In today's episode, Angie and Elizabeth discuss the use of narrative in the art of persuasion. Coming back to Lindsay Doran’s rules of story, they check them against various politicians' appeals. This leads to an examination of competing stories, hyperbole, lies, character change, and audience. What kind of story does an audience need or is an audience ready for? Finally, they touch on the crucial role of writers in moving us and our world forward. steal this suggest sponsorship patches for politicians and the Booker Prize-winning book Girl Woman Other by Bernardine Evaristo.

Email us at questions@storymakersshow.com

Links in this Episode

The Daily Dose: Feminist Voices for a Green New Deal

Girl Woman Other by Bernardine Evaristo

Don’t Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff 

Lindsay Doran's three rules of drama

The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth 

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.

tarting with the Harry Potter theory of gamification, Angie and Elizabeth dive into the ways that attaching story—including costumes, pets, and props as well as wins and losses—to learning motivates students, much as story drives characters and readers. Growth is what excites people, not grades, and gamification builds resilience and perseverance—the kinds of heroic qualities we seek in our heroes. This leads into ties to want v. need and the important strengths and understanding them, and the ways people are designed to struggle and removing struggle removes people’s sense of self-mastery. And then, because everyone’s abuzz with the primary, they touch on politics as story, too.

Email us at questions@storymakersshow.com

Links in this Episode

Linsey Doran’s three rules of drama

Tetris

NY Times video on productivity

Tiny Habits: the small changes that change everything by BJ Fog 

Gameful Pedagogy (University of Michigan)

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.

The inimitable, brilliant Aya de Leon joins us for an inspiring conversation about regime change, the American Dirt controversy, genre, including the elements of a heist plot, and story structure--from the hero’s journey to politics to football and rugby. But that’s not all! We talk how Black/ Latina/ mixed-race girls occupying the center of the teen girl spy drama (one of Aya’s myriad exciting projects); the heart of productivity: the JOY and FUN of writing; fires and rebuilding and capitalist individualism v the big picture; the power of the treadmill desk, and more. Memorable quotes from Aya: “202020 climateclimateclimate;” “I really love writing.” Just go listen, and enjoy!

Email us at questions@storymakersshow.com

Links in this Episode

Aya de Leon

American Dirt controversy article by Aya 

Cave Canum

DailyDoseDeal.com

Naomi Klein on Fire 

Mary De Mocker The Parents' Guide to Climate Revolution:100 Ways to Build a Fossil-Free Future, Raise Empowered Kids, and Still Get a Good Night's Sleep

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.

In today’s episode, Angie identifies as the quintessential dilettante while Elizabeth lays out her process of revision. They debate whether the horror genre has shifted or Angie has changed. Most of all, they consider the potential for understanding both learning opportunities for writers and character growth of Rubrics such as: emerging, progressing, personal mastery, mastery. How do you consciously and creatively spend time in areas where you’re emerging and progressing? They look at when and where and how we take risks, and why it matters. The episode also features hints of a showdown on theory between the two hosts and touches on authority and accessibility in prose.

Email us at questions@storymakersshow.com

Links in this Episode

Jordan Peele

Penny Arcade

Just Mercy film

Wendy Brown

Bettina Apteker

Donna Haraway

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

Ira Glass: “I thought this would happen and instead this happened.”

Pixar 

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor 

Stephen Fry Sherlock Holmes

Jeanette Winterson “I’m telling you stories. Trust me.”

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.

This episode delves into the art and craft, indeed the very definition, of chapters--in books and a little bit in film, too. Angie and Elizabeth discuss what we need and want to know, narratively; how to play wondering out across a whole novel; the difference between a story and a novel; raising and answering reader questions and worries; making jumps; tension and release; scene v. chapter and chapter v. episode, unity of time and place, story question. They also touch on generating ideas and diffuse mode. In the end, what do you want your reader to feel? There’s a dinner party metaphor that really gets at some stuff. Hence, the title of the episode.

Email us at questions@storymakersshow.com

Links in this Episode

Sonoma County Writers Camp--sign up here!

Kenneth Atchity A Writer’s Time

Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache Series

Ann Patchett The Dutch House

Anthony Doerr All the Light We Cannot See

The Sebastopol Rialto

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.