Writing (and publishing) a memoir can be nerve wracking. What if the people you’re writing about don’t like your portrayal of them? What if they hate it? What if they decide to sue? In this episode we discuss the chapter (and appendix) that cover this memoirist’s fear in Judith Barrington’s book, Writing the Memoir — both from an emotional and lega…

Okay, maybe that's a bit of hyperbole, but not by much. In this stand alone episode we talk with Erik Klass, the entrepreneurial editor behind the submission service Submitit about what literary journals are looking for in short stories and creative non-fiction. He also discusses how his company evaluates and chooses particular journals for their c…

Last week we covered time in memoir, specifically how the writer can jump back and forth in time and the reader can follow along easily. In this episode, we identify signposts and time jumps in two short memoir pieces. One by one of Kim' s favorite science writers, Rebecca Skloot. Remember, we have a Writers Process/Writing Sprint meetup every Wedn…

Memoirs are rarely straight chronological narratives, what with the musing we talked about last episode, and they almost always jump forwards and backwards in time. We discuss Judith Barrington take the mental Time Machine from her book Writing the Memoir, specifically the idea of the “Now” and how with a little signposting, readers can follow alon…

We’ve gotten to the part of Judith Barrington’s Writing the Memoir where she covers the actual writing of in a memoir, the words on the page. In addition to scenes, which we’ve covered in our fiction writing podcasts, Barrington says memoirs contain summaries and musings. In this episode, we discuss all three (with examples!) and talk about how the…

Readers seek out memoirs because they want true stories. But the truth, according to Judith Barrington in her book Writing the Memoir, is more than using Google to fact check. There are also emotional truths, which are harder than factual truths due of our imperfect memories, because they might offend our friends, families and communities, and beca…

Chronological, essays, skipping through time, interspersed non-fiction — there are so many forms that memoir can take. Judith Barrington covers several in her book, Writing the Memoir, and in this episode we discuss the options, and why you might choose one for your memoir. As a bonus, Renee shares an exercise she’s come up with for finding your me…

Baring one's soul in a memoir is hard work. Convincing others to care, to engage in your life story may be even harder. In her book, Writing the Memoir, Judith Barrington says the first step is getting ourselves to care about our memoir. In this podcast we discuss both her philosophical reasoning and practical advice. In this week's writing exercis…

We’re starting a NEW BOOK - Judith Barrington’s Writing the Memoir. And what better place to start than by discussing what a memoir is, and what memoir isn’t, and just how truthful do you need to be, important questions that are addressed in the book’s first chapter. But that’s only half the episode. We once again have a book with writing prompts a…

How do you tackle one of the most famous writing craft books, you take it “Bird by Bird.” That’s what we’ve done with Anne Lamott’s book over the past 12 episodes and in this final episode we cover her end of the class advice, along with how to avoid libel (not sure why that got placed there) and give our opinion about the book as a whole. And then…

Well, why do you? The answer for most authors is to get published. But is that the only reason, or even the best reason? As we near the end of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird we investigate other rewards for writing, like to to find ones voice, or as way of giving. And then we get back to publishing (this is a writing advice podcast) and discuss Lamott’…

Anne Lamott (in her Bird by Bird book) says the dreaded writer’s block isn’t about being blocked, it’s about being empty. In today’s podcast we discuss Lamott’s approach to writer’s block, as well as her technique of letter writing to get at the heart of your story. We also have an insightful conversation on exactly why memoirists (or at least Rene…

Behind most successful authors there is a writing group (at least according to their novel's acknowledgment section). But how does one find a writing group, and how do you get the most of out of one once you're in? In todays episode, we discuss the chapters "Writing Groups" and "Someone to Read your Drafts" from Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird. We …

Some advice is timeless, some is not. In this episode we evaluate writing techniques from Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird and see if they still have value in our current Information Age. Specifically, Lamott writes about capturing one's thoughts on index cards, and how to use a telephone to get information and also, to get a larger sense of people'…

Sometimes just showing up isn’t enough. You’ve set time aside for writing and instead of your story unfurling on the page (or screen) other things come out. In this episode, we’ll discuss author Anne Lamott’s struggle and solutions to this problem from her book Bird by Bird. First we’ll tackle the good voice, the inspiration that we keep ignoring, …

We're onto the second section in Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird -- The Writing Frame Of Mind -- and it's getting a bit nebulous folks. In Looking Around, Lamont encourages us to see, truly see, the world. That sounds like mindfulness training to Kim, it sounds like something else to Renee. And then it's onto The Moral Point of View which brings out an …

Even published authors have problems getting the magical stories in their heads into finished manuscript. But Anne Lamott’s account of how, over the course of three years, she completely rewrote what would be her second novel several times, probably deserves a prize for perseverance (or stubbornness). In this podcast we discuss what was wrong with …

