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Episode 98: Writing It and Reading It

Episode 98: Writing It and Reading It

In today’s podcast Angie and Elizabeth discuss how the quality of writing is not as markedly varied as our emotions tell us. This came up because Elizabeth is currently retyping her novel, something she has never done before and adores, and during the process she found a section that sounded awkward as she wrote it. After letting the “problematic” section sit for a few days, she read it aloud to Angie and they both found it better than Elizabeth had felt while writing it. There is always a difference between how you feel when you write it, and how it is when you read it. And just like any other work, there will be moments that writing doesn’t feel as pleasant, but you buckle up and keep driving forward.

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

The Keep by Jennifer Egan

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.

Episode 97: Rachel Howard – Working on Why Now

Episode 97: Rachel Howard – Working on Why Now

While Angie is prepping an after dinner chat for Sonoma County Writer’s Camp and Elizabeth continues to revise, they talk with Rachel Howard about her process. First having worked on a memoir, Rachel recently launched novel The Risk of Us. They discuss the “why now” aspect that is in both novels and memoirs, as well as the rhythms of three and how they can translate to books and not just on screen. They end with the idea of how writing is about paying attention to the world and making it into something. As ever, continue writing!

Rachel Howard

RACHEL HOWARD earned her MFA in fiction from Warren Wilson College and is the author of a memoir, The Lost Night, and a novel, The Risk of Us. She is the recipient of a MacDowell Colony fellowship, and her fiction, essays, and dance criticism have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere.

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.

Episode 98: Writing It and Reading It

Episode 97: 16 Tweets from Mira Jacob

Elizabeth continues to re-write and Angie is preparing to “collect rejections” as she begins submitting her film Lost in the Middle to festivals. They discuss complicated versus complex stories—is the difference in the eye of the beholder?  Elizabeth reads 16 tweets by author Mira Jacobs about her experiences in the literary world as a woman of color writing stories deemed to have “too many elements” and brings up Hilton Als’ recent review of Suzan-Lori Parks’ new play, White Noise. Story Makers Show is also holding a raffle to determine their new sign off!

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.

Episode 98: Writing It and Reading It

Episode 96: The Soul of Wit

In today’s podcast Angie and Elizabeth discuss brevity. Briefly.

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.

Episode 98: Writing It and Reading It

Episode 95: ‘Tis a Gift? Simplicity in Story

Elizabeth and Angie talk about simplicity. How to strip out what isn’t necessary. Why simple motives are more convincing, according to Angie and Matt Bird. What Einstein might have said about simplicity. What Elaine Scarry might have said about reading. Why the 5-whys method from systems analysis can help you understand your characters, their world views, decisions, actions and emotions. And that Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island brings emotion to the fore.

Write to us a @questions@storymakersshow.com or post them on the Story Makers Show page on Facebook or hit reply to this newsletter and ask away!

 

 

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.