Two friends, Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns, read their favorite sentences, paragraphs, and other short excerpts and present craft lessons and writing exercises for fellow writers.
Blake Butler's Molly is a memoir about the suicide of his late wife, poet and memoirist Molly Brodak. It's one of the most controversial alt lit book of the past year – rightfully! – and, with photographs integrated and no line or chapter breaks, it's also a fascinating work of art. (New tardiness record: we recorded this in April.) Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Haha this was recorded like months ago. Please excuse the mess. More Good Writing coming on a reliably unreliable schedule. Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
What are more tools we can use to further develop theme and the point-of-view character's worldview? In her novel The Book of X, Sarah Rose Etter regularly breaks the action with lists of facts. Find the photo of Ben that reminded Emily of Edward Cullen in the Two Dollar Radio Tattoo Club Don't Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine Louie Zong's new album Rat Taxi Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Point-of-view characters. You love them. You understand them. They still do mean things. How can you keep your reader empathizing with your point-of-view character even if they do something villainous? Also: Ben (a philosophy major) and Emily (an outdoor enthusiast) interpret the climax pretty differently. Read this short story before listening to the episode: "Algal Bloom" by Kathryn Harlan in Michigan Quarterly Review Buy the whole collection Fruiting Bodies (Emily's short story collection of the year!) here A poem that rocks: "Taking a Visitor to See the Ruins" by Paula Gunn Allen Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Do you have to write about a topic in the chronological order that it happened in to understand it better? No, definitely not. In fact - maybe you shouldn't? This episode, we discuss Enjoy Me Among My Ruins by Juniper Fitzgerald (2022). It's a memoir that uses 3 forms (diary entry, flash about an influential woman in her life, and essays) to explore sex work, academic theory, and how having a daughter changed her. Order this book from The Feminist Press here Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
In this episode we consider what it takes to write young people in a way that feels both honest and honoring with a difficult piece of fiction by B.R. Yeager from his newest collection, Burn You the Fuck Alive. Burn You the Fuck Alive by B.R. Yeager Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Carmen from Julia Armfield's debut novel Our Wives Under the Sea isn't necessary for the plot, but Emily got obsessed anyway (of course). In this episode, we discuss bringing side characters to life and using them to establish themes that your point-of-view character is too clueless to pick up on. Other links: B.R. Yeager (friend of the pod)'s new story collection Burn You the Fuck Alive Here's a ContraPoints video about incels that we reference Great news for the timing of this episode! Our Wives Under the Sea is now out in paperback Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Today we discuss "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" with poet David van den Berg. David's magazine - Prometheus Dreaming His new book - Love Letters from an Arsonist Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Emily has Ben read sections from Eula Biss's Having and Being Had this week because she knows he loves to think about capitalism. How can you come up with rules to how you write about a topic? Eula Biss sets out with constraints that make her essays both dreamlike and punchy. Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Happy (belated) Halloween, Good Writing subscribers! In today's episode, we discuss Shirley Jackson's 1959 gothic horror novel The Haunting of Hill House. What makes this "psychological ghost story" work so well? Subjectivity. The characters tell us their subjection version of the events, which leaves the reader to fill in the gaps with maximum spookiness. Plus, we discuss a sentence that Ben called "a literary kickflip" and a terrifying walk that Emily is nominating for most romantic moment of 1959. Emily recommends Abandon Me Ben recommends (with caveats) the 2022 movie The Whale Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Dune is a weird book. Some might even say, a bad book. Emily does on this episode, and so does Ben (sort of). Herbert's prose style is definitely stilted, but what Ben and Emily get into on this episode is the absolutely strange choice he's made to write the entire thing in third person omniscient, and they try to figure out how thinking works in fiction. Ben recommends Flow my Tears, the Policeman Said Emily recommends One Hundred Years of Solitude Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
We love insights and character motivation on this podcast!
