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In this episode, we discuss “Woodland” by Lydia Millet. What can we learn from the new genre of Climate-Change Fiction, Cli-fi? How does setting help define character? Can setting overwhelm character? How can a story’s emotion affect the needs for its structure or movement? Where does drama in a story come from?

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In this episode, we discuss “The School” by Donald Barthelme. Can fiction just be fun? How do voice and rhythm help build humor? How deep into the weeds can we get talking about first and second person?

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In this episode, we discuss “Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian. Is it okay to ignore the advice to “show, don’t tell”? Why does this story succeed when it “tells” so much, and what lessons can we take from that success? How does a character’s shifting motivation propel a story? How does a story about two people getting to know one another create compelling drama around such strong characters? What’s the secret to getting published in the New Yorker?

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In this episode we discuss “Baader-Meinhof” by Don DeLillo. How can characters that misunderstand one another help drive our fiction? How can both meeting a stranger and looking at art change how a character sees the world? How can we use this to improve our own fiction? What can we learn from DeLillo’s stylistics?

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In this episode we discuss “Sweet on the Tongue” by Roxane Gay.  What can we learn about characterization from subtly drawn characters?  How do relationships help develop character?  What can we learn about structure from a non-linear story?

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In this episode, we discuss “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison.  What can we learn from a story that depicts some of the most horrible things we might imagine?  How can we quickly set up a story’s situation?  How do we distinguish a situation from a story?  How can we quickly introduce a group of characters and keep them distinct?

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In this episode, we discuss “To the Measures Fall” by Richard Powers.  What can we learn from a story written in a “Choose Your Own Adventure” style?  What can we learn about character from a story whose main character is “You”?  How can a narrative be driven by the way a character continues to find new meaning in her long relationship with a book?  How can description and metaphor borrow from a character’s interests—how can a character help frame the way you describe things in a story?  How can an initial conflict that continually snowballs help develop a story?

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In this episode, we discuss “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury.  What can we learn from a story with no apparent characters?  How can we establish a POV without characters?  How does language introduce hidden personifications? How can we use these hidden metaphors to pump up our prose?

Alternate version: “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury.

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In this episode, we discuss “Black-Eyed Women” by Viet Thanh Nguyen. What can we learn from a story that features a ghost? What function can a ghost serve in a narrative? How can a strong central metaphor inform the shape and details of a story? How do our cultural conventions inform the metaphors of our stories, and can close examination help us discover more?

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In this episode, we discuss “Goodbye and Good Luck” by Grace Paley.  How can a strong character voice drive a story even without a complex plot?  Can a character sketch or portrait of an attitude be a complete and fulfilling story?  How can we inform the first person narration by considering the occasion of the telling?  Why is such a simple, happy story so good?

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