Story Works Round Table | Conversations About Craft Alida Winternheimer

This week at the Story Works Round Table, five authors sit down to talk women's fiction. Alida Winternheimer is joined by D. Liebhart, Heidi McIntyre, Amanda Speights, and Jen Telger to discuss their genre and their stories. There is a lot more to women's fiction than strong female characters or women authors. The diversity of the genre makes it distinct from other genres, keeping the writer's hands unbound by conventions or reader expectations. Though writing stories that range from historical to magical realism to contemporary and medical, they have a lot in common...especially a deep commitment to realism and their characters' emotional journeys.

Find all of the authors' bios and books links in the show notes at www.StoryWorksPodcast.com

Get Alida's musings on life, writing, and the writing life in A Room Full of Books & Pencils and stay up to date on book launches, special offers, and more at booksandpencils.substack.com
 
Are you ready to get more out of your writing, grow your writing skills, and get that book written? Do you want community, feedback, and the mentoring of an expert story craft coach? Check out group coaching for novelists and memoirists. A new session is beginning soon. Get details & schedule your free discovery call today at www.wordessential.com/fictioncoaching
 
Are you ready to work with a developmental editor or writing coach? Alida works with fiction and nonfiction writers on all kinds of writing projects. Email or schedule a discovery call. www.wordessential.com. 
 
Show notes, links, & more at www.StoryWorksPodcast.com.

This week, Alida and Kathryn discuss writing with whimsey. Whimsical writing can add humor and charm to writing, but it's not only for children's stories. Lighthearted, quirky, and funny moments add levity to otherwise serious or dark tales. After this week's episode, you might just find yourself writing whimsically.

Get Alida's musings on life, writing, and the writing life in A Room Full of Books & Pencils and stay up to date on book launches, special offers, and more at booksandpencils.substack.com
 
Are you ready to get more out of your writing, grow your writing skills, and get that book written? Do you want community, feedback, and the mentoring of an expert story craft coach? Check out group coaching for novelists and memoirists. A new session is beginning soon. Get details & schedule your free discovery call today at www.wordessential.com/fictioncoaching
 
Are you ready to work with a developmental editor or writing coach? Alida works with fiction and nonfiction writers on all kinds of writing projects. Email or schedule a discovery call. www.wordessential.com. 
 
Show notes, links, & more at www.StoryWorksPodcast.com.

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn talk dialogue. We've noticed what may be some poor advice and some frightening trends in dialogue floating around out there. Time to bust some myths and pop some speech balloons! 
How should dialogue be formatted and how does it differ from interiority and thoughts? When and why does it make sense to honor trusted conventions? How would "experimentation" work in the voice of AI? We draw on the past two Writers Book Club short stories for examples of dialogue, interiority, and narrative point of view. There is a lot of craft to unpack in this week's episode, a bit of silliness, and a writing prompt, too!
"Dialogue is an art form all in and of itself. So be aware of what you're putting on the page."
"Dialogue should reveal something to the reader."
Are you ready to get more out of your writing, grow your writing skills, and get that novel done faster? Do you want community, feedback, and mentoring? Check out group coaching for novelists. New Summer Session begins May 29. Get details & schedule your free discovery call today at www.wordessential.com/fictioncoaching
Get Alida's musings on life, writing, and the writing life in A Room Full of Books & Pencils. booksandpencils.substack.com
Show notes, links, & more at www.StoryWorksPodcast.com.
 
 
 
 
 

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn discuss Chekhov's story, "The Woman with the Little Dog." You can get the link to read it in the show notes. 
"Everything that he found important, interesting, necessary, in which he was sincere and did not deceive himself, which constituted the core of his life, occurred in secret from others." -Chekhov
Unpack the layers of Anton Chekhov's poignant short story, "The Lady with the Little Dog," in this thought-provoking episode of Story Works Round Table. Alida and Kathryn dissect the narrative's exploration of love, regret, and societal imprisonment. As they navigate through the characters internal struggles and the story's critique of marital conventions, listeners are invited to consider depth of character emotion, subtext, and presenting social commentary through story.
Are you ready to get more out of your writing, to grow your writing skills, and get that novel done faster? Do you want community, feedback, and mentoring? Check out group coaching for novelists. New Summer Session begins at the end of May. Get details & schedule your free discovery call today at www.wordessential.com/fictioncoaching
Get Alida's reflections on life, writing, and the writing life in A Room Full of Books & Pencils. booksandpencils.substack.com
 

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida and Kathryn discuss Gina Berriault's short story, "The Woman in the Rose Colored Dress." At only 2 1/2 pages, it packs in remarkable sentences, the experience of time passing, incredible subtext in minimal dialogue, and a realistic coming of age story when a girl makes a discovery about her father that shifts her understanding of the world. Get the link in our show notes to read the story yourself.
Join my new group coaching session for writers. Get your free discovery call today: www.wordessential.com/fictioncoaching
Get Alida's musings on life, writing, and the writing life in A Room Full of Books & Pencils. booksandpencils.substack.com
Show notes, links, & more at www.StoryWorksPodcast.com.
 
 

This week on the Story Works Round Table, Alida, Carlee, and Robert go deep with the question of what makes a genre a genre? Discover the nuances of crafting stories and targeting the right readership. We dissect the concept of genre as both a craft and marketing tool. It's far more useful to us writers than just a marketing category. Writing to market is often confused with marketing. And what about those of us who strive to be "pure artists," putting categories at the end of the process? Whether you aim to meet or subvert reader expectations, there's more to your genre than meets the eye.
"Genre determines what the story is trying to do."
"If you get lost in a story and you're not quite sure where you're taking it, it's often because you're not clear on genre."
This is an episode from our library, formerly published as #184.
 
Are you ready to get more out of your writing, to grow your writing skills, and get that novel done faster? Do you want community, feedback, and mentoring? Check out group coaching for novelists. New Summer Session begins at the end of May. Get details & schedule your free discovery call today at www.wordessential.com/fictioncoaching
 
Get Alida's musings on life, writing, and the writing life in A Room Full of Books & Pencils. booksandpencils.substack.com