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Best-selling author of three novels and two story collections, Ann Packer sat down with us to talk about writing for herself on her own schedule, about two different kinds of revision, about having a sense of the emotional shape of a book before she begins. We discussed the differences between a novel and a collection of short stories, even when the stories are linked, and about the process of organizing a collection. We got into what fuels your stories, and the distinction between story and plot, the importance of writing freely in a first draft, the timing for readers and what they can offer the writer and the creative process–and what they can’t. We talked about what she knows before she starts, and what she discovers on the way. Other topics include point of view, self-confidence, publishing, luck, reader revelations v. character revelations, and fear of flying (the actual thing, not Erica Jong’s book).
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Ann Packer
Author
Ann Packer was born in Stanford, California, in 1959, and grew up near Stanford University, where her parents were professors. She attended Yale University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has received fellowships from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Michener-Copernicus Society, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
She is the acclaimed author of two collections of short fiction, Swim Back to Me and Mendocino and Other Stories, and three bestselling novels, The Children’s Crusade, Songs Without Words and The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, which received the Kate Chopin Literary Award, among many other prizes and honors. Her short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and in the O. Henry Prize Stories anthologies, and her novels have been published around the world.
Ann returned to her native Bay Area in 1995. She lives in San Carlos with her family.
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.
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