Why Is This Good?

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Wikihistory” by Desmond Warzel . What can we learn from this story set on an internet forum? How can we be creative with pseudo-paratext? How can we rely on a reader’s understanding of for...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Black Phone” by Joe Hill . What can we learn from a story by one of Stephen King’s kids? How does horror work in written form? How can we craft prose that lets the reader zip through t...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Referential” by Lorrie Moore . What can we learn from a story inspired by another famous story? What can we learn from the changes Moore makes in the story? What about the story elements and eve...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx . What can we learn from the quiet voice of this story? How does the narrative voice represent the characters? How can the setting determine the voice of the...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Future is Blue” by Catherynne M. Valente . What can we learn from this cli-fi story? What makes a great prose style? How can we make our prose fun to write and fun to read? How can sentence...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber . What can we learn from this happy little story and its main character’s vivid daydreams? How does the literary form help us create this...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid . What can we learn from this little story? Is it flash fiction? What is it? How can we create rich characters by presenting only what they say? For daily writing tips,...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcas t In this episode, we discuss “Town of Birds” by Heather Monley . What can we learn from this story? Does there have to be a metaphorical meaning? How can a strong image or concept drive a story? For daily writing tips, indu...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien . What can we learn from this classic story? How does the conceit of the narration help tell the story? How does the setting and situation impact th...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Hunter’s Wife” by Anthony Doerr . What can we learn from a story with a fantastical premise? What do we get from a slow-building, patient story? How do pace and story work together? Ho...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J. D. Salinger . How can a simple presentation provide such a complex story? What’s the effect of a third-person, psychically distant point of view? How do...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Sweethearts” by Richard Ford . What can we learn from this story? How can a character’s emotions create tension in a story? How can a story’s premise wind up the tension? How can we...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “This is Pleasure” by Mary Gaitskill . What can we learn from a story with two first-person narrators? How can physical description help characterize a character? How do the feelings point-of-vie...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Snow” by Dale Bailey . What can we learn from this action-packed apocalyptic survival story? How much does a story like this rely on our familiarity with the genre? How do we determine what a st...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Leaf by Niggle” by J. R. R. Tolkien . What can we learn from this little tale? Is this a religious allegory? How does an allegorical framework limit how we understand or how we might write a sto...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “This is How You Fail to Ghost Him” by Victoria McCurdy . What can we learn from a piece of flash fiction? How can flash fiction satisfy us? What can be accomplished in such limited space? How do...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver . What can we learn from a paradigm example of a short story? How can we fit an emotionally satisfying character arc into a short story? How can we craft great dialo...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Ghosts and Empties” by Lauren Groff . What can we learn from a ruminative story with very little plot? How can we turn our own real experiences into fiction? How does a story differ from a perso...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Country of the Blind” by H. G. Wells . Can a story be based on an aphorism? How does the Utopian tradition affect the telling? How would modern storytelling styles impact the structure and n...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Sea Oak” by George Saunders . What can we learn from this crazy, hilarious story? How can fiction bring internal conflict into concrete reality? How can we create a concrete representation of a...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce . What can we learn from a story with such a devastating twist? How can we create an engaging story out of a cheap trick that we’re usu...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury . What can we learn from a quick science fiction story? How can a science fiction premise generate a story with such strong emotions? How can we show emotion...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson . What can we learn from this quiet horror story? How does foreshadowing work? How can good, small-town chat help a story? How can something familiar be undermine...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett . Why did Kristine choose an old, nineteenth-century story, and what can we learn from it? How have the attention spans of readers changed over the past centu...

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang . What can we learn from this complex and heart-wrenching science-fiction story? How can we use very specific ideas from specialized fields to drive a narrative...