Yay, you voted! And look, it worked. Now buy books from your local indie bookstore. In today’s episode, Angie and Elizabeth talk about voice and POV, including the theatrical element of voice, leaning into voice, and when analysis should kick voice into gear. They also talk about the differences between who we hoped we’d be and who we are, the impact of the kids being home all the time, and whether and when self-compassion can be a winning or worthwhile strategy. A debate on self-compassion v. pushing and deadlines concludes with the question of whether deadlines might be a form of self-compassion. Other techniques to get and keep you going: excitement about the work itself, the effort and possibility of making the world a better place. Other topics include omniscient first person, white-guy eighties authors, “characterness,” the storyteller in voice, voice in film and film-equivalents to voice, shameful obsessions (that don’t hurt people) and letting yourself embrace your own shameful(but joy harmful) obsessions…and journeys.

 

Story Makers is a podcast that features in-depth conversations with accomplished writers, filmmakers and industry experts about story craft, technique, habit and survival–everything you need to know to stay inspired, connect to your creativity, find others’ wonderful stories and your own success.

The hosts:

Elizabeth Stark is a published, agented novelist and distributed filmmaker who teaches and mentors writers at BookWritingWorld.com.

Angie Powers is a distributed filmmaker and published short story writer with an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in screenwriting from UCLA who teaches story structure at BookWritingWorld.com.