Story Works Round Table Archives - Page 32 of 64 - Story Works Round Table Podcast

SWRT 284 | Writers Book Club: Naming My Father

Nov 9, 2023

This week, Alida and Kathryn welcome Dr. Martha Highers to the Writers Book Club to discuss “Naming My Father,” a personal essay that won the Under the Sun summer writing contest. Martha is an editor at Under the Sun. not only do we talk as reader-writers, we get an insightful behind the scenes glimpse of the selection and editorial process for this wonderful essay about growing up the child of an autistic parent before anyone understood autism.

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SWRT 283 | Characterization

Oct 26, 2023

Characterization is more than introducing a character. The sharpest and subtlest of details can reveal a whole person to a reader.

SWRT 067 | Character Descriptions

Aug 16, 2018

How should you introduce your characters? We each bring an example showing how to use action or narrative exposition to introduce your character to your reader. Remember just like everything in writing your description should do more than just describe your character.

SWRT 066 | Theme

Aug 9, 2018

How do you define a stories theme? And should you start with a theme or let it develop naturally? We talk about how you can use the theme as a revelation, as well as how it connects readers to authors. Use theme as a layer of your story, balanced with the rest of your elements. And finally, Alida challenges us to write a story to a theme!

SWRT 065 | Writing Groups

Aug 2, 2018

This week's show is pulled from the archives. Previously released as video-only episode 2. Alida, Kathryn, and Matt discuss writing groups. What to look for, how you might benefit, when to join and when to run! VIDEO AUDIO SHOW NOTES What we talked about: The...

SWRT 064 | Story Collections, Novel-in-Stories, Serialization

Jul 26, 2018

How do you approach a short story collection? And when do you know you are writing one? What is the difference between a collection of short stories and a novel-in-stories? And what are the challenges of writing a short story collection? Why do some genre’s seem to lend themselves to serialization? And what is the difference between a serialized work, and a collection of short stories?

SWRT 063 | Short Stories: How they differ from novels

Jul 19, 2018

We all know short stories are short, but how does that change the way you write them? What is it with short stories and the ambiguous ending? And how can you tell if you are writing a short story, a lead magnet, or just a scene? Short stories are a great tool to use to better your writing craft so go out and write some, read some more, and enjoy yourself!

SWRT 062 | Energizing Dialogue

Jul 12, 2018

What should you do with dialogue heavy passages? How can you break it up? Should you worry about it in the first draft? What are revision techniques to catch your dialogue heavy sections? How can you approach teaching your character? What are some techniques to layer in information? And how do you use them correctly? The most important thing is to focus on what you want to achieve, and figure out how best to communicate that with your reader.

SWRT 061 | Character Motivation

Jul 5, 2018

How do we address character motivation? Do we struggle with it? When do we work it into our stories? How can you get to know your character better in order to develop that motivation? What are the three layers of motivation? And how do you plan for your characters motivation over a series? What happens when your character has competing motivations?

SWRT 060 | Everything You Need to Know About Show, Don’t Tell, part 2

Jun 28, 2018

What is psychic distance and filtering? How can we use our writers gaze properly? How do you get rid of your frame and allow the reader to fill in the gaps? Don’t forget to use all your senses and put your characters in action in your space in order to show effectively.

SWRT 059 | Everything You Want to Know About Show, Don’t Tell

Jun 21, 2018

What does “show, don’t tell” actually mean? And how is it misleading? How should you use narrative summary to your benefit as a writer? Do you need scene breaks? And how do you make your telling showy? How present is your narrator? And what are the dangers of losing your narrator in a first-person point of view?

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