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In this episode, we discuss “It’s Such a Beautiful Day” by Isaac Asimov. What can we learn from this classic science fiction story? How can a single imagined technology inform a fictional world? How can we create apparent depth in a speculative future world? How does a story help direct the kinds of details the reader needs to build a compelling world?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Frog King” by Garth Greenwell. What can we learn from this quiet portrait of a human relationship? Is there conflict in this story? Does a story need conflict? What other properties of a story can generate momentum to drive it forward?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Destructors” by Graham Greene. What can we learn from this quick but complex story? How can group dynamics be quickly introduced in a story? How can the central action of a story produce and maintain narrative momentum? How can we keep ramping up the reader’s interest in a story?

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In this episode, we discuss “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson. What can we learn from this deceptively simple story? What does it mean that a story’s ending should be surprising yet inevitable? How do you build up characters and endings around a strong premise? How can speculative elements direct a story?

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In this episode, we discuss “Civil Peace” by Chinua Achebe. What can we learn from this own-voice story? How can a story use a refrain or leitmotif? How can a theme or exploration of a specific kind of moment create a story structure?

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In this episode, we discuss “Woman at Exhibition” by E. Lily Yu. What can we learn from this brief story? How can real-life, historical people be incorporated into speculative fiction? How can a narrative theme connect different aspects of a story for the reader? How can we make a story linger in the reader’s mind in a good way?

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In this episode, we discuss “Car Crash While Hitchhiking” by Denis Johnson. What can we learn from this great little story? What is a writer’s “eye”? How does sentence structure help develop a style? What can we learn from an inebriated voice? How do connections between moments and scenes reflect a writer’s unique eye?

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In this episode, we discuss “When Stars Collide” by Ottessa Moshfegh. What can we learn from this work of Flash Fiction? How do specific actions and details help define a character? How can a character sketch undermine a character’s sense of themself? When should a story be written as flash fiction? Can we let our ideas create the structure and style of a story? When can a character tell us about their own feelings?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Dead” by James Joyce. What can we learn from the story T. S. Eliot called “one of the greatest short stories ever written”? What can we learn from Joyce’s masterful prose and rhythms? How does point-of-view play a part in the story? What is it possible to do with the artform of short fiction?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” by Alice Munro. What can we learn from this story with an unexpected but inevitable ending? How does the structure function? How can we build to a culminating moment in a story? How is a great character brought to life on the page?

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