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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?

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In this episode, we discuss “Found Objects” by Jennifer Egan (second story in this PDF). What can we learn from this story? How can plot serve character and character serve plot? How can a character be both a device and a character? Can a scene be developed as both a present scene and a memory at the same time? How does the character’s experience drive the reader’s understanding of a story?

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In this episode, we discuss “Two Words” by Isabel Allende, originally “Dos Palabras”. What can we learn from this story translated from Spanish? How can we use our writing eye in descriptions? How can a story feel like a legend or myth? How does mythic storytelling influence how the narrative views its characters? How can a story leave an unanswered question and yet remain entirely satisfying?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Piano Teacher’s Pupil” by William Trevor. What can we learn from this short, well-crafted story? How can backstory help build the present moment? How can we establish throughlines? How are well-rounded characters developed?

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In this episode, we discuss “Nine Lives” by Ursula K. Le Guin. What can we learn from another great story from a master of speculative fiction? How can we portray unusual experiences that are nonetheless fundamentally human? How can we keep our focus on what it means to be human even in wildly speculative fiction?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury. What can we learn from this story of dangerous technology? How can a mystery drive a story? How can a future-looking story remain timeless? What are some ways a story can focus its concerns on humans and humanity? How wrong should things go in a story?

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In this episode, we discuss “How to Be an Other Woman” by Lorrie Moore. (Read First Section and Second Section.) What can we learn from this mock self-help instructional story? How are emotional moments developed? How do the second person and imperative mood function? How do keen imagery and highly metaphorical descriptions function?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Daemon Lover” by Shirley Jackson. What can we learn from this psychological thriller? How can anxiety drive a story? How can the prose and details create and develop a psychology or mood for a story? Can a psychological thriller provide a metaphor for social commentary?

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In this episode, we discuss “Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. What can we learn from this story? How can fiction subtly reveal character motives? How can we use a slippery point of view to direct the reader’s attention at what’s important for the story? How can introspective revelations show the reader the complexities of a character or interactions between characters? How can a story be built around a moment?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Martyr” by Mary Gordon. What can we learn from this story of a character trying to remember and understand their brother? How does foreshadowing structure the unfolding of the story and our understanding of the characters? How does hindsight help shape the unfolding of the narrator’s telling of the story?

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