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

Tara Westover Educated

Cheryl Strayed Wild

Annie Dillard The Writing Life

Mary Karr Lit

Jeanette Walls The Glass Castle

Maggie Nelson The Argonauts

Karen Russel Swamplandia

Natalie Saurotte Childhood

Scott Young Ultralearning

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.

By what method to you guide and structure story? This episode aims to take down any dichotomy between planning and accessing your intuition. Angie and Elizabeth delve into right- and left-brain approaches and exercises that can help you dig a framework out of your unconscious. Yes, make lists, but gut check them. We resist intuition because it’s vulnerable and scary, so they offer strategies for moving forward toward fear. Let the constraints lead you to greater freedom, and connect deeply with what matters to you most, because that will sustain you.

Links Discussed:

Book in a Year: http://bookinayear.com/classes-available-now

Free Kick-off Party and 7-step Lesson: https://bookwritingworld.com/free-BIAY-kickoff-lesson/

Broad Humor Film Festival: https://www.broadhumorfilmfest.com

D.A.R.E. book and program on anxiety: https://dareresponse.com/

 The 21st Century Screenplay: http://www.lindaaronson.com/21st-century-screenplay.html

Lost in the Middle at Cinema Diverse in Palm Springs https://psculturalcenter.org/filmfest/movie/lost-in-the-middle 

Antifragility by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/176227/antifragile-by-nassim-nicholas-taleb/9780812979688/

The Life Coach School podcast where Elizabeth heard about Antifragility

https://thelifecoachschool.com/podcast/284/

Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2365580/

Book: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780316204262

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.