Story Works Round Table | Conversations About Craft
Episodes
SWRT 164 | Writing Memoir with Mag Dimond part 1
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida talks with author Mag Dimond about her memoir Bowing to Elephants. They dig into what it takes to writ...
SWRT 163 | Titles
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn have a lot of fun discussing titles, and how important it is to choose the right ...
SWRT 162 | Dual POV in Romance
18 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn talk with Claire Gem all about dual POV and it’s importance in the romance genr...
SWRT 161 | Grants for Writers
11 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida welcomes special guest Susan Wolter to talk all about grants, and how they can impact you as a writer....
SWRT 160 | Paranormal Romance
04 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert are joined by author Claire Gem to talk about the Paranormal Romance genre. ...
SWRT 159 | Flawed Heroes
28 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss flawed heroes, and how you create a believable hero who still has room to...
SWRT 158 | Read Like a Writer
21 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss reading like a writer. We talk about reading for pleasure, and when to pu...
SWRT 157 | Subtext
14 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss the craft of writing subtext. We dive into the short story Cathedral by R...
SWRT 156 | Keeping a Series Exciting
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss the craft of creating a long series, and how to innovate on your plot to ...
SWRT 155 | POV-Narrative Lightning Round
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert do a lightning round, answering questions from the story works writer’s Faceboo...
SWRT 154 | Maintaining our Passion
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss maintaining the passion for our projects through the long, and sometimes ...
SWRT 153 | Q&A With Alida
16 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table we bring you something a little bit different. Hop in and join Alida at a Q&A session, and then make sure...
SWRT 152 | Inventing Characters
09 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss character invention. We tackle where our characters come from, and how to...
SWRT 151 | Unicorns & Fairies
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert talk about the adorable characters that your readers fall in love with in your st...
SWRT 150 | Art in the Time of Corona
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert talk about art in the time of the Coronavirus. We take a look at how a writer can...
SWRT 149 | Dark Endings part 2
19 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert continue our discussion on dark endings. We talk about satisfying readers, and wh...
SWRT 148 | Dark Endings part 1
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss dark endings, and how you can play with your reader’s expectations to k...
SWRT 147 | Narrative
05 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss narrative, delving into voice, exposition, point of view, and choosing yo...
SWRT 146 | Dressing Your Character
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, we discuss fashion in fiction. Dressing your characters is more than a matter of preventing nudity. What the...
SWRT 145 | Plot Problems...Solved!
20 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we continue our conversation about plot, addressing the specifics of Act I and Act III, the connections between them, and the way the clima...
SWRT 144 | Plot Problems...Solved!
13 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Robert, Kathryn, and I get into…you got it, plot! We take a look at the problems commonly faced in plot construction and execution, discussing the c...
SWRT 143 | Starting Again
06 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Leeland Artra comes back to the Round Table to discuss his journey from having a sci-fi novel in the top 100 to setting his writing life as...
SWRT 142 | Steampunk
30 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alida & Kathryn welcome author Leeland Artra to the Round Table to explore the vast expanses of steampunk societies, replete with steam engines, g...
SWRT 141 | Workshopping Act I
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Kathryn brings Act I of her novel-in-progress to the Round Table for a workshopping session with Alida. Common problems with the first act ...
SWRT 140 | Writing Book Ads Copy
16 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alida, Robert, & Kathryn welcome Bryan Cohen of Best Page Forward back to the Round Table to talk about writing book ads. We also get into the que...
SWRT 139 | The Craft of Writing Book Copy
09 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we welcome our friend, Bryan Cohen, to the Round Table to discuss writing book copy. Those tight little paragraphs that adorn the back of y...
SWRT 138 | Writing - Life Balance
02 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn take a new approach to the new year. Instead of assessing the year past & making plans for the year ahead,...
SWRT Happy Holidays!
26 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We wish you a joyous holiday season and will be back next week with a regular episode. Alida, Robert, & Kathryn
SWRT 137 | Writing - Life Balance
19 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn take a new approach to the end of the year. Instead of assessing the year past & making plans for the year...
