We discuss story craft in Junot Diaz’s short story “Fiesta, 1980” at this week’s writers book club on the Story Works Round Table podcast.
SWRT 281 | Bookends
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn discuss bookending a story, drawing on our recent discussion of Ethan Frome. Edith Wharton masterfully uses prologues and epilogues to frame the story and provide meaning. We analyze how the framing devices are essential to understanding the themes and events. Then explore examples of other books that also use framing devices well to provide narrative distance and allow readers to understand the story’s significance.
SWRT 030 | Writing Skills with Steve Peha
How do you make writing interesting to kids? How can you evaluate any kind of writing to make it better? And how do you get anyone, regardless of their age, excited and passionate about creating great writing? We explore six traits of writing, how to find your writing territory, and the importance of publishing your work.
SWRT 029 | Emotional Wounds & Character Arcs
What is a character arc? What are the three kinds of character arcs and four main components of a character arc? How can you use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to help with pre-writing? And how present does your characters wound need to be? Should you state it outright? Or should you weave it into the narrative? How many of your characters need wounds? And how can it affect your antagonist? Finally we discuss the details of finding your wound, and what it might do to your character.
SWRT 028 | Emotional Wounds
We sit down with Becca Puglisi to talk all things Emotional Wounds, and other writing resources. We talk about the resources she has for writers, and how they can be used in a wide range of applications. How can we use them to help show rather than tell, and make your writing richer and more immersive? We talk about writing challenging personal things, how to use character growth to challenge readers and why context is so important. And what is the difference between a villain and protagonist?
SWRT 027 | First Person Point of View
Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss the first person point of view (1st person POV). We get into strengths and weaknesses, a common misconception, and the popularity of first person in YA and NA fiction. Before you listen to this episode make sure you have...
SWRT 026 | Writing Villains
Is writing villains easy? How can you develop a villain without a point of view? Is a villain always seen as evil? How can you get into your villains head? Can we effectively troubleshoot our own villains? And what about writing them with a point of view? So take your villain, give them a good shave and a motivation and get writing!
SWRT 025 | Re-readable Books
Should all authors aspire to write a re-readable book? Does it have to be re-readable in order to be enjoyable? What can we learn from books we have re-read? We talk about reasons we re-read books, get deep into a food analogy, and leave you with a large list of our favorites we hope you enjoy!
SWRT 024 | Twists
What is a twist and how do you separate it from your typical surprising ending? Do all twists have to be massive plot level revelations? And is a twist just a gimmick? Should all books have twists? And at what point in your story should your twist arrive? Finally – we discuss how all stories can have twists and challenge everyone to write one of their own!
SWRT 023 | 3D Villains
What makes a good villain? How do you avoid cliches? How do you effectively layer your villains? And how do you use villains in different genres? Can you have an ideal as a villain? And what about those villains we don’t vanquish by the end of the book? Don’t forget that your villainy must be tangible to your protagonist and relatable to your reader!
SWRT 022 | Inspiration
What is a high concept idea? And do you need one in order to write? Should you build your story around your theme or let it emerge through your story? And what about writing to genre conventions? We talk about what inspires us, how to write in and out of the box, and shut down that voice of resistance in your head!