Join us at the Story Works Round Table as we sit down with Alethea Lyons, author of the supernatural dark fantasy Seer of York series, published by Brigids Gate Press. She writes various forms of SFF, with a particular love for science-fantasy, dark fantasy, dystopias, and folklore. We talk about the particular challenges facing writers of series and sequels.
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Sarah Branson returns to talk about getting to know your characters. We dig into the different roles characters play, depending on their relationship to the protagonist and how well we need to know them in order to write them well. Sarah’s novel, North Country, is available now.
“You have to put yourself in their life and try and figure out what their motivations are.”
This week at the Round Table, Alida, Kathryn & Robert talk about talking. What goes into writing natural sounding dialogue that is still artful in its delivery? What are the pitfalls of giving your characters speaking parts? How many ways can you make them sound wooden, artificial, or even annoying? Should you really use said? And does Robert have a dialogue pet peeve?
This episode previously aired as episode 028. Make sure you go back into the library and check out our other episodes with Becca Puglisi.
Join your hosts, Alida Winternheimer, Kathryn Arnold, and Robert Scanlon, at the Round Table every week by visiting https://storyworkspodcast.com. Show notes, links, comments, and more!
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert talk about budding writers, young writers, and old hands like ourselves. It seems we all need encouragement and support to get on with the act & the art of writing! What helps you get through your story projects? Let us know in the comments.
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert talk point of view & dramatic tension. How does your handling of POV affect your story’s plot arc? Could your POV character make or break the pace of your action? The better you control the interplay of POV & tension, the tighter & more effective your storytelling.
This week, Alida & Kathryn welcome poet & publishing guide Scott James back to the Round Table. When is the right time to present your manuscript to outside readers? We talk strategies for ensuring you get quality feedback from those select few who count. As well as ways to incorporate that feedback into your revision process.
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss the relationship between your plot and character arcs. We have a modern classic story (thanks to Kathryn’s little ones) to dissect, making this conversation grounded in examples. If you haven’t seen it, you may want to grab some popcorn and watch Finding Nemo! Though it’s definitely not required, because we got you covered with all the details you need to join this conversation at the Round Table.
This week, Alida and Kathryn welcome Scott James back to the Round Table to discuss how we can use genre considerations while we’re drafting to avoid future pitfalls. Scott is a publishing guide with an interesting take on our topic. He also knows how to make sure your novel makes it into the right readers’ hands. He’s got a great tip for making Amazon categories work for you!
This week, Alida and Kathryn welcome Scott James to the Round Table to discuss the lessons prose writers can learn from the art of poetry. Are novelists and poets such different creatures, after all? What can prose writers learn from the way poets approach imagery and metaphor? We delve into the ever-important endnote in both poetry and prose. Scott reads a favorite poem by Mary Oliver, which we discuss. He also shares two of his typewriter poems from his book, Whatever Magic You Need.
If you care about word-craft, pull up a chair at the Round Table!
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn discuss the short story. What are the particular considerations of short form fiction? What do you write when there’s no room for an arc? Is a turning point as powerful as a climax? Explore the beauty of conceptual, quiet, singular fiction. Getting specific detail, imagery, symbolism, & metaphor to work for you…so much more!