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/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...

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 Girls in Their Summer Dresses” by Irwin Shaw . What can we learn from a story driven by dialogue? How does a story like this generate momentum? How is the spare writing achieved? How much ca...

In this episode, Anna talks to eminent novelist and prolific short story writer Richard Bausch. They discuss his short story, “Isolation,” his novella, “Donnaiolo,” and what it’s like to have one’s work optioned and filmed in Hollywood. Richard will also read his recently published short story, “Trigger Warnings.” If you enjoy this episode, please co...

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 “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates . What can we learn from this timeless story? How can we handle dialect in our stories? How can we develop good tension for a stor...

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 “Herman Wouk is Still Alive” by Stephen King . What can we learn from a short story by a master storyteller? How can we develop plot in a short story? How can we establish character? For daily wr...

In this episode, we interview Benjamin Percy. Find out more about Benjamin Percy here: https://benjaminpercy.com/ Buy The Ninth Metal here: https://www.contentbookstore.com/ If you enjoy this episode, consider subscribing to our newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group...

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 Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman . What can we learn from a 19th-Century Feminist short story? How does the diary-entry structure inform the way we read? How is a first-person...

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 “With the Beatles” by Haruki Murakami . How does structure help move the story forward and inform its themes? How do the three phases of the structure function in the story? How can ruminating on...