I am so excited to share this week's episode as each of these conversations was so much fun to record. Edan has been on the show before, but I wanted to have her back to talk about her love of writing difficult characters within the framework of her latest novel, Woman No. 17. Edan delights in creating tension by revealing her character's flaws for the reader's view and puts these characters in situations sure to highlight these flaws and bring them to a head. So many books create tension through plot and action, but the suspense in Edan's books is just as much about pushing flawed characters to their edge, all the while leaving us asking "Oh my god, what will they do now??"
Jim Butcher has written so many novels that I wouldn't be shocked to learn that he doesn't sleep at all. He admitted that he has trouble keeping track of the exact details of former books after having revised them numerous times, so he relies on his fanbase Wiki to keep track, a detail I found both charming and extremely practical. In addition, we dove into the beauty of throwing your characters into sticky situations and the necessity to write scenes so things go from bad to worse. This chat helped me feel much braver about putting my character into tough spots to see how she will navigate rocky territory.
I hope both these conversations inspire you to investigate the less savory corners of your story and take your books into riskier places. May we all send our characters down a dark alley, metaphorically, after taking both of these writers' advice!
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#77 Piper Huguley Expands History
#76 Fran Krause on Our Deep Dark Fears
#75 Steven Tagle on Fulbrights for Writers
#74 Crushing NaNoWriMo with Kate Newburg + Tasha Harrison
#73 Victor LaValle on Amazing Stories read While Young
#72 Scott O'Connor teaches in my living room
#71 Patricia Park on Trusting the Process
#70 Joe Fassler Lights the Dark
#69 Paul McVeigh on How a Story is Born
#68 Gabriela Pereira on to MFA or not to MFA
#67 Scott Stabile on the Rawness of Real Life
#66 Kim Krans August Archive Episode
#65 Susan Orlean August Archive Episode
#64 V.E. Schwab August Archive Episode
#63 Natashia Deon August Archive Episode
#62 Sarah Selecky August Archive episode
#61 Kameron Hurley on the Feminist Geek Revolution
#60 Megan Hannum goes Draft by Draft
#59 J. Ryan Stradal explores the Middle
#58: Dal Kular on being at the beginning of the writing process
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