We’re covering two different topics from Ann Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. First off is scene setting, both their importance for your characters and how to get all the details right (quick answer, ask an expert) Then we’re back to finding out what your story is about, how to return to a scene or chapter again and again (and again) until you can final…

We’ve gotten to some hearty chapters in Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. First up is plot, which “grows out of characters.” We discuss what this means and if it’s applicable to genre writing. Then we turn to dialog, and how you distill intent from the rambling conversation of what people say while maintaining their unique voice. Putting our writing…

So you’ve committed to Anne Lamott’s daily writing practice (as discussed in our previous podcast), good for you. Now let’s find out how to turn those embarrassing word scribbles into profound and meaningful insights. In this episode we start with the Bird by Bird chapters, School Lunches and Polaroids, which, trust us, are about that transformativ…

How does one write an entire novel? It’s a bit like the advice for eating an elephant, one bite at a time. In this episode we cover Anne Lamott’s novel biting tips from her book, Bird by Bird. First comes her 1-inch picture frame technique, then her most famous suggestion, shitty first drafts. Finally, we tackle the anti-writing mindset, perfection…

It’s time for a new season and it’s time for a new book! We’re starting Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. This is the writing process book that everyone has heard of, and, given that it’s funny and self-deprecating, it’s probably one most people have read. We’re looking forward to mining it for writing tips and seeing following them increases our own lit…

Think ChatGPT can finish your creative writing exercises? Let’s find out! In this episode we’re testing the cutting-edge artificial intelligence on some old school writing prompts. We dug out our copies of John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction and typed in two of the back-of-the-book exercises. Faster than you could say “Any sufficiently advanced techn…

We’re on our penultimate episode for our reading of Jack Bickham’s Scene and Structure. So, what does the bullet point Meister have to squeeze into an end of a book that 90% of its readers will probably never get to? Well, first we give ourselves a little pep talk and then we see if we can make sense of all of these specialized scene situations. An…

Every composition teacher will draw out a rising action graph on the board (yes, we're old school). But how do you translate that diagram into the sentences and paragraphs that keep your readers engaged in your story? In his book, Scene and Structure, Jack Bickham says to do it through structure (because of course he does), and gives seven differen…

Today we tackle Jack Bickham’s Common Scene Errors, and boy, are there a lot of them, 14 to be precise. According to Scene and Sequel, these simple problems will derail your scenes, rob them of their impact and drag down your novel. We go through each error, identifying if they’re a problem in our own writing and discuss Bickham’s solution. Want th…

What writer hasn’t dreamed of leaving behind the stress and obligations of their day-to-day lives for a quiet, secluded space where they can just write? This past October, we did just that, renting an Airbnb for five days and making real progress on our memoir and novel. During those days we recorded several short conversations documenting our writ…

In this episode, we’re taking a break from our usual craft book analysis and writing exercise because … Kim and Renee went on a writing retreat! We abandoned our spouses, kids, and cats for five days to hole up in a secluded Airbnb. We’ll discuss our expectations, preparations and what we managed to accomplish on our little adventure. Besides the e…

After 70 pages of Jack Bickham’s Scene and Structure we feel we’ve got a pretty good handle on how to break our stories down into action-packed, disaster-ending scenes and the more contemplative internal sequels that hold the book together. What we’ve had a harder time with is finding these scene-sequel sequences in the books we own. So, what gives…

How do you take a ponderous story into a page turner? How do you take a Michael Bay paced novel and make it about more than one disaster after the next? In this episode, we explain Jack Bickham’s techniques to speed up or slow down your story’s pacing by using the structures of scene and sequel. We also check in with author Terry Teirney and editor…

When you’re bored with action-packed scenes and want to dive deep into the mind of your protagonist, maybe you should try a Sequel. In today’s episode we explore Bickham’s idea of sequel, its parts, and how it glues the scenes together. But we don’t just take Scene & Structure’s word for it, we go looking for sequels in several of our favorite book…

After last episode’s deep dive into scene structure, we thought we’d ask a few published novelists and professional editors if they use scene goals in their writing/editing. Then, for our podcast proper, we move beyond the scene basics into more advance concerns, like does that disaster you carefully crafted have the proper scope, immediacy, finali…

If stories are made up of scenes, what are scenes made up of? According to Jack Bickham in his book, Scene and Structure, scenes start with a character’s stated goal and rumble through an evolving conflict until they reach … a disaster. In this episode, we examine each of these elements and test Bickham’s assertions using Real Book examples. Then, …

This episode is all about cause and effect, what it is, why it is critical in fiction despite being largely absent in real life, and how it works line by line as stimulus and response. In chapter 3 of his book Scene and Structure, Jack Bickham has some hard rules about applying and ordering stimulus, internalization, and response. We examine our ow…

