Why Is This Good?

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole” by Isabel J. Kim. What can we learn from this story that plays off another classic story? How can a clear voice set the tone for a story? What distinguishes fantasy from realist storytelling that wants to comment on real-world issues? How can we shape our own voices for different stories? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/napleswritersworkshop You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter at http://www.napleswritersworkshop.com

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur C. Clarke. What can we learn from this classic story? What guides the length and development of a short story? […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Hollow” by Breece D’J Pancake. What can we learn from this early success from a young writer? What does it mean for a writer to find their voice? […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever (alternate version). What can we learn from this 1947 New Yorker story? How does the distinction between public and private life drive […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “A Conversation with My Father” by Grace Paley. What can we learn from this semi-autobiographical story? How can we develop stories from our own experiences? How can an […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “A Manual for Cleaning Women” by Lucia Berlin. What can we learn from this story? How can we use a repeating structure in a story? How can the […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor. What can we learn from one of O’Connor’s best parables? How do details make a story richer? What does it […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “Wood Sorrel House” by Zach Williams. What can we learn from this story? Do we need to interpret what the story means? Is there a metaphor? How can […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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? […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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 […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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 […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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 […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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 […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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 […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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 […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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 […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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 […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast 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 […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “A Visit of Charity” by Eudora Welty. What can we learn from this story about lonely people? How can distinct characters help develop a theme from several directions? […]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining our Patreon. Your support helps us keep the show running. Find out more at http://www.patreon.com/whyisthisgoodpodcast In this episode, we discuss “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick. What can we learn from this classic work of science fiction? How can a story keep redefining […]