Steve Almond, TRUTH IS THE ARROW, MERCY IS THE BOW: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories
Totally Booked with Zibby
Zibby Owens
4.4 • 602 Ratings
🗓️ 24 April 2024
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Zibby is joined by author Steve Almond to discuss his wonderfully wise, irreverent, and inspiring new book for writers, TRUTH IS THE ARROW, MERCY IS THE BOW. Steve touches on the technical aspects of storytelling (like plot and character development) and then delves into the roots of storytelling, inspiration, and the importance of confronting inner demons, vulnerabilities, and societal expectations in the writing process. He also shares anecdotes and advice for those experiencing writer’s block, self-doubt, rejection, vulnerability, and, ultimately, creative breakthroughs.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Zivie Owens, and I am the host of this podcast. Moms don't have time to read books. |
| 0:08.1 | I am also a newly minted USA Today bestselling author of the novel, Blank. |
| 0:14.2 | I've created a whole community of book lovers around this podcast, a publishing company, reading retreats, a bookstore, and more. Learn more |
| 0:22.2 | at Zivimedia.com or follow me on social at Zivie Owens or join the community at Zibby Readers. |
| 0:32.0 | Steve Almond is the author of Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow, a DIY manual for the |
| 0:37.2 | construction of stories. Steve is the author of a dozen books Arrow, Mercy is the Bow, a DIY manual for the construction of stories. |
| 0:39.0 | Steve is the author of a dozen books, including the New York Times bestsellers Candy Freak and Against |
| 0:43.6 | Football. His first novel, which brings me to you, was made into a major motion picture |
| 0:47.9 | starring Lucy Hill. His second novel, All the Secrets of the World, is under development by |
| 0:52.4 | 20th Century Fox TV. He's the recipient of an |
| 0:55.5 | N-E-A grant for 2022 and teaches at the Newman Foundation for Journalism. His work has been published |
| 1:01.8 | in The Best American Short Stories, Best American Erotica, we didn't talk about that, and the New York |
| 1:08.1 | Times magazine. His new book, Truth is the Arrow Mercy is the Bow, is about craft, the struggle to write, and where stories come from. Welcome, |
| 1:14.8 | Steve. Thank you so much for coming on moms don't have time to read books to discuss |
| 1:18.1 | truth is the arrow. Mercy is the bow. Congratulations. Thank you. Okay, tell listeners about this book. |
| 1:27.0 | It's a DIY manual for the construction of stories, |
| 1:29.7 | but it's really a lot more than that, I think. Talk about the goal of the book and your |
| 1:36.6 | background as a teacher and a writer and all that. Yeah, I think of this as a book about the |
| 1:43.0 | creative process. |
| 1:44.1 | So that has three parts to it, or at least as I see it. |
| 1:48.0 | There's the part that's about craft and learning the elements, which feels very intimidating, |
| 1:52.5 | I think, to people who are early in their writing careers or her not writing. |
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