In this episode of the Good Writing Podcast, Ben and Emily discuss what it means to write an image that by no right can actually be seen. Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
It's been 6 months of podcasting! Ben and Emily review some of their favorite prompts and exercises from the past 25 episodes of the Good Writing Podcast. Listen to the full episodes clipped here: Brett Biebel - On Compactness, Objects and Perfection with Josephine Rowe How to Write with Yourself as the Subject - Megan Boyle's Liveblog Real Settings That Mess With Your Characters from Kristen Arnett & Patricia Lockwood The Best Sentence in Pride and Prejudice Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
This episode of the Good Writing Podcast deals with the ethics that the writer must grapple with when writing, especially when that writing deals with people from the so-called real world with the help of Melissa Febos' parables. "A Big Shitty Party" by Melissa Febos. Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Borges often looked to his work as an essayist and literary critic when looking for inspiration for his fiction, be it in the form of using that fiction to better understand writing or taking on the forms of non-fiction directly. While the first of these is inevitably touched upon in this episode, we focus more directly on the formal effort of "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" to discuss ways in which writers can take formal inspiration from the world of non-fiction. "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" - Jorge Luis Borges Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Emily picked up The Fellowship of the Ring and bought in hard. What makes the whimsical and meandering opening work so well? Ben and Emily also discuss listener mail and workshop peer pet peeves. Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Author and editor John Trefry joins us to discuss (among many other things) the ways in which language itself has aesthetic value, the unknowable contours of spacetime, why writing without emotion can lead you to interesting places, and death metal. Read John's writing on the Neutral Spaces blog. Visit Inside the Castle here. The Amityville films on Tubi. "Claustrophobic Dysentery" by Cabinet Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Today on the Good Writing Podcast we are joined by flash fiction author Brett Bieble. Topics discussed include the ways in which flash fiction approaches "perfection," the advantages of brevity, the ways that stories utilize objects, and comma patrol. Josephine Rowe's "The Vending Machine at the End of the World" Brett's Twitter Brett's story "Big Red Nation" Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Texas poet Esteban Rodriguez joins us to discuss an excerpt from Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 (1965). We talk about writing about stuff you hate and combining long and short sentence lengths for realism and momentum. Esteban recommends The Folly by Ivan Vladislavic (2015), An Explanation of the Birds by António Lobo Antunes (translated by Richard Zenith) (1981), and Rapture by Susan Mitchell (1992) Follow Esteban Rodriguez on Twitter at @estebanjrod11 Emily recommends Melissa Febos's new craft essay “A Big Shitty Party: Six Parables of Writing About Other People” in Kenyon Review Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
John-Paul Hurley joins us to discuss an excerpt from Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth. How can writers make the readers feel lost in memories? We also discuss unlikeable protagonists. Other links from this week: Follow J.P. Hurley on Twitter here Hear about how a fantasy writer raised $31M on Kickstarter to self-publish four books on the Print Run Podcast here Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
We always bring ourselves with us wherever we go, even into our writing. Even if we think that writing is about something completely other to ourselves, it is impossible for that wherever to escape whoever we are. Megan Boyle takes this to the farthest extent in her autofiction piece Liveblog in which she attempted to write down every single thing that happened to her over the course of a few months. The result is a deeply personal, funny, moving and intellectually fearsome book that is completely unlike anything else. Buy Liveblog here. Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
The co-editors in chief of Alien Literary Magazine join us to talk about two of their favorite pieces from a recent issue. We talk about the magazine's reading process and two elements of craft that made these submissions stand out: momentum and juxtaposition. “Pilgrimage” by Brett Biebel in Alien Literary Magazine “Rave” by Esteban Rodriguez in Alien Literary Magazine Other links from this week: Read essays and short stories published from our guest Matthew Hawkins here Read short stories published from our guest Claire Martin here Read Alien Lit Mag's submission guidelines or buy a sticker and follow them on Twitter Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Emily has Ben read an Anton Chekhov short story about a sad lady's sad day and discuss occasion for story. Why is this the day that you tune into your character's life? How can we as writers make a story feel complete? On the way, Ben and Emily get derailed by a difference of opinion sparked by George Saunders's analysis of the story. Should you consider the reader's interpretation and anticipate the reader's reaction to your story as you're writing? Ben says no. Emily says absolutely yes. Tune in for the pros and cons! Read a different translation of “In the Cart” by Anton Chekhov Buy George Saunders's writing craft book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (and his short story collection Tenth of December) Catch up on the viral writer conversation of Parul Sehgal's “The Case Against the Trauma Plot” Other recommendations from this week: Out to Lunch, a jazz album by Eric Dolphy Owed, a poetry collection by Joshua Bennett Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