In this podcast we give our first impressions of our new book, Jack Bickham's Scene and Structure, and, being the enthusiast students that we are, we begin by identifying his central thesis. Then it's onto Chapter 2, where we answer some novice novelist questions and discuss Bickham's approach to a story's first page. To further our understanding, …

In this episode we bid a fond farewell to Bradbury with one last conversation about his book, Zen in the Art of Writing. We discuss what's in the book, what it meant for us personally, and how readers can get the most out of this writing craft book. We send off Bradbury with our favorite Zen quotes. And then it's on to Jack Bickham's Scene and Stru…

In this episode we dive into the final chapter of Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing, titled: Zen in the Art of Writing. So what is Zen, anyway? With the help of the internet, we come up with some context. Then it's on to Bradbury's three critical words to writer success: WORK RELAXATION DON'T THINK (okay, that's four words) We do our best to…

In todays episode, Bradbury tells us how loathing Ireland pushed him to becoming a playwright/screenwriter, why these absurdest plays are no good, and the secret to successfully turning his short stories into film. Full disclosure, Renee and Kim pretty much disagree with these two chapters in Zen in the Art of Writing, and they have no clue what "S…

No one succeeds all by themselves, and that includes Ray Bradbury. In his book Zen in the Art of Writing, he credits several individual who were critical to his literary success. In this episode we examine the roles these people took on and speculate how they might fit into our modern social-media driven world. Then we have some fun with the chapte…

According to Bradbury’s retelling, it took him nine days, a library typewriter, and a pocketful of dimes to crank out his first version of Fahrenheit 451. Is such a feat possible in today’s distracting world? We decide to give it a try (or at least one day of a try) and report on the results it in this episode. If you want a play by play of the day…

Oh Muse, well-spring of creativity, why are you so unreliable? How can we entice you? In this episode, we discuss what the muse is and get some advice on nurturing and strengthening our own from Ray Bradbury's book Zen in the Art of Writing. We also discuss Bradbury's journey to becoming a writer and how it compares to our own. Finally, we put all …

Ray Bradbury shares his secrets for how he wrote so many unforgettable short stories in the first two chapters of his craft book, Zen in the Art of Writing. In today’s episode we discuss his strategy to be engaged in both the ideas and the process of writing. We also unpack his technique to mine his subconscious for story ideas (and explain why so …

Thinking of reading The Art of Fiction, "Young Writer?" Listen to this podcast first. Despite dying in a motorcycle crash in 1982, John Gardner achieved immortality (at least in the writing community) with the posthumous publication of The Art of Fiction, Notes on Craft for Young Writers. We've been studying and discussing this much recommended boo…

Wow! We've gotten to the final chapter of John Gardner's book, The Art of Fiction and it's all about plotting your short story, or novella, or novel (there are, apparently differences). We also learn some fancy plot vocabulary. Oh, and the stripper? Her name is Fanny, and her story is the example that Gardner uses to explain how to devise a plot. O…

Gardner promises to show us the proper way for the young writer to achieve artistic mastery. Doesn't that sound marvelous? We take him to task on his analysis and advice on the techniques of Imitation, Vocabulary, The Sentence, Point of View, Delay and Style from chapter 6 of The Art of Fiction. Remember, we have a Writers Process/Writing Sprint me…

Enough with the theoretical, in this episode we get some practical advice out of Gardner's book, The Art of Fiction. Specifically, he tells us what we're doing wrong. We discuss a few of what Gardner call's clumsy errors before moving onto Faults of the Soul - Sentimentality, Frigidity, and Mannerisms. Remember, we have a Writers Process/Writing Sp…

After last episode's mother of all chapters, we get a reprieve - a much shorter and lighthearted chapter devoted to those weird genres of metafiction, deconstruction, and jazzing around (that last one we're pretty sure Gardner made up.) While we do discuss Gardner's take, we mostly just have fun geeking out over our favorite examples of the genres.…

Moving along to Chapter 3 inThe Art of Fiction. We go to war over the Gardner's dichotomies that (he claims) make for great fiction, his vehement distaste for experimental fiction -- what he calls "intellectual toys," and his idiosyncratic choice of Helen of Troy to illuminate the steps to writing a novel. Let's just say there's a lot of sacking, b…

Onto Chapter 2 of John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction. We begin with Gardners’ opinions about grammar, and our opinions about those opinions, then we move on to his definition of genres and the great importance of “verisimilitude,” and, wrapping up the discussion, what Gardner thinks makes for a true artist writing great literature. For our exercise,…

We're starting our first book - John Gardner's The Art of Fiction. Let's find out why writing instructors and blog keep recommending it to aspiring writers. We'll try to figure out what Gardner means by aesthetic law, if the literary cannon is worth a read, and we'll address the (male) elephantine in the room, er book. Remember, we have a Writers P…