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In today’s episode, Angie and Elizabeth discuss what it might mean when someone says a memoir is like a novel or a novel is like a movie. Hashing through the elements of shaping a true story into a compelling narrative, and the pros and cons of cross-genre identification, they look at what “good writing” means when lobbed at a television show. They play “novel neener” (a kind of “would you rather”), where Angie pushes Elizabeth to articulate which elements most make a story “like a novel.” The conversation digs into causality v. thematic organization, dramatic changes, definitions of creative nonfiction, stakes–and whether the blockbuster superhero movie glut stems from a failure to imagine stakes other than life-or-death. Elizabeth pitches her novel and Angie analyzes why people might say it sounds “like a movie.” Angie makes a claim that movies are more emotionally distant than novels. Steal This focuses on productivity this week. Finally, join Angie this Friday, Sept. 27, at 5 pm at the Mary Pickford in Cathedral City!
Links Discussed:
Lost in the Middle at Cinema Diverse, Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival
For They Know Not What They Do a documentary by Daniel Karslake
Annie Dillard The Writing Life
Jeanette Walls The Glass Castle
Stever Robbins Get It Done Guy on Mark Forster’s Speed-dating Your Tasks
Blake Snyder Six Things that Need Fixing
Emma Thompson in Remains of the Day
Don’t forget to send in your questions!
Story Makers is a podcast that features in-depth conversations with accomplished writers, filmmakers and industry experts about story craft, technique, habit and survival–everything you need to know to stay inspired, connect to your creativity, find others’ wonderful stories and your own success.
The hosts:
Elizabeth Stark is a published, agented novelist and distributed filmmaker who teaches and mentors writers at BookWritingWorld.com.
Angie Powers is a distributed filmmaker and published short story writer with an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in screenwriting from UCLA who teaches story structure at BookWritingWorld.com.