Story Works Round Table

conversations about craft

for writers and readers curious about writers

SWRT 296 | Writers Book Club: Checkhov

SWRT 296 | Writers Book Club: Checkhov

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn discuss Chekhov’s story, “The Woman with the Little Dog.” You can get the link to read it in the show notes.

“Everything that he found important, interesting, necessary, in which he was sincere and did not deceive himself, which constituted the core of his life, occurred in secret from others.” -Checkhov

Unpack the layers of Anton Chekhov’s poignant short story, “The Lady with the Little Dog,” in this thought-provoking episode of Story Works Round Table. Alida and Kathryn dissect the narrative’s exploration of love, regret, and societal imprisonment. As they navigate through the characters internal struggles and the story’s critique of marital conventions, listeners are invited to consider depth of character emotion, subtext, and presenting social commentary through story.

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Get Alida’s reflections on life, writing, and the writing life in A Room Full of Books & Pencils. booksandpencils.substack.com

SWRT 296 | Writers Book Club: Checkhov

SWRT 295 | Writers Book Club: Gina Berriault

This week on the Story Works Round Table we discuss Gina Berriault’s flash fiction story, “The Woman in the Rose Colored Dress.” At only 2 1/2 pages, it packs in remarkable sentences, the experience of time passing, incredible subtext in minimal dialogue, and a realistic coming of age story when a girl makes a discovery about her father that shifts her understanding of the world. Get the link in our show notes to read the story yourself.

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SWRT 093 | 5 Steps to Drafting with Motivation & Momentum

SWRT 093 | 5 Steps to Drafting with Motivation & Momentum

Carlee shares five tools to help us through our drafting process, whether you are in first draft or revision! We talk about setting goals, using focused writing time, keeping a log, as well as a visual progress meter, and rewarding yourself at the completion of a project. Carlee also talks about her experience with group accountability and how key it was to finishing her draft. Remember! We’re doing an accountability challenge in our Facebook group this year! Join us today!

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SWRT 092 | Going Deeper with Emotional Risks part 2

SWRT 092 | Going Deeper with Emotional Risks part 2

In part two of our conversation about taking emotional risks, we talk about what the “truth” is in our writing. How do we get to the emotional truth? And how do we take care of ourselves when we do get there? We also discuss the difference between the value of your experience, and the way that we can convey that to readers. Plus we have a special bonus segment specific to Creative Non-Fiction writers!

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SWRT 091 | Going Deeper into Emotional Risks

SWRT 091 | Going Deeper into Emotional Risks

Why are we compelled by the truth in our lives? And how can we make art out of emotional risks? When should we protect the people we’ve written about rather than publish our work? And how do you deal with your reality in writing, whether in fiction or nonfiction?

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SWRT 090 | Writing Otherness

We start with a listener question about writing a culture that is not our own, and take off on a journey of writing what you don’t know, or the “other”. Why is it a political hot potato? And how can you be careful in your writing? We talk about the problem of stereotypes, and our own view from the “white middle class”. In the end it all comes down to being careful, researching well, and writing from a place of deep empathy for your whole character!

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SWRT 089 | Setting: Story Places Based on Real Places

What are the advantages and pitfalls of using real places and names in your writing? What should you fictionalize, and what can you leave the same? It all comes down to genre expectations, how close to reality you want to be, and not pulling your readers out of your story!

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SWRT 087 | 2019 New Year New Goals

This week, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss the year to come. If you haven't already, listen to last week's show, 2018 Year in Review. We get into not only where we'd like to be heading, but will keep us motivated with lots of tips, tricks, and recommendations. I've...

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SWRT 086 | 2018 Year in Review

What did we learn from 2018? Did we meet our goals? And do we struggle to see ourselves as writers? Alida gives us a challenge for 2019, and we hope you will join in too!

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SWRT 085 | Antagonistic Forces

If your story doesn’t have a bad guy, what do you have? How can you use stories about nature or society to craft a non-personified antagonist? Do you have to have characters involved? And are these external, or internal forces? What effect does this have on your story? And how can you keep a reader interested?

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