SWRT 136 | Refilling the Creative Well, part 2
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Author Alina Sayre joins us at the Story Works Round Table to continue our conversation about refilling the creative well. Sooner or later we all hit ...
SWRT 135 |Refilling the Creative Well
05 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Author Alina Sayre joins us at the Story Works Round Table to talk about refilling the creative well. Sooner or later we all hit that crossroads, whet...
SWRT 134 | The Art of Death, part 2
28 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alida, Kathryn, & Robert continue the conversation about Edwidge Danticat’s book, The Art of Death. Show notes and links at www.StoryWorksPodca...
SWRT 133 | The Art of Death
21 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alida, Robert, & Kathryn discuss writing death and dying. We all read Edwidge Danticat's book The Art of Death, in Graywolf Press's Art of Series....
SWRT 132 | Strong Female Protagonists, part 2
14 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome Judy K Walker, author of the Sydney Brennan Mysteries, to the Story Works Round Table this week to discuss strong female protagonists. What...
SWRT 131 | Strong Female Protagonists
07 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome Judy K Walker, author of the Sydney Brennan Mysteries, to the Story Works Round Table this week to discuss strong female protagonists. What...
SWRT 130 | The Power of Writing to Change Lives, part 2
31 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida and Kathryn welcome Jennifer Bowen-Hicks, Artistic Director of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, to the Round Table to discuss t...
SWRT 129 | The Power of Writing to Change Lives
24 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida and Kathryn welcome Jennifer Bowen-Hicks, Artistic Director of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, to the Round Table to discuss t...
SWRT 128 | The PI Genre
17 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alida, Robert, and Kathryn bring guest Judy Walker, author of the Sydney Brennan Mysteries, to the Round Table for a special genre episode. Judy share...
SWRT 127 | Inspiration & Activism, part 2
10 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, author Talia Carner returns to the Story Works Round Table to discuss her sources of inspiration, how the tiniest fact can spark an entire ...
SWRT 126 | Inspiration & Activism
03 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, author Talia Carner returns to the Story Works Round Table to discuss her sources of inspiration, how the tiniest fact can spark an entire ...
Story Works Round Table 125 | Fleshing Out Description in Revision
26 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week at the Story Works Round Table, we cover one of Kathryn’s current pain points: when description doesn’t happen while drafting and how to...
Story Works Round Table 124 | Talia Carner, part 2
19 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hear more from author and activist Talia Carner at the Round Table this week. We continue our conversation about her latest novel, The Third Daughter,...
Story Works Round Table 123 | Talia Carner, part 1
12 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, I welcome author and activist Talia Carner to the Round Table. We discuss her latest novel, The Third Daughter, just released by Harper Col...
Story Works Round Table 122 | Building Religion into Your World
05 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn discuss world religion and whether or not a story needs one. Religion is a larg...
Story Works Round Table 121 | The Power of the Endnote
29 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss the almighty endnote. What is it and why is it so important? Getting a ...
Story Works Round Table 120 | Translations
22 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wonder what goes into translating a novel? How translators work with a text? What role, if any, the author of the original plays in the translati...
Story Works Round Table 119 | Writing Tics...and what to do about them
15 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn discuss those tics we can't seem to avoid when we sit down at the writing desk. T...
Story Works Round Table 118 | Beyond Motivation, part 2
08 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week at the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn continue to workshop each others strengths and weaknesses as productive writers. ...
Story Works Round Table 117 | Beyond Motivation, part 1
01 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week at the Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert mastermind each other's progress during our mid-year check-in. We go way beyond basic talk ...
Story Works Round Table 116 | Writing Great Sentences, part 3
25 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn continue to explore what makes a sentence great. We discuss lyrical prose, surpri...
Story Works Round Table 115 | Writing Great Sentences
18 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week at the Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert continue their conversation about writing great sentences in novels of any genres. How many...
Story Works Round Table 114 | Writing Great Sentences
11 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn discuss what makes a great sentence. There’s probably more to it than you’d think. We start off with a sur...
