How to Write Good Stories

Otherppl with Brad Listi

Brad Listi

Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.8 • 554 Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2024

⏱️ 95 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A new 'Craftwork' episode, about how to write good stories. My guest is Steve Almond, author of a new book on writing called Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow, available from Zando. Almond is the author of a dozen books of fiction and nonfiction, including All The Secrets of The World and the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His essays and reviews have been published in venues ranging from the New York Times Magazine to Ploughshares to Poets & Writers, and his short fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, Best American Mysteries, and Best American Erotica. Almond is the recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and co-hosted the Dear Sugars podcast with Cheryl Strayed for four years. He teaches at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, and lives outside Boston with his family, his debt, and his anxiety. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi’s email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch Twitter Instagram TikTok Bluesky Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	All right, you guys, welcome to The Other People Show. I am Brad Listy. I'm your host. I'm in Los Angeles. It's good to be with you. I have a new craftwork episode for you today. It is called How to Write Good Stories.
0:18.8	My guest is Steve Almond, a returning champion.
0:22.7	I've talked with Steve on this show many times before.
0:26.0	He has a new book out called Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow, a DIY manual for the construction of stories.
0:34.6	It is available from Zando.
0:37.0	This is Steve's book about writing. I think he contests
0:41.1	the categorization of it as a craft book, but for all intents and purposes, it's a craft book.
0:47.1	It's a book about writing. It is Steve thinking on the page about what it means to build stories and to do it well.
0:57.7	And it's always fun to talk with him.
1:00.0	I had a very enlightening conversation with Steve Almond about how to write good stories.
1:07.4	That is coming up in just a bit.
1:11.7	Don't forget to subscribe to the other people show wherever you listen, hit the
1:16.3	subscribe button. It's free. You can also subscribe on YouTube, follow the show on social media,
1:22.0	TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Blue Sky. You can sign up for my book club or get an other people t-shirt over at the show's official
1:30.1	website, other ppl.com.
1:34.0	I have a weekly email newsletter.
1:35.9	If you want to sign up for it, it is free, and you can do so at bradlisty.substack.com.
1:40.9	There is also an other people Patreon community. I would love it if you joined over at patreon.com
1:48.2	slash other ppl pot help keep this show going into the future. Today's episode is brought to you by Penguin Books, publisher of the story collection, My Documents by Alejandro Zambra, translated by Megan McDowell. This edition of My Documents by Alejandro Zambra, translated by Megan McDowell.
2:03.1	This edition of My Documents features five additional stories that address themes of religion, romance, technology, solitude, and more examining life and relationships and the tender and brutal dimensions of masculinity
2:19.1	in Chile from the 1980s to the present day. My Documents is a testament to the necessity of literature
2:28.2	even and especially in times of political and personal crisis. Once again, the story collection is called My Documents by Alejandro Zambra,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Brad Listi, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Brad Listi and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.