Story Makers Show

Continuing the series examining the art of the scene, Angie and Elizabeth delve into an early scene from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Nickel Boys. A deft scene by a highly skilled author. Elizabeth and Angie discuss how what a character wants in a scene ties into the themes that drive the whole book; the balance between abstract and concrete; choosing scenes that matter to create your story; changing and building desires; what marks the end of a scene and what happens in a scene; the definition of a sequence; how questions drive scenes and stories; setting up surprises and revelations so we believe them; character change; rising stakes and how they prevent repeat beats; how to integrate backstory actively in the moment it’s necessary to the present scene. Use this scene as a template to write your own, and your strength as a reader to inspire you! In other news, Angie is working on Math, Climate Change and Comedy and Elizabeth is expanding her definition of noticing…and affirming that reading counts in the work of a true writer.

Intro to scene episode

Elizabeth Strout final scene episode

The Nickel Boys

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.

After kicking off a series about scene in the last episode, Angie and Elizabeth introduce a specific scene, the final scene in Elizabeth Strout’s short story “The Sign” in her book Anything is Possible. The discussion reviews the criteria established in the last episode and uses these as a framework for analyzing how the scene works, touching on sequence, build, goal, desire, need, want, unexpected outcome,  surprise and discovery, change, subtext, complications, secrets and misunderstanding, obstacles, setting, details and action—and where we don’t need detail. It ends by encouraging you to write a scene--and “steal” anything that inspires you to write!

“Sonny’s Blues” in Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin

“The Sign” in Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

Angie’s new Voting Video

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.

Today’s episode informally kicks off a series where Angie and Elizabeth will be discussing scene, that key unit of storytelling across many formats and genres. As an overview, they present a number of elements of scene, including purpose, new information and forward movement of the story, character’s desire, and an acute focus on significant detail and action the two discuss. They are fans of scene and illuminate the power of scene, of moving from abstractions and generalizations to vivid action in your revisions. In addition, they discuss voting, videos, deadlines, focus and exploration, linearity v. simultaneity,  and pre-writing time--how much is enough?

Angie’s one-minute voting video 

Samantha Bee

Ann Napolitano Dear Edward

Brandon Taylor Real Life

Lily King Writers & Lovers

Adaptation film

Susan Orlean The Orchid Thief

Uta Hagen Respect for Acting

James Baldwin “Sonny’s Blues” in Going to Meet the Man 

John Gardner The Art of Fiction

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.

On today’s episode, Angie and Elizabeth talk about what changes between the ordinary world that starts a story, and the new ordinary world where the characters end up, their limiting beliefs having been utterly challenged, and either changed or tragically failed to change. They look at a “what if” brainstorming exercise, the ways the beginning and end mirror each other, the ways limiting beliefs shape actions, the limits of backstory in understanding how a character internalized a particular message, and the uses of metaphor as learning devlises. This episode also gets behind #BlackoutBestsellerList, the movement to fill the Bestseller list with African-American authors this week by doing one of their favorite things: buying books. They also talk about some real challenges to creativity, and you might be surprised to learn that after they recorded this episode, Angie went and made a one-minute video, which you can see HERE, on The Daily Dose.

As always, send your comments and questions to [email protected]

#BlackoutBestsellerlist

25 New Books by Black Authors 

Rick Riordan’s Some Great Books by Black Authors Collected from My Previous Reviews 

45 Best Black Young Adult Books to Read 

Best Books by Black Women: Highlight Black Publishing Power When You Pick Up Some of These Great Books

Blackowned Indepentant Bookstores You Can Order from Today

Jesmyn Ward 

Kiese Laymon 

Roxane Gay

Jacqueline Woodson

Copperfield’s Books 

Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo 

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett 

Real Life by Brandon Taylor 

Side Chick Nation by Aya de Leon

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead  

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.

After a two-week hiatus, Angie and Elizabeth are back asking, how can a story-making show co-hosted by two white queer women serve this moment? They look at balancing forward movement with the state of the world, and then deep dive into the urgency of reading critically and writing cogently. As a reader and a writer: evaluate your sources, questions your biases and assumptions, look for your blind spots, develop empathy, and keep learning and discovering.

The Onion

Michelle Goldberg: Tom Cotton’s Facist Op-Ed 

Michael Che Black Lives Matter stand up clip

George Lakoff on framing

Hostage negotiator MasterClass

Brandon Taylor

Lorrie Moore

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.

