Story Works Round Table

conversations about craft

for writers and readers curious about writers

SWRT 293 | Revision with D. Liebhart

Mar 14, 2024

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn are joined by D. Liebhart.

Revision is more than just fixing typos and filling plot holes; it’s about delving deep into the heart of the story and ensuring every word, every character, and every twist aligns with the author’s vision. D. discusses the challenges she faced revising her award-winning novel, House on Fire, from seeking perfection to knowing when to let go. We talk about the importance of actionable feedback, the dynamics of writing groups, and the critical decision to step away when the process no longer serves the story.

Whether you’re a seasoned author or just starting, this episode is packed with wisdom. D.’s experiences remind us that the journey of revision is unique to every writer. It’s a process that requires patience, honesty, and sometimes the courage to start anew.

SWRT 292 | Marketing & Community with Alexa Bigwarfe

Feb 29, 2024

You’ll want to join me in this year’s 7th annual Women in Publishing Summit. It’s he biggest 4-day, online conference...

SWRT 118 | Beyond Motivation part 2

Aug 8, 2019

We start off this episode with a recounting of Kathryn’s progress, before diving into bringing self-awareness and cross-contextualization into your goals processes. How can we adapt systems in our life that already work in order to help us complete our goals? And how much productivity are we actually capable of each day? Robert gives us an update on his progress and we talk about the insane amount of pressure we put on ourselves, and how we can help motivate ourselves each and every day. We all want to live the life we love, one day at a time. It’s just about finding the balance to do so!

SWRT 117 | Beyond Motivation

Aug 1, 2019

We jump into reviewing our progress on this year’s goals, and spiral into a conversation about our processes, mindset, and how to measure progress. Are we motivated by pain, reward, or something else? How can you re-frame your goals in order to recognize what you have accomplished, rather than beat yourself up for what you didn’t? Ultimately, it all comes down to living the life you want to live, one day at a time!

SWRT 116 | Writing Great Sentences, part 3

Jul 25, 2019

How can you use a sentence to evoke mood? What about varying sentence structure to reflect different characters voice? Should you change your sentence structure by genre? Or by book? We all agree, reading great sentences make yours better!

SWRT 115 | Writing Great Sentences, part 2

Jul 18, 2019

This week at the Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert continue their conversation about writing great sentences in novels of any genres. How many types of sentences are there? Do sentences need to be grammatically correct to be great? Do they need to be lyrical to be great? No. The sentences we craft serve a variety of purposes in our prose.

SWRT 114 | Writing Great Sentences, part 1

Jul 11, 2019

What did we find when we set out to find great sentences? Is it all about the grammar? We talk about the categories a sentence can fit into, and why looking at the paragraph and sentence level is so important in your writing. We look at a couple of sentences from The Passion and Unaccustomed Earth. FInally, we talk about long sentences, poetic sentences, and use of metaphorical sentences to spice up your writing!

SWRT 113 | How to Give a Really Good Critique

Jul 4, 2019

Writing groups, are they helpful? If you are a part of a writing group, how do you give helpful feedback to your writing partners? We cover etiquette, how to mark manuscripts, and the time and effort you should put into being a good critique partner. Even as you critique you are learning as a writer, so have fun and grow together!

SWRT 112 | The Devil Is in the Details: Revision

Jun 27, 2019

What details about our story do we miss in first draft? And what can we do to solve them? Is it possible to know everything before you start drafting? And what should your attitude be toward those missing pieces? We dive into how to revise those scenes that you love, and how to use rewriting in your revision process. In the end, it’s all writing! So be excited about making your story the best it can be.

SWRT 111 | Using One Character to Influence Another’s Arc

Jun 20, 2019

Kathryn explains an exercise in pre-writing she has been using to deepen her character arcs and relationships within her novel. We explore how it would affect sub-plots, character relationships, and arcs. What problems could this help you avoid? And how could you use it to develop your antagonist as well? We talk about how Kathryn got into this kind of development, and whether or not it would work for every kind of story!

SWRT 110 | When Good Characters Do Bad

Jun 13, 2019

What do we mean by “do bad”? And when should you let your characters make these morally reprehensible decisions? We talk about how to use the emotional bank account, and the motivation of your character to keep readers from losing their sympathy for the protagonist. And what about those snapped moments? Or when your character is acting out of character? Ultimately we decide it’s a powerful tool, so use it wisely!

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