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 “The Prairie Wife” by Curtis Sittenfeld . What can we learn from a story that unspools like a stone tumbling down a hill? How can we accomplish such mind-blowing twists? How can we use unconsciou...

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 “Wake for Susan” by Cormac McCarthy . What can we learn from a well-known author’s first publication? How can daydreams or telling stories to ourselves help drive a narrative? How can commo...

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 “Items Awaiting Protective Enclosure” by Téa Obreht . What can we say about a cli-fi (climate-fiction) story told with a second person point of view? How is such an intricate near-future setting...

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 Comet” by W. E. B. Du Bois . What kind of science fiction did Du Bois write? How can the pace of the prose reflect the pace of the action? How can elevated language drive a story and help 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 Art of Losing” by Yoon Choi . How does point of view help reveal a character’s mental state? How does point of view in this story help build tension? How can a story explore an idea wi...

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 Saddest Case of True Love” by Simon Van Booy . How does a story within a story within a story function? What effects can this structure create? Are there ambiguities in this story that sugges...

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 “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen . What can we learn from this timeless story? How can a situation drive a story? What does the structure of the story provide for the overall effect? What d...

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 “Gryphon” by Charles Baxter . How does a character telling a story as a memory color the way we read it? How do we write about children? How do we write for adults when we write about kids? What...

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 “Symbols and Signs” by Vladimir Nabokov . Can a simple story be a vehicle for beautiful presentation? What is the hidden story embedded here? What does it mean to find the “meaning” o...

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 “Trilobites” by B. D’J. Pancake . How can a character’s preoccupations and thought processes help build the fictional dream? How do we understand that a character isn’t confront...

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 “Cougar” by Maria Anderson .  How does a mood help drive a story?  How can we create a symbol?  Why are so many stories so sad?  How do mood, symbolism, theme, and other story elements work toget...

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 “White Noise” by Emma Cline . How can you write fiction about a real person? How true to life should a fictional portrayal be? What can we learn about excellent characterization? For daily writin...

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 Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner . Why is this story so good? How does the ‘we’ point of view work? What kind of narrative structure is at work here? How do character and plot w...

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 Feminist” by Tony Tulathimutte . What can we learn from a story that delves so deeply into contemporary social issues? What can we learn from a protagonist that confidently refuses to acknow...

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 “God’s Work” by Kevin Canty . How can a character’s internal struggle drive a story? How can a story driven by a character’s internal struggle be structured? Can we glean any ti...

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 Fifth Story” by Clarice Lispector . What can we learn from a piece of metafiction? What can we gain by telling a story in several different ways? How does fiction help us dig deeper into our...

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 Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor . What can we say about a story with so much already written about it? How is this story like a Greek Tragedy? How can we use the form 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 “River of Names” by Dorothy Allison . What can we learn from this dark story? How do lists help develop the mood? How does a strong mood help capture the reader and create a memorable story? Wher...

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 “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” by ZZ Packer . What can we learn from such a strongly character-driven story? How does story relate to character? How can we create engaging and believable characters?...

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 are joined by our friend and author, Karl Luntta.  Karl is the author of the novel Know it By Heart (Northwestern University Press/Curbstone) and short story collection Swimming (SUNY Press) , and has published fict...

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 are joined by our friend and author, Karl Luntta.  Karl is the author of the novel Know it By Heart (Northwestern University Press/Curbstone) and short story collection Swimming (SUNY Press) , and has published fict...

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 Alone” by Sallie Bingham . What can we learn from this tightly packed feminist story? How can quickly drawn and distinct characters help a story? How can character interactions help develop...

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 Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin . What can we learn from a non-traditional story that is not driven by character or scene? How can a story create a takeaway instead 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’re joined once again by our friend, author James Zwerneman. We discuss “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain .  What can we learn from Twain’s famous story? How much...

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 invited our friend James Zwerneman to join our conversation, and James suggested we discuss a chapter from The Lost World by Michael Crichton. What can we learn from a single chapter from a novel? What can a single c...