S18:E02: Why Writers Need a Sense of Wonder in Fiction More Than Ever
Helping Writers Become Authors
K.M. Weiland
4.8 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 January 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We're living in a storytelling moment deeply fascinated by darkness—and for good reason. Stories have always helped us metabolize fear, trauma, and moral failure. But darkness is not meant to be the destination.
In this episode, I explore why writers need a sense of wonder in fiction, not as escapism or denial, but as a way of completing the story arc. Wonder is what allows stories to move through the descent rather than getting stuck there and to imagine a future still worth moving toward.
This is a reflection on how stories work psychologically and culturally, why so many books already carry hope with quiet integrity, and how writers (often without realizing it) contribute to building meaning, courage, and care through the stories they tell.
In This Episode, We Explore:
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Why dark stories play an essential role in storytelling
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The danger of getting stuck in the descent
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Why stories must complete the arc
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The sense of wonder in fiction as moral imagination
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How stories help us imagine a future worth moving toward
Links & Resources
📚 Writing craft & story theory:
https://helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/
✍️ Join my mailing list (weekly insights for writers):
https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/resources/free-e-book/
📖 Explore my books and resources for writers:
https://kmweilandstore.com/
(Including Writing Your Story's Theme, Structuring Your Novel, and Creating Character Arcs)
📷 Find me on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/authorkmweiland/
About the Host
K.M. Weiland is an award-winning and internationally published author of writing guides such as Structuring Your Novel and Creating Character Arcs. She mentors writers in story theory, technique, the deeper meaning of narrative, and all the wild and wonderful highs and lows of the writing life.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Helping Writers Become Authors podcast. I'm K.M. Weiland, and I am here to take you |
| 0:07.8 | deep with story theory, writing techniques, and the incredible wisdom of story. I believe story is the |
| 0:14.9 | greatest power on this earth, and that as writers, we carry the torch of wielding that power with responsibility, passion, and skill. |
| 0:23.6 | There is no such thing as just a story. Today, it is my honor and my purpose to help you write your best story, astound the world, and maybe change your life. |
| 0:35.6 | Hello and welcome. Even though this isn't the the world and maybe change your life. |
| 0:39.3 | Hello and welcome. |
| 0:45.0 | Even though this isn't the first podcast episode of the new year, it is actually the very first episode I'm recording in 26. |
| 0:48.2 | So it feels like a meaningful threshold for us to step across together. |
| 0:53.2 | A new year always carries that quiet sense |
| 0:57.0 | of recalibration, and this one is definitely no exception. I have some genuinely exciting shifts |
| 1:03.1 | coming up here. So before I get started, I wanted to take a few minutes at the top of the show to let |
| 1:08.0 | you in on what's unfolding. So I talked about a lot of this in the last |
| 1:12.1 | podcast episode, including an upcoming website redesign and a series of live classes on some topics |
| 1:18.7 | I'm really excited about that you can look out for starting probably in March. However, one thing |
| 1:23.5 | that didn't make it into the podcast recording last time was a shift you may have already noticed in the rhythm of the content. |
| 1:30.8 | I'm going to be experimenting with moving the podcast to a bi-weekly format for brand new content. |
| 1:37.6 | This is going to give me a little space to revisit, refresh, and highlight some of the most |
| 1:42.4 | important ideas from the archives during the alternating |
| 1:46.1 | week, since there are so many topics I'm always asked about and that I already have a lot of |
| 1:51.4 | content on. So even though the podcast itself will be biweekly, you can still expect something |
| 1:58.3 | thoughtful and useful to land in your inbox or on the blog |
| 2:02.0 | every single week. |
... |
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