We discuss Richard Brautigan's novel Trout Fishing in America and the way he seems to have no interest in following any sort of rule when he's writing. The phrase “Trout Fishing in America” can be anything; a character, a place, the phrase itself, or maybe even something more, something spiritual. Ben and Emily talk about why that's cool and why it's weird. Trout Fishing in America (1967) - buy it here (or read a weird PDF of it here.) Read Jenette Winter's (as well as few others) ten rules for writing here. You can rent Jaspar Mall on Amazon, but I don't want to link that so here's a link to the film's official twitter Here's where you can buy John Darnielle's new novel, Devil House. Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
How can we make sure our readers pick up on key information when our narrator is cagey or not willing to admit the full truth? We look at how a master, Sofia Samatar, does it in her short story "Walkdog." It has both a reluctant narrator ("Emilybait") and a weird form ("Benbait"). We also discuss the "line" between "literary fiction" and "science fiction and fantasy." Read Sofia Samatar's short story “Walkdog” Other links from this episode: Buy Sofia Samatar's short story collection Tender (2017) so you can read her hilarious and inexplicable short story "How I Met the Ghoul" Listen to a craft interview with Sofia Samatar on Storyological or read one with Uncanny Magazine Ben's other podcast Three Lokos for music, movies, and pals hanging out Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Sentence length can be used to pull the reader into the text, and a long sentence can force them to stay there. Fernanda Melchor's Hurrican Season presents the reader with a seemingly impenetrable block of text that keeps their eyes locked the page, even whenthey might want to turn away. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions by Larry Mitchell w/ Illustrations by Ned Asta Mystifier's Instagram Page. Their Bandcamp. Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
The Good Writing podcast gets its mind blown by the author of Pearl Death, Negative Space, and Amygdalatropolis; B.R. Yeager! We discuss Blake Butler's 2014 novel 300,000,000 and how it uses a single page to break down the barriers between book and reader, author and audience, and maybe even reality and fiction 300,000,000 by Blake Butler (2014). B.R. Yeager's Neutral Spaces Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
The Good Writing podcast welcomes its first guest, short story writer and fellow MFA friend Cherri Buijk, to discuss historical fiction. What makes historical fiction feel authentic? We discuss freewriting about the parts of history that you can't wrap your head around and resisting the temptation to moralize. A Mercy by Toni Morrison (2008) Toni Morrison's Paris Review interview about her writing process: “Toni Morrison, The Art of Fiction No. 134” “Girl with Rope” by Cherri Buijk in Catamaran Literary Reader Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
We all love a witty protagonist with quips. But how can a writer stay true to an ironic voice while still getting the characters and readers to care about the story? We discuss Gideon the Ninth, a fantasy debut novel about lesbian necromancers in space with a hilarious and irreverent point-of-view character. Ben and Emily also share two of their wilder “Florida Man” stories. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (2019) from Tor Books Check out Autostraddle's book recommendations Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
While we often think of the plot of our stories as their bedrock, I (Ben) actually think it is the world in which they take place. Without the world, there is nothing to motivate the story from the outside, there is no context in which the story takes place. In this episode, we discuss what it is that allows for something as large as the entire world to show up on the page. Pearl Death by B.R. Yeager Shadow and Claw (the first two books in the Book of the New Sun series) by Gene Wolfe I'm a Writer But podcast. New World on Netflix. Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
The world of literature is difficult one to navigate, especially for those just starting out. A strange cornerstone of becoming part of the literary world is the literary magazine, a place where new writing is published without the need of being placed into the format of the book. Writers often find the submission process difficult and discouraging, and we are no exception. Today, we discuss what it's like to submit to magazines, and the various techniques we have developed to try to make the process easier. Also we continue our discussion of the Bell Jar. Read Swamp Ape Review Read Alien Literary Magazine Ben recommends Joe Pera Talks with You Emily recommends hyacinths for those having trouble growing plants Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