Story Works Round Table 113 | How to Give a Really Good Critique
04 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week at the Round Table, Alida and Kathryn discuss critiques from the red pen side of things. And what skills should a good critique partner have...
Story Works Round Table 112 | The Devil Is in the Details: Revision
27 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week at the Round Table, Kathryn and Alida discuss discoveries they're making about planning and revising a novel midstream. Kathryn is between d...
Story Works Round Table 111 | Using One Character to Influence Another's Arc
20 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Kathryn brings an interesting topic to the Round Table: how can we examine our supporting characters arcs, desires, or goals in relation to...
Story Works Round Table 110 | When Good Characters Do Bad
13 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert talk about good characters doing bad things. When your protagonist makes more tha...
Story Works Round Table 109 | Plausibility
06 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss plausibility. How can we keep our stories plausible in the reader's eyes ...
Story Works Round Table 108 | Put 'Em Up!
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn spar at the Round Table. What makes a fight scene memorable to readers? How do you manage both choreography &a...
Story Works Round Table 107 | Traveling Chapters
23 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn discuss what it takes to get a character from point A to point B in your story without boring your reader. Somet...
Story Works Round Table 106 | Talking Fantasy, part 2
16 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida and Nico continue their in depth conversation about fantasy. We discuss intrusion and liminal fantasy, world building, inspiration, t...
Story Works Round Table 105 | Talking Fantasy
09 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week we do something never done before at the Round Table. My very special friend, Nicodemus Wolfgang Taranovsky, joins me in my living room for ...
Story Works Round Table 104 | Using Narrative to Guide Your Reader
02 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn have Mike Stop Continues back at the Round Table to discuss the ways we use narrative to guide a reader into a...
Story Works Round Table 103 | Revising with Theme
25 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert welcome special guest Mike Stop Continues back to the Round Table to continue our discussion about theme. This...
Story Works Round Table 102 | Prewriting Theme
18 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn welcome Mike Stop Continues back to the show to discuss prewriting theme. We cover: Show notes and more at www.StoryW...
Story Works Round Table 101 | Advancing Story through Reveals
11 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss reveals. What they are. How many you should have. How they work in the plot arc. When they fail (when th...
Story Works Round Table 100 | Bringing the Past to the Present in Flashbacks
04 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week Alida, Kathryn, & Robert celebrate our 100th episode and revisit the past. What is the role of flashbacks in the forward movement of a s...
Story Works Round Table 099 | Prioritizing Projects
28 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn discuss the problem of multiple projects. Our listener Deanna wanted to know how should we prioritize what to wo...
Story Works Round Table 098 | Capturing Your Character's Shadow Side
21 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida and Robert discuss capturing your character's shadow side. We all have aspects of ourselves that a little bit dark. When your charact...
Story Works Round Table 097 | Writing with Humor
14 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn discuss the role of humor in story writing, the various kinds, how to get it on the page, and why it’s hard ...
Story Works Round Table 096 | Should You Tell Your Story in Parts?
07 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss the shape of stories told in parts. What kind of story should be told in parts? What do the breaks bet...
Story Works Round Table 095 | Subplots
28 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What exactly is a subplot? When do you need them? Who should they revolve around? And can they really alleviate the soggy middle syndrome? And please ...
Story Works Round Table 094 | Multiple Point of View
21 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alida, Kathryn, and returning guest Carlee discuss the pros and cons of using multiple points of view in your works. What does it take to craft a soli...
Story Works Round Table 093 | 5 Steps to Drafting with Motivation & Momentum
14 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alida & Kathryn welcome Carlee Tressel Alson back to the Round Table to discuss process. Carlee gives us her 5 steps to getting through a first dr...
Story Works Round Table 092 | Taking Emotional Risks part 2
07 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida and Kathryn continue our conversation with Carlee Tressel Alson about taking emotional risks in writing. It's about more than how you...
Story Works Round Table 091 | Going Deeper with Emotional Risks
31 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week Alida and Kathryn welcome Carlee Tressel Alson to the Round Table. After our episode on emotional risk-taking with guest Dain Edward, we tho...
