On today’s Story Works Reading Series, Laura James reads “Stuck.” When an ex-pat drifts aggressively through Paris, in search of love and belonging, we wonder if she is running away or toward something? With wry humor, the city comes to life as Leah navigates public transit, a classic Parisian building, and her own inner world.
After the reading, Laura and I sit down to chat about “Stuck” – Laura in Southern Spain and I in Minnesota – its inspiration in real life, writing during total lockdown, and much more!
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Robert talk all things action. What are action scenes and what you need to do to make your reader sit up and pay attention! We cover everything from choreographing your fight to multiple team action scenes, from slowing down the action to avoiding repetition, from enacting the action yourself to making the reader sweat with anticipation.
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert dissect an author’s very interesting point of view & narrative choices. We take a close look at In an Instant by Suzanne Redfearn, in which the protagonist is killed early in the story. What happens to the POV? The status of protagonist? The plot? And how is agency affected when your POV character is incorporeal? Although we’re discussing a specific work, there is much to take away about the challenges and rewards of crafting a distinct, even experimental, narrative.
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn talk tech. Is technology just a concern for sci fi writers? Or does it pervade every genre in our tech-enhanced world? How does keeping an eye on the tech your characters use enhance your story? And when can it become a detriment? What about the choice to ignore or erase technology from your world? Can technology limit a story’s longevity?
S.A. Wolter reads the short story “Black Bart.” This cowboy’s tale is a tribute to the last of a generation and true piece of Americana. You won’t want to miss this moving story or the conversation that follows.
Alida Winternheimer chats with Susan Wolter about the story’s inspiration, her childhood on a ranch, writing through the challenges of a single-character narrative, using flashback without reducing forward momentum, a truly surprising, yet inevitable, ending, and much more.