One of the many things that make The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1963) an absolute banger is how deep inside the narrator's head we are. But what can you do as a writer when how your point-of-view character sees the world is flawed? How can you give a point-of-view character a developed and interesting worldview while still giving your readers enough clues to interpret the world you've written differently? Other recommendations for this episode: “So Sue Me...” by Rebecca Makkai (2014), about why you should never quote song lyrics in your short stories Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters (2021) is a great model for two point-of-view characters with contrasting worldviews Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft ideas for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Jarett Kobek lets you know from page one where he stands with his politics, and his work is only stronger for this. Ben and Emily discuss why it's important to understand that your politics will show up in your work whether you want them to or not, so it might be a good idea to make them obvious. An excerpt from I Hate the Internet (2016) Good Writing is a podcast where two friends read like writers and lay out craft for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
Sure, sure, everybody wants to know the plot summary. But why does the plot matter? How can you as a writer make your readers care about the plot? After a detour about the job market for English majors (bummer alert...), Emily compares three novels that open by flashing forward to a short story from a literary magazine that mixes flash forward in throughout. Today's sources of craft inspiration: “Ghost Story” by Becca Anderson (2020), published in The Masters Review The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi (2020), The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (1993), and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967) Other links from this episode: Ben's experimental book recommendation Sea-Witch by Never Angeline Nørth (2020), or you can buy the bundle of every ebook from the indie publisher Inside the Castle Emily's literary journalism recommendations: Five Days at Memorial Hospital by Sheri Fink (2013) and And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts (1987) Listen to two literary agents talk shop about the publishing industry on Print Run Podcast Good Writing is a podcast where two friends read like writers and lay out craft for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Twitter: @goodwritingpod Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com
How can the base-level choice of what perspective (first, second or third person) is used in a piece of writing be used as a way for a reader to gain perspective on a character? Dorthe Nors' novella Minna Needs Rehearsal Space (translated by Mishka Hoekstra) uses a close third person and a unique approach to paragraphs to allow the reader to read the titular character's opinions in the same way that they read facts, and as you would probably guess, hilarity ensues. Minna Needs Rehearsal Space (2016) by Dorthe Nors and translated by Mishka Hoekstra An excerpt from the book, but not the one we discussed in the episode Good Writing is a podcast where two friends read like writers and lay out craft for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com Website: https://www.goodwritingpodcast.com/
This episode is as American as Olive Garden, and then we celebrate by going to Disney World. How can writers use setting to draw out characters' internal drama and make their characters confront their conflicts? “Why I Take All My First Dates to Olive Garden” by Kristen Arnett (2019) No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (2021) Good Writing is a podcast where two MFA friends read like writers and lay out craft for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com Website: https://www.goodwritingpodcast.com/
Brian Evenson is a writer of literary horror, whatever that means, and he shows us how writers can smartly use information's absence to allow for a more interactive reading experience. Did Ben use the word “ontology” correctly in this episode? He's not quite sure, to be honest. “Altmann's Tongue” (1994) by Brian Evenson Good Writing is a podcast where two friends read like writers and lay out craft for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com Website: https://www.goodwritingpodcast.com/
Grammar alert! A complicated sentence and a clever description make Emily do a double-take in our first episode. Plus, even Jane Austen put her first manuscript in a drawer and came back to it later. CTRL+F for this sentence here (Pride and Prejudice is in the public domain) Listen to two friends book club this chapter on the Pod and Prejudice podcast Good Writing is a podcast where two friends read like writers and lay out craft for fellow writers to steal. Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Email: goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com Website: https://www.goodwritingpodcast.com/
Welcome to the Good Writing Podcast! We're a new podcast where two fiction writer friends nerd out on writing craft. Subscribe to the show if you're: ☑ a writer looking for inspiration ☑ a book nerd looking for passion ☑ one of our friends or family members Co-hosted by Emily Donovan and Benjamin Kerns. Want to get in touch? Email us at goodwritingpodcast@gmail.com. or check us out at https://www.goodwritingpodcast.com/
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