Story Works Round Table 090 | Writing Otherness
24 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert start with a listener question about writing a culture that is not our own, and take off on a journey of writing...
Story Works Round Table 089 | Setting
17 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert answer a listener question. Steve is wondering about the dos and don'ts of writing places based on real places...
Story Works Round Table 088 | The Psychology of Storytelling
10 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert welcome Dain Edward back to the round table. We're discussing the psychology of storytelling. How is storytell...
Story Works Round Table 087 | 2019 New Year New Goals!
03 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert discuss the year to come. If you haven't already, listen to last week's show, 2018 Year in Review. We get into...
Story Works Round Table 086 | 2018 Year in Review
27 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Robert, Kathryn, and Alida discuss progress made and lessons learned from the year gone by. It's a writerly taking stock of struggles and s...
Story Works Round Table 085 | Antagonistic Forces
20 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn talk about villains you can't vanquish: How do you handle a villain that can't wear a hat, black or otherwise? W...
Story Works Round Table 084 | Taking Emotional Risks in Your Fiction
13 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Dain Edward joins us at the round table to discuss the importance of taking risks in your writing. How is fiction different from creative n...
Story Works Round Table 083 | The intersection of script-writing and novel-writing
06 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn bring Dain Edward to the round table to discuss the intersection of script-writing and novel-writing. What can...
Story Works Round Table 082 | Book Covers part 2
29 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is pulled from the archives. We continue our conversation with graphic designer Daria Brennan. This week, we do side by side comparisons ...
Story Works Round Table 081 | Designing Covers with Daria Brennan
22 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week we pull a fantastic episode from the archives. Graphic Designer Daria Brennan comes to the Round Table to help us understand how to approach...
Story Works Round Table 080 | The Story Premise
15 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, and Kathryn define the story premise and how it works to get you writing. It’s simple. It often seems cliche. But it’s a...
Story Works Round Table 079 | Approaches to Revision
08 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, & Robert answer a listener's question. Elise wants to know how to tackle revision other than by following the old advic...
Story Works Round Table 078 | Fatal Flaw
01 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert discuss your character's fatal flaw. This is critical to your character development, character arc, plot, and th...
Story Works Round Table 077 | Story Structure, part 2
25 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert continue their discussion of story structure, this time focusing on Act II and Act III. What is act II?Why does ...
Story Works Round Table 076 | Character Agency
18 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we cover one of Robert’s favorite topics, agency! We discuss the role of agency in terms of both character and plot. How does motivation ...
Story Works Round Table 075 | Story Structure
11 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do you understand the elements of structure structure? This week, Robert and Kathryn ask Alida to define story structure, then we did into the various...
Story Works Round Table 074 | Nicey Nice
04 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Kathryn and Alida discuss what happens to stories when authors are too nice to their characters. Being too darn nice is a common problem of...
Story Works Round Table 073 | Stakes & Agency
27 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn explore the relationship between stakes & agency. How do these vital aspects of plot and character functio...
Story Works Round Table 072 | Killing Your Characters
20 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we discuss killing your characters, how, why, and to what end? When is it essential and when is it gratuitous? How can it shift the story a...
Story Works Round Table 071 | Pacing
13 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida is off in the Black Hills, so we pull an episode from the video-only archives, bringing Matt Herron back to the Round Table. We discu...
Story Works Round Table 070 | Writing Emotions
06 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we follow up the Evoking Emotions episode with a discussion of how to get your character’s emotions on the page. How many ways can ...
Story Works Round Table 069 | How to End a Story
30 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Robert, & Kathryn discuss what makes a strong ending, challenges with hitting the right end note for your story, when an ending ...
Story Works Round Table 068 | Evoking Emotion
23 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s can’t miss episode, we delve deep into making your readers feel along with your characters. As writers, it’s our job to pull our ...
Story Works Round Table 067 | Character Descriptions
16 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Alida, Kathryn, and Robert answer a listener's question about how to get good descriptions of your characters on the page. It's not as simp...
Story Works Round Table 066 | Theme
09 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week we get crafty again, talking about theme. What is it? How does it work with plot? Should you develop theme before, during, or after plot? An...