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In this episode, we discuss “The Father” by Raymond Carver. What can we learn from this very short story? How much needs to be explained? How do we know where to end a story? How can we layer character reactions and motivations upon each other in a complex dialogue? How can distilling each character’s personal story help structure complex scenes?

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In this episode, we discuss “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. What can we learn from this classic science-fiction story? What happens when a story is driven by plot over character? How does the changing diction help develop the story? How can we depict a character’s increasing intelligence?

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In this episode, we discuss “Incarnations of Burned Children” by David Foster Wallace. What can we learn from this work of flash fiction by a master writer? Does it matter what “really” happens at the end? How do we read fiction, and what should we expect to get out of reading? What can we learn about how style helps a story? What power does a specific, concrete action have in a story?

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In this episode, we discuss “On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning” by Haruki Murakami. What can we learn from this simple tale? How can a story be driven by hypotheticals? How can a feeling drive a story? How can a feeling inspire a story? How should we guide a reader through a story? What crazy tangent will we go on in this episode?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Ernest Hemingway. What can we learn from a Hemingway story? How can we depict a character who isn’t experiencing reality as it really is? How can this help us get at the root of character? What is the Hemingway style? Does he really avoid adjectives?

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In this episode, we discuss “Dinosaur” by Bruce Holland Rogers. What can we learn from a 300-word piece of flash fiction? How does a story so short manage to depict an entire lifetime? How does it invoke such a complex emotion? How important is it to specify a time-period for a story? How can we make a lifetime into a coherent story?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Venus Effect” by Violet Allen. What can we learn from this work of metafiction? How can metafictional elements help a story accomplish its effects? What function can an author construct serve in a story? How can going over a story again and again with different attention help us fully explore the story?

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In this episode, we discuss “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. What can we learn from this story built around the strange premise of aging in reverse? How can a single concept be the seed for a story? How can we develop an idea into a complete story? How can we create realistic characters?

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In this episode, we discuss “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor. What can we learn from this classic story from a great writer? How does its structure work? How are background and flashback handled? How does the structure help develop the points of view, and how does shifting perspective strengthen the themes of the story? How can names help direct point of view? How can the way characters feel about one another help guide the reader’s emotional reactions? What kind of details help bring habitual activities to life?

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In this episode, we discuss “Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders. What can we learn from yet another great story from Saunders? What is voice, and does an author have a voice separate from the characters? How much are we meant to read into a story? What can we learn from the unusual structure of this story? How can thinking about the movie version of your story help you develop it? How can we use language in a specific and nuanced way to help develop a character?

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