It was a blast to have Angie Kim on the show talking about her now-in-paperback legal mystery MIRACLE CREEK, and rich and compelling, Edgar-award winning book that touches on themes of motherhood, special needs kids, and immigration, as well as a sweeping legal drama and mystery. Her writing is informed by dual backgrounds in law (including an overlap with Obama at Harvard Law School) and theater (“method writing” and first person explorations of character). We talk about revision, especially precision editing, or cutting, which Kim embraces enthusiastically. Lots of juicy insights into the logic of thrillers. Kim didn’t know for a year into drafting who’d done it, going back in to layer suspects, motives, and red herrings. Other topics include rhythmic homage, confessing to the reader, writing comedy (other Angie), and the advantages and importance of getting your voice out via short pieces. After a whirlwind 2-year  tour for the hardback and now a virtual paperback tour (and we compare both modes), Angie Kim is diving back into her second novel this week! You can get a signed paperback of MIRACLE CREEK from her local indie, Scrawl in Reston, VA now.

Angie Powers’s Late Night show

Russel Banks The Sweet Hereafter

Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live

Angie Kim Miracle Creek

angiekimask (Instagram)

Angiekimwriter (Twitter)

Angiekimbooks.com (web site)

Visit Scrawl books for signed copies!!

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.

Recorded on Mother’s Day, this episode is about revision and getting notes. After a brief look at the revision process of Angie’s feature screenplay for Lost in the Middle, including a horizontal notebook, other tangible tools, haptic feedback, and table reads, Angie grills, I mean interviews, Elizabeth on receiving and making use of notes. The discussion tries to go step-by-step and includes understanding notes and making them useful, the importance of not exploding at your readers, the power of lists, the possibilities of editorial brackets, and examples of small systems such as one for tracking cuts and pastes. Offering a glimpse into one person’s workflow, the episode extols one underlying principle: do what works for you! Other topics today include the design process and demystifying creativity, frameworks and constraints, the wild what-ifs v. a logistical execution process.

Designing for Growth by Liedtka and Ogilvie

Josh Spector “For the Interested” newsletter 

“Don’t Think Outside The Box. Create The Box.”

“How To Start A Creative Project When You Don’t Know Where To Begin”

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.

Angie and Elizabeth fumble toward answering a listener’s question about metaphor, at first blaming the heat in their pandemic garage studio, but later, if you will, warming to the topic. They consider whether everyone thinks metaphorically, discuss common and dead metaphors, explore the ways metaphor builds character and visa versa, and touch on the ways every story is a metaphor, and the ways metaphor operates in film. Poetry is extolled as a rich teacher of effective metaphor. Angie and Elizabeth also spend some time improvising bad metaphors and debating spoilers. Other topics include the uncomfortable side of working to deadline while giving up perfection, and the eternal question, Have I done enough?

John Cheever “The Swimmer”

Frank L. Baum The Wizard of Oz (Here with Judy Blume introducing it!)

Janet Burroway Writing Fiction

Shakespeare King Lear

Daphne du Maurier Rebecca 

Susan Choi Trust Exercise (now out in paperback!)

Neil Gaiman Art Matters

Curtis Sittenfeld Rodham (out this month!)

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.

Angie and Elizabeth dig into some forms, frameworks and rules that can sustain a creative practice in trouble times, including the practice of freewriting, the three rules that run Elizabeth’s craft classes, and opening and closing rituals. An exercise reminds us of the encouraging tenents of positive discipline. Other power tools include the spirit of experimentation, the impact of literary examples, and the inspiration of having an immediate audience when you write. They also discuss why people apologize for their writing, whether not allowing apologies lowers expectations or raises them, and how we can offer ourselves the structure of a group even when we are alone. And the importance of pushing through resistance, even dread to launch into activities that in the end sustain and enliven us.

Send your comments and questions to questions at storymakersshow dot com

Links Discussed: 

Episode on giving notes 

Natalie Goldberg Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life 

Mary Mackey on Story Makers Show 

Martin Seligman Authentic Happiness

Audiobooks—Libro.fm

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.

On today’s episode, Angie and Elizabeth delve into conflict in crisis, and what we can learn about story--and history--from the moment we are muddling through. They acknowledge that growth can be uncomfortable, and examine what turns conflict into growth. Also examined: grief, archnemeses (who is right for your hero?), how many things can be creative processes (almost everything!), and how many things a book is about (one). Shout outs to the global community of story makers, local papers, frontline workers, and everyone sheltering in place. Action is the antidote to worry. Go do it! Claim what you are doing as your creative work. And don’t miss Earth Day Live online...unless you want to go hug a tree--that’s great, too.

Charlie Swanson The Bohemian 

Dorothy Allison

Black Panther

Frozen

Superman

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

The Daily Dose: Feminist Voices for the Green New Deal

Earthday.org

Sbaearthday.com

 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.