#119: Student Spotlight: How Fern Bernstein Wrote A Dual Timeline Novel Based On The Edies of Grey Gardens

Fiction Writing Made Easy

Savannah Gilbo

Education, Fiction, Writing Tips, Arts, Bestseller, Writing, How To, Author, Writing Community, Books, Novel, How To Write Fiction, Writing Fiction, Writer, How To Write A Book

4.9 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2023

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“It's the inciting incident, the turning point, the crisis moment, the climax, and the resolution, and each scene really needs to have that to move the story forward.” - Fern Bernstein

In today's episode, I’m sitting down for a conversation with Fern Bernstein to talk about her debut novel, Staunch: The Edie's of Grey Gardens. Here’s a preview of what’s included:

[01:44] Savannah reads the back cover of Staunch: The Edie's of Grey Gardens to get context for today’s discussion.

[12:14] The history and unanswered questions around the Edie’s, how they inspired Fern’s book, and the character work and story structure Fern worked through with Savannah about these wonderful women of Grey Gardens, East Hampton, New York.

[21:11] Going through the outline, having consecutive drafts, and the balancing act of taking the reader through a particular emotional journey through two different timelines.

[32:37] How beta readers impacted Fern’s opinion of her writing and being open to feedback and constructive criticism as a writer.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	that was an aha moment when like you see it when you take a chapter from a book and you break it down and you can kind of
0:06.7	extrapolate those five elements and like wow so that was really really. Value shifts were another thing that were like very interesting
0:16.0	to learn about and the different genre conventions.
0:20.8	Yeah.
0:21.4	And those things really come into play so the specific type of story you are writing has
0:27.7	certain value shifts that have to occur.
0:30.7	Welcome to the fiction writing occur.
0:36.0	Welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast. My name is Savannah Gilboo, and I'm here to help you write a story that works.
0:40.0	I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming.
0:44.0	So each week I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away.
0:52.0	So whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author
0:54.9	looking to improve your craft,
0:56.4	this podcast is for you.
0:58.0	So pick up a pen and let's get started.
1:02.1	In today's episode, I have something super exciting to share with you.
1:05.0	I recently sat down for a conversation with a writer named Fern Bernstein to talk about
1:10.4	her debut novel called Staunch, The Edes of Grey Gardens.
1:15.0	In our conversation, we talk about her writing, editing, and publishing journey,
1:18.8	including things like where the idea to write a fictionalized story about the Edies came from, what it was like to write a dual
1:24.7	point of view and a dual timeline novel, and so much more.
1:28.7	You'll also get to hear Fern talk about what it was like to work with me on her story,
1:32.7	and she'll share some of her favorite craft tools
	...

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