Story Works Round Table

conversations about craft

for writers and readers curious about writers

SWRT 311 | Flying Pirates & Speculative Fiction with Sarah Branson

SWRT 311 | Flying Pirates & Speculative Fiction with Sarah Branson

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn dive into the post-dystopian world of flying pirates with author Sarah Branson. Learn about her journey from midwifery to crafting tales of adventure and resilience, blending her experiences as a midwife and science teacher into her speculative fiction characters and world building.

“I wanted to take someone who had dealt with a lot of trauma and was set in a world where she could be allowed to grow.”

“When you have a protagonist that lives in your head, who is armed and is a pirate, you do whatever she says.”

SWRT 310 | From Lightning to Novel with Ben Hawken, part 2

SWRT 310 | From Lightning to Novel with Ben Hawken, part 2

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn continue our conversation with Ben Hawken, author of the new novel “Chandelier.” In part two of our conversation, we discuss looking for the next story, processing ideas, writing dialogue and getting characters into conversation as fully formed people, and more! Ben shares his remarkable journey from a career in marketing and speech writing to writing his debut book. Learn how he balanced life, work, and writing to achieve his creative dreams.

SWRT 199 | Action Scenes!

SWRT 199 | Action Scenes!

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.

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SWRT 198 | Ghosting Your Protagonist

SWRT 198 | Ghosting Your Protagonist

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. 

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SWRT 197 | Technology in Fiction

SWRT 197 | Technology in Fiction

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?

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SWRT 196 | The Essential Nature of Story

SWRT 196 | The Essential Nature of Story

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss the ways in which story is all around us. What is it that makes story so pervasive? How can we use this essential nature of story in our writing? What is the difference between telling someone facts and creating a story? Will giving our supporting characters a story of their own strengthen our protagonist’s story?

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SWRT 195 | The Velcro Between Your Pro- & Antagonist

SWRT 195 | The Velcro Between Your Pro- & Antagonist

To make your novel work, your protagonist and antagonist need to stick together. If they aren’t sticky, the conflict will fail. This week on the Story Works Round Table, we discuss what keeps the wheels under your plot turning.

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SWRT 194 | Tropes

SWRT 194 | Tropes

This week on the Story Works Round Table, we talk tropes. What is a trop anyway? Why are they so misunderstood? How should you use them in your novels? Can you use them artistically? Even in genre fiction?

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SWRT 193 | Is Your Hero Up to the Right Challenges?

SWRT 193 | Is Your Hero Up to the Right Challenges?

Is your protagonist up to all the challenges your plot is throwing at her? Or is everything a little too easy?
How do you create a character who’s tough enough to survive, but not so darn competent at everything that she becomes unbelievable and unsympathetic? This week on the Story Works Round Table writing podcast, we delve into creating sufficient challenges commensurate with your character’s abilities and more!

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SWRT 192 | Structuring Long Long-form Works

SWRT 192 | Structuring Long Long-form Works

This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn answer a fan’s question on the Story Works Round Table Podcast. How do we organize topics & themes in long long-form writing projects? What’s different about working with fiction or nonfiction manuscripts well over 100k words versus shorter word counts? Is it the tools that change or just the frame of mind?

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SWRT 191 | Routines & Why We Love Them

SWRT 191 | Routines & Why We Love Them

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Robert welcome Kathryn back to discuss writing & routines. Why are we so interested in what other people do, when and how? Is there some new wisdom we can take away from yet another conversation about routines? Some nugget to help us get 2021 off right? We think so!

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