Story Works Round Table | Conversations About Craft

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn get physical (and you won’t believe the scenes that get Robert in trouble!). When you need your characters to do something involving specific bodily movements, how can you create choreography that delivers the precise image you want in the reader’s mind, then move beyond choreography to create a felt experience in your reader’s...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert dig into Act II. If this sounds familiar: Robert: A big problem is that when you dream up your story, you have this amazing sense of, I just thought this amazing thing is going to happen to this character and then how it's all going to end. Okay, but there's 50% of your novel, which I just haven't thought about yet. I think for...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss using a non-protagonist as your point of view character. What pitfalls does a writer face in doing this? Will readers engage with a witness POV? And if the POV character does not have stakes in the action, what then? This topic came to us from a listener's question and made for a juicy craft conversation! Show notes, li...

Alida, Robert & Kathryn discuss the merits and pitfalls of writing a hero without a character arc. It has been done to great success, so why do so few people suggest it’s even possible to write an arcless protagonist? This episode previously aired as episode 007. Show notes and links at www.storyworkspodcast.com Visit WordEssential.com and book a discovery call today!

This week, Alida and Kathryn talk about short stories. Why, as novelists, do we love writing the short story? What can we learn by writing short stories that we maybe can't by writing novels? What makes a short story great? Memorability. A shift in the reader. Sound tough to achieve? Don't let that stop you! Your writing skills will grow in leaps and bounds when you take on the short story. Show n...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida & Kathryn discuss the benefits of writing retreats, especially when your story requires location-specific research. Whether you're writing urban fantasy, historical, or just a story set in a real place, this episode is a happy exploration of how taking time for yourself as a writer and immersing in your research can do wonders for both your story...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss Love & Writing. How many ways can you write love and all its complications into your stories? We aren't talking about romance here, just love in its many complex forms. Story Works Round Table will be coming out biweekly. Don't worry, we aren't going away, just changing the schedule. Use our off weeks to explore the...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss trouble and your plot, character, arcs, craft and more. Sneak Peak: Alida: It's always from the fry pan to the fire. Keep asking yourself, how is this going to get worse for my character? Kathryn: The decisions they make can't make them happier. These decisions have to make them suffer more, constantly more suffering. B...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss Act I in this all new episode about opening your novel. What is the author's responsibility to the reader? How does your opening need to connect to your ending and what happens when it doesn't? We link it in the show notes to all the related episodes in our catalog, so make sure to check out our Library Links at www. St...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss the usefulness and drawbacks of using repetition in your story. What kind of repeition is typically employed in story? When does it become predictable or dull? How can we use repetition effectively to add to the reader's experience without compromising novelty?  Creative writing workshops at www. StoryWorksFiction....

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss motifs, those recurring elements in a story that seem to live in the background yet enhance the power and meaning of narrative. Creative writing workshops at www. StoryWorksFiction.com .  Show notes, links, & more at www. StoryWorksPodcast.com.   Visit WordEssential.com and book a discovery call today!

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss openings, when and how to begin your novel. This episode will be linked in the show notes to all related episodes in the library.  What does your opening page communicate to a reader? When should you open with a prologue and when in media res? How do you introduce your world without bogging the reader down in info...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert talk about describing your characters’ faces so they make an impression on your readers. Faces are so much more than a list of physical traits, brown hair, deep eyes, cleft chin. Lists are forgettable. When you describe your characters, strive to convey an impression of the *person* through the face. Creative writing workshops...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn talk about that slippery subject, ambiguity. What is it? How does it function in story? How & why it can disappoint or disgruntle readers (like Kathryn!). How it’s different from a hook. More! Thinking about group coaching? Check out the sneak peek at a recent coaching call & take a writing tip away from the conversatio...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, & Kathryn talk description. Have you considered the purpose and power of description in your narrative before? Given that most of story is narrative, how you tell it matters. At the heart of narrative is description. Show notes, links, & more at www. StoryWorksPodcast.com. Creative writing workshops at www. StoryWorksFiction.com .  &nbs...

 Looking for inspiration or want to know you're not alone in this crazy creative process called storytelling? Curious about how other writers spend writing time outside of drafting? This week, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn talk about the ways we make writing our practice and practice our writing. Before launching a project, when problem solving, or developing a new skill, we hone our craft. Just...

This week at the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn talk about prewriting. There is so much to gain from this stage of the writing process, we go into what techniques we use, when, why, and how they help our drafting and revision processes. Head to the show notes to grab our slider of related episodes in our library. Show notes & more: www. StoryWorksPodcast.com Writing work...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn dig into the writer's mindset. When we're facing challenges of motivation, inspiration, or just plain old scheduling, what can we do to get out of the rut and get back to what matters, what matters to us, that is? Sometimes the hardest thing to accept and act on is that it really is up to us (and no one else) if and when we write. Whether...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss theme. This episode will be linked in the show notes to all other episodes related to theme, so if you're interested in the topic, you'll be able to quickly access the theme catalog in our library.  Kathryn and Alida think about theme a lot and it drives their work.  Show notes, links, & more at www. Story...

This week, Alida and Kathryn talk about emotions. A critical element of any story, it's not always obvious why or when we need them. Even trickier is how to put a feeling into words that translate beyond meaning, that actually make the reader feel what the character is feeling or something more. Crafting words on the page with the goal of emotional depth, intensity, or power is a worthwhile goal f...

This week, Alida and Kathryn go deeper into the subject of writing time, specifically how to handle chronology in narrative. We have three very short examples that illustrate different methods of structuring your narrative to move the story and reader through time. Francisco holds us in the present, with her as she writes, while drawing us back into her remembrances. Sukruangrung uses a scene brea...

On today's Story Works Reading Series, Selene Castrovilla reads the short story "Careless Whistle." If the title brings to mind a certain '80s pop tune, it (like everything in great fiction) is intentional. After the reading, Selene and I talk about her start in writing, the use of music in her narrative, theme, and how everything we put on the page is open to the reader's interpretation. Selene i...

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss what goes into a scene. Is there a recipe to follow? Kind of, but joke as we may, scenes are built upon certain repeatable story elements. How does pacing change with the shape of your scenes? What mistakes are commonly made at the scene level? Show notes, links, & more at www. StoryWorksPodcast.com.     V...

This week on Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert talk character. What to do when your supporting characters resist the roles you've given them? Do you really need them all? What about developing new skills over the course of an arc?  Could your characters benefit from a writing lesson? Story Works has creative writing workshops available today on character traits, a master c...

This week, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn talk time. It's about more than the passage of time in your story. Break out of the rut of chronological storytelling and use time to your advantage by structuring your narrative in nonlinear ways. Being creative in your use of time will enhance your suspense and reveals, no matter the genre you're writing in. There is still time to enroll in the 10-week creat...