19.29: A Close Reading on Character: Barriers vs. Stakes
Writing Excuses
Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
4.7 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 July 2024
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Our episode today focuses on C.L. Clark’s short story “You Perfect Broken Thing” for how the character's stakes shape the barriers facing her. We use this story to examine how to tell the difference between barriers versus stakes. We also examine how to do this in a compressed space– whether that’s a short story, a single scene, or a compressed timeline.
Thing of the Week: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Homework: Write a short scene in which your character has to deal with a mundane obstacle, then rewrite it as if that small obstacle has life-or-death stakes. How did you shift it to make the stakes clearer?
Liner Notes:
Sandra Tayler's new book, Structuring Life To Support Creativity. Preorder your copy today at sandratayler.com!
And help fund Mary Robinette Kowal’s Silent Spaces, a collection of short stories on Kickstarter here:
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Credits: Your hosts for this episode were DongWon Song and Erin Roberts. Our guest was Arkady Martine. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by our listeners, patrons, and friends. |
| 0:05.6 | If you would like to learn how to support this podcast, visit |
| 0:08.9 | www.patrian.com |
| 0:15.0 | You're invited to the writing excuses cruise, an annual event for writers who want |
| 0:20.2 | dedicated time to focus on honing their craft, connecting with their peers, and |
| 0:25.1 | getting away from the grind of daily life. |
| 0:27.8 | Join the full cast of writing excuses as we sail from Los Angeles aboard the Navigator |
| 0:32.2 | of the Seas from September 19th through 12th. from The crews offers seminars, exercises, and group sessions, an ideal blend of relaxation, learning, |
| 0:46.7 | and writing, all while sailing the Mexican Riviera. |
| 0:50.1 | For tickets and more information, visit writing excuses. |
| 0:53.0 | Come slash retreats. |
| 0:56.7 | Season 19, episode 29. |
| 1:01.9 | This is writing excuses. |
| 1:04.0 | A close reading on character. |
| 1:05.7 | Barriers versus stakes. |
| 1:07.5 | 15 minutes long because you're in a hurry. |
| 1:10.1 | And we're not that smart. |
| 1:11.1 | I'm Mary Robinette. |
| 1:12.1 | I'm Dong-1. I'm Mary Robinette. I'm Don Juan. |
| 1:13.0 | I'm Erin. |
| 1:14.0 | And I'm Howard. |
| 1:15.2 | And I drove over here with some glass bottles |
... |
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