Storywonk Sunday | Storywonk

This week, we celebrate the first year of StoryWonk Sunday, talk about dark moments and when to share your work, and have an important announcement about upcoming shows. Don't miss it!

We return from our brief hiatus to talk about Goodreads (Now Brought To You By Amazon), the Washington Post's list of forbidden words, begging the question, ivory towers and slippery slopes, New York City, writing a story a day, and F Scott Fitgerald's classic American novel, The Great Gatsby.

This week, we keep you waiting until the end of the show to talk about an entirely successful prologue, answer listener questions on plots which differ in temporal scale, introducing sequels, fictionalizing the real world, and biscotti.

This week, we address a moment of epiphany, talk about SHIELD (but not the one from The Avengers), answer listener questions on nonlinear drafting and exposition, and discuss our experiences with Good Omens in the Book Club.

This week, we answer listener questions on writer improv and our discovery processes, wanting to see characters suffer, online and offline writer communities and the demands of self-publishing.

This week, we answer listener questions on antagonists vs. villains, plotters vs. pantsers and The Office vs. Parks and Recreation.

This week, we answer listener questions on ideas, the small-P problems and the big-T Trouble, and imprinting, then talk about expectations and the promises we make to readers.

This week, we recover from the bubons (mostly) to answer listener questions on discovery writing and backstory, and then talk about staying connected with stories and storytelling, even when life doesn't play fair.

This week, we have been struck down by the bubons. In place of a new show, let's look back at classic episodes of StoryWonk Daily, and the timeless conflict between good and evil.

This week, we talk a little about marketing and publishing, discuss our Book Club pick for January, and spend some time with the charming and awesome Chris Baty.

This week on the show, we talk about the books we are currently reading, and answer a bushel of listener questions on structure, breaking into the business, and the important of good editing.

After overcoming a flurry of technical problems, we're back with a ramshackle show in which we discuss The Amazing Race, why human beings need narrative, authored vs. emergent and linear vs. patterned storytelling, superlinearity, and how to teach your children about 1992. All of that, and an important announcement about a brand new StoryWonk podcast, coming soon! Thanks to Briana, Matt and Katie!

This week, we talk about a small Hobbit correction, answer listener questions on books about writing and sub-plots, begin a listener-crafted writer improv, and finally get around to discussing A Christmas Carol. All that, and discover why Lani now owes Susan Elizabeth Phillips an apology.

To make up for some shaky technical issues lately -- and to test our new equipment -- we proudly present this spoiler-filled review of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

In our last show of 2012, we bounce back from technical disaster to answer a flurry of listener questions, give advice on building your digital presence and online persona, and ramble a little before coming to an abrupt halt. It's been a strange week, folks!

For the first time in StoryWonk history -- more or less -- we ran afoul of technical problems that made this week's show unusable. Blame our new microphones, GarageBand, or the Mayans. Probably the Mayans. In place of our regular episode, therefore, enjoy this seasonal greeting, and the most awesome voicemail we received in 2012. Huge thanks to Wendy, and best wishes to all! We'll be back next week!

This week on the show, Lani and Alastair talk antagonism, look back at how the publishing landscape changed in 2012, and wrap it all up with a high-stakes writer improv! Don't miss it!

This week, we answer listener questions on the Stand Up And Cheer moment and research, and then discuss antagonism in romance.

This week, Lani and Alastair are consumed by the post-NaNo crash (and some technical difficulties which were absolutely not Alastair's fauly, let's be clear about that). By way of compensation, here's the series they recorded in January 2012, looking at the Five-Man Band.

This week, we discuss showing and telling, and Alastair waxes rhapsodical about The Hobbit.