Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “Say Yes” by Tobias Wolff. What can we learn from this quick story with great depth? How can a story create depth of character without relying on backstory and character history? How can a mundane setup
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “At the Clinic” by Sally Rooney. What can we learn from this story about characters that are also the focus of a novel? How can we set up the threads that will be woven together through a story? How doe
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “Work” by Denis Johnson. What can we learn from this story with a strong voice? How does the narrator shape the way we understand and experience the story? How does detachment play a part in the emotion
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “Roy Spivey” by Miranda July. What can we learn from this delightful story of quirky characters? How can taking a character’s emotions to an absurd degree help get to the root of what it means to be hum
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “A Small Good Thing” by Raymond Carver. What can we learn from this masterful short story? How does a writer deliberately make a reader like or dislike a character? Can we deepen a character without exp
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “2BR02B” by Kurt Vonnegut. What can we learn from this piece of speculative fiction? How can we build an alternate, speculative world so quickly? How do characters who live in a world help reveal that w
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty. What can we learn from this story where nothing happens? What is the plot? Is it a character portrait? How can we decide where a story begins and how much of it to tell?
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “Foster” by Claire Keegan. What can we learn from this spectacular story? How does the pace of the story work with the point of view to develop tension? How can we show a character grow and learn throug
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “In the Heart of the Heart of the Country” by William H Gass (starts page 172, click “borrow”). What can we learn from this vibrant, poetic story with an unusual structure? Is there a narrative arc? How
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Tyler. What can we learn from this story? How can we think about the structure of a story in terms of a Greek tragedy? What’s up with JC’s image of a skipping stone as a stor
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. (French version here.) What can we learn from this exemplar story? How can we fit characters to their stories? How can the shape of dialogue on the page help us guid
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “The Wedding Party” by Taylor Koekkoek. What can we learn from this simple story elevated by literary effects? How can a writer’s eye make a story feel important? How can a non-point-of-view character b
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “Eveline” by James Joyce. What can we learn from this famous story? How does Joyce structure the epiphany? Can we use that structure in our own stories? Are there hidden symbolic depths to the details o
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “A Millionaire’s Girl” by Zelda Fitzgerald. What can we learn from this story written by the less-famous Fitzgerald? How would we describe the point of view of this story? How does the narrator mediate
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “The Catbird Seat” by James Thurber. What can we learn from this funny little story? How does point of view function in this story? How can an objective point of view allow us to balance what the charac
Interested in our novel mentorship program or have any other questions? Email us at napleswritersworkshop@gmail.com If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com In this episode, we discuss “The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket” by Yasunari Kawabata. What can we learn from this Japanese short story? What is the role of the narrator in this story? How does the narrator offer literal perspec
If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole” by Isabel J. Kim. What can we learn from this story that plays off another classic story? How can a clear voice set the tone for a story? What distinguishes fantasy from realist storytelling that wants to comment on real-world issues? How can we shape our own voices for different stories? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, j
If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur C. Clarke. What can we learn from this classic story? What guides the length and development of a short story? What could turn a premise-driven story into a character-driven story? How does understanding the needs of a story determine where it should focus? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at http://www.faceb
If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Hollow” by Breece D’J Pancake. What can we learn from this early success from a young writer? What does it mean for a writer to find their voice? What does it mean to write what you know? Is it actually bad to head-hop point of view? How do you circumscribe the events of a story to create a compelling portrait of a character? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Faceb
If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever (alternate version). What can we learn from this 1947 New Yorker story? How does the distinction between public and private life drive a story? How do stories rely on insights about human psychology? How does a story that predicts the future show us what it means to be human? How can we use fantastical elements to explore the psychology of characters? For daily writin
If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “A Conversation with My Father” by Grace Paley. What can we learn from this semi-autobiographical story? How can we develop stories from our own experiences? How can an extended conversation drive a story? How does the tragedy of human mortality color the mood of a conversation? How can we capture a real-life feeling in our stories? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our
If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “A Manual for Cleaning Women” by Lucia Berlin. What can we learn from this story? How can we use a repeating structure in a story? How can the emotional shape of a story influence its structure? How does a story’s themes suggest structural features? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/napleswritersworkshop You can also
If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor. What can we learn from one of O’Connor’s best parables? How do details make a story richer? What does it mean for a story to have a meaning? How can detailed, concrete characters help a story find insights through drama? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/napl
If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Wood Sorrel House” by Zach Williams. What can we learn from this story? Do we need to interpret what the story means? Is there a metaphor? How can interior psychology be presented by external conflicts? How can we make sure our stories are understood as we intend? How can concrete details ground a story’s concerns? What makes a perfect detail? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short ficti
If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borges. What can we learn from this seminal work? How does the Garden of Forking Paths function in the story? How can a story maintain momentum while shifting the reader’s expectations? How can a story explain something novel? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/napleswritersw
