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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]

We love insights and character motivation on this podcast! 😤 But we also like scenes that move the story forward. This week, we discuss the hilarious Milk Fed by Melissa Broder (2021) and how she introduces a therapist character who feels realistic while still creating all of the insights that we expect when a character goes to therapy. A link we promised to include in the show notes: Listen to Danez Smith read their poem “Dear White America” 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: [email protected]

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: [email protected]