytellers.

I approached these courses as tools to help me develop as a writer, step by step. Each course I chose met specific needs, from drafting a manuscript to navigating the publishing world.

The courses that transformed my writing

1. The Ultimate Novel Writing Course

This was my first foray into structured learning. The Ultimate Novel Writing Course took me from a spark of an idea to a complete manuscript, offering the structure and accountability I needed. With expert guidance and peer feedback, I found myself pushing through moments of doubt and creative block. The course taught me narrative structure, character development, and, most importantly, how to finish what I started.

2. The Self-Edit Your Novel course

Once I had a manuscript, I knew the next step was refinement. The Self-Edit Your Novel course taught me how to view my work through an editor’s lens. I learned to identify areas for improvement, enhance clarity, and polish my story until it shone. This phase was truly eye-opening — it amazed me how much a focused revision process could elevate my writing.

One memorable piece of advice came from Debi Alper, who suggested I start my novel at chapter four and switch tenses. That single change transformed the pacing and impact of my thriller. She also encouraged me to imagine my protagonist as a famous actor, which resolved my struggle with their voice.

3. The Path to Publication course

With a polished manuscript in hand, Path To Publication helped me navigate the world of publishing — a realm I found both exciting and overwhelming. It provided invaluable insights into compiling a compelling query letter, synopsis, and submission package. The highlight of this course was the agent showcase, where we read our first 500 words to two agents. Their feedback was not only constructive but incredibly motivating. Receiving a full manuscript request from one of the agents less than a week later was a dream come true, and I wasn’t the only one on the course to experience this success.

Lessons learned along the way...

Each of the courses I undertook with Jericho Writers surprised me in unexpected ways. I discovered strengths in my writing I hadn’t noticed, as well as habits I needed to break. Feedback from tutors and peers was invaluable, teaching me the importance of listening and staying open to suggestions.

Some of the biggest lessons I’ve taken away include:

Resilience and Vulnerability: Sharing your work can be daunting, but it’s a necessary step in the creative process.

The Value of Revision: Editing is where the magic happens. It’s the bridge between a good draft and a great story.

Embracing Experimentation: Trying alternative approaches often leads to breakthroughs.

Connections Matter: The relationships I’ve built continue to inspire and support me.

Course highlights

The Ultimate Novel Writing Course helped me write my first novel and gave me a deep understanding of narrative structure.

The Self Edit Your Novel course boosted my confidence and taught me how to experiment with my writing.

Thanks to the Path To Publication course, the submission process is no longer a mystery, and I feel confident approaching agents and publishers.

Looking back and moving forward

These courses were more than just learning experiences for me — they were transformative. They equipped me with the tools to navigate the ups and downs of writing and publishing while fostering a sense of community that I deeply value.

If you’re considering taking the plunge, I can’t recommend Jericho Writers’ courses enough. Whether you’re starting with an idea, refining a draft, or preparing to submit, there’s a course to guide you every step of the way.

Here’s to your writing journey and all the stories waiting to be told.