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 “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” by J. D. Salinger . What can we learn from this classic Salinger story? Can a third person point of view be purely external? How does subtext deepen a story? How can authentic dialogue and other interactions reveal underlying character? For daily writing tips, industry news, ...
Feb 15, 2025•25 min
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 “Unaccompanied Sonata” by Orson Scott Card . What can we learn from this borderline science fiction story? What can happen when a story establishes a system in which the protagonist exists? Should we read or write with allegorical assumptions? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction,...
Feb 01, 2025•23 min
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 Werewolf” by Angela Carter . What can we learn from this quick, little take on a folktale? How can setting help characterize a story? How can the prose reflect the mood of a setting or character? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at http://www.face...
Jan 15, 2025•20 min
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 “Zombie” by Joyce Carol Oates . What can we learn from this portrait of a real-life serial killer? How do we feel about a portrait of a monster? Why do we write fiction in the first place? What creates forward momentum in a story? How can we control the focus of a reader’s empathy? Should writers try to wr...
Jan 01, 2025•26 min
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 Wind” by Lauren Groff . What can we learn from this tense, action-packed story? How can we make a story so gripping? How can a removed point of view help reveal more depth in a story? How can we enrich a story? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at ...
Dec 15, 2024•26 min
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 “These Golden Cities” by K. David Wade . What can we learn from this story about taking an acid trip? How does the story guide us through the character’s experience? How do the character’s thoughts and perspective interact with the narrative point of view? How can a story explore a common yet pivotal life ...
Dec 01, 2024•30 min
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 “Non-Zero Probabilities” by N. K. Jemisin . What can we learn from this bit of speculative fiction? How can world-building be personal to a character? Can we set up the reader to infer the nature of the world based on details we provide? How can changing the variables in a situation help develop a story? F...
Nov 15, 2024•22 min
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 Telephone Call” by Dorothy Parker . What can we learn from this intense interior monologue story? How does this nearly 100-year-old story still reflect modern reality? How does the representation of a spiraling, fixating mind still produce forward momentum? How can paragraphing and punctuation help guid...
Nov 01, 2024•27 min
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 Curtis Sittenfeld vs ChatGPT . What can we learn from this experiment in comparing a literary author with an AI-generated story? How would we critique the ChatGPT story? What makes the Sittenfeld story human? What can we learn from the way the two versions summarize conversations? What about the cliches? H...
Oct 15, 2024•30 min
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 Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado . What can we learn from this exploration of a familiar horror scenario? How can we expand on a common symbol in a story? How can we structure a story that comprises a lifetime? How do we focus such a story? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short...
Oct 01, 2024•23 min
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 On this episode, we discuss “The Celestial Omnibus” by E. M. Forster (starts page 54) . What can we learn from this literary version of a fairy-story? How does the story pit pedantry against ingenuousness? Does it pick a winner? How does the story mimic the voices of its literary characters? For daily writing tips, industry news, and...
Sep 15, 2024•22 min
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 Complete” by Gabriel Smith . What can we learn from this story made up of semi-connected snippets? How can disconnected pieces of narrative connect with one another to create interwoven threads? How many first-parson narrators can a story have? How much should a story rely on the reader’s own story-ex...
Sep 01, 2024•24 min
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 “Sour Milk Girls” by Erin Roberts . What can we learn from this story about damaged people? Can a story explore a broken character? How can we present background as part of a scene happening in the moment? How can using a light speculative touch help a story dig into character? Can we write a story asking ...
Aug 15, 2024•22 min
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 “An Outpost of Progress” by Joseph Conrad . What can we learn from this classic story? How can a story incorporate a “thesis statement”? Can we step back from a story to offer editorial commentary? How do stories explore topics and ideas? Can we adopt a nineteenth-century authorial voice into a modern show...
Aug 01, 2024•21 min
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 Island of the Immortals” by Ursula K. Le Guin . What can we learn from this quick story that examines a philosophical question? How does perspective on the central question change through the story, even as the narration remains in first person? How can that changing perspective circle in on a central...
Jul 15, 2024•27 min
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 “Jeffty is Five” by Harlan Ellison . What can we learn from this nostalgic story? How does the ending wrap up the arc of the story? How can we tell which character the story is meant to change? What does it mean to suspend disbelief? How do we write a story about kids that’s for adults? For daily writing t...
Jul 01, 2024•21 min
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 “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner . What can we learn from this richly voiced story? How can we develop a stream-of-consciousness voice for a story? How can sentence length help guide the reader’s experience? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at http:/...
Jun 15, 2024•28 min
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 “Separating” by John Updike . What can we learn from this vivid and careful short story? Can we say anything about the voice of this story? How does a story create its own voice? How can we handle many characters on the page and their conflicting motives through a single point of view? How does point of vi...
Jun 01, 2024
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 “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...
May 15, 2024•28 min
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 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? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, j...
May 01, 2024•28 min
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 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? For daily writing ti...
Apr 15, 2024•27 min
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 “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? For daily writing tips, ...
Apr 01, 2024•19 min
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 “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? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fiction, join our Facebook group at http://w...
Mar 15, 2024•15 min
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 “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? For...
Mar 01, 2024•21 min
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 “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? For daily wri...
Feb 15, 2024•28 min
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 “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 s...
Feb 01, 2024•25 min
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 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? For dai...
Jan 15, 2024•31 min
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 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? For daily writing tips, industry news, a...
Jan 01, 2024•22 min
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 Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges . What can we learn from this work of Philosophical Fiction? How can a speculative story be built upon a philosophical question? How does a story signal its thematic focus? How does a character make speculation into story? For daily writing tips, industry news, a...
Dec 15, 2023•28 min
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 “Drive My Car” by Haruki Murakami . What can we learn from this quietly contemplative story? What kind of structure can we find in a relatively structureless piece? How does the idea of grief influence the structure? What can drive a story forward? For daily writing tips, industry news, and great short fic...
Dec 01, 2023•23 min
