This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the 643 episode of the Helping Writers Become Authors

Podcast. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode

There and Back Again, The Lord of the Rings

and the power of despair in fiction.

So I just wanted to give you a little heads up about this episode.

It's a little different than usual.

I get a little emotional

I talk about some difficult times in my own life and talk frankly about some

tough emotions that I experienced.

I just wanted to let you know that before you get into it. Thank you for listening.

Someone asked me recently what I thought made an original story.

And one piece of my answer was that I don't believe audiences so much seek original premises

as original emotional experiences.

We want to experience stories that evoke emotion and it create catharsis.

We don't just want a comedy that makes the corner of our mouths

crinkle. We want a comedy that makes us laugh so hard we're crying and

hicoping. We don't just want a drama that distracts us for an hour. We want a drama that keeps us thinking for weeks, months, years, afterward.

We don't just want a sad story that makes us not our heads of how awful the world can be. We want a

sad story that makes us weep from the depths of our own souls. We want

fiction that changes our lives and to that end we want to

to speak about the power of despair in fiction.

So why such a depressing topic? Well first you'll note the title is there and back again.

...