Secrets of Story Podcast

Sep 16 2024 48 ep. 62 mins 149
Secrets of Story Podcast artwork

Podcast by Matt Bird and James Kennedy

  TV & Film
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Live Show: Capturing the Nature of Children with Betsy Bird

Sep 16 2024 45 mins  
Recorded Live at The Book Stall in Winnetka, IL, hosted by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, James and Matt welcome the legendary Betsy Bird to tackle a topic all three know something about: Capturing the Voices of Children in Your Writing. Matt argues that novels that feature truly authentic kids are by definition not children's books, and James and Betsy de

Episode 47: The Heroine's Labyrinth with Douglas A. Burton

Jun 24 2024 86 mins  
Matt and James welcome author Douglas A. Burton to discuss his new book The Heroine's Labyrinth! Matt blurbed it and said "The Heroine's Labyrinth is filled with profound and unique observations on the topic of story structure, no matter what the gender of your protagonist. Burton closely analyzes a wide breadth of stories and proves his thesis that Joseph Campbell missed half the

Episode 46: Organizing Chaos with Sophie Beal and Gary Dalkin

Jan 16 2024 59 mins  
Sophie Beal and Gary Dalkin return to discuss novelists' relationship with editors, whether freelance or at a publisher. All four of us have been on one side of that divide or another, and most of us more than one, and we have a grand old time discussing it.

Episode 45: Specific vs. Generic (Or is it Factual vs. Archetypal?)

Dec 07 2023 71 mins  
It's always good to load up your story with specifics, right? Not so fast! James talks about his decision to leave some information out of his new novel Bride of the Tornado, and Matt quibbles.

Episode 44: Putting the Secrets of Story Into Action with Torrey Maldonado

Oct 19 2023 84 mins  
Matt and James welcome acclaimed novelist Torrey Maldonado to talk about how he's put Matt's advice into action for his books for young people (much to James's chagrin)

Episode 43: Writing Every Day with Brock Swinson

Jun 26 2023 67 mins  
Matt and James are joined by author Brock Swinson and discuss his new book of writing advice Ink by the Barrel. All three of us agree that writers must write every day and then sheepishly admit that we don't actually do that. Download Brock's book for free at BrockSwinson.com and check out his podcast Creative Principles!

Episode 42: Mackendrick's Rules, the Epic Conclusion

Jun 19 2023 52 mins  
Alexander Mackendrick summed up the wisdom that film schools (and MFA programs in general) hand down to writers. Is it helpful or poisonous? In this episode, Matt and James finish examining and questioning his 41 rules.

Episode 41: Mackendrick's Rules, Part 2

Jun 12 2023 59 mins  
Matt and James once again use the rules of Alexander Mackendrick as a springboard to talk about what makes for a good story. Bonus: Matt posits his theory of what's in the case in Pulp Fiction and completely convinces James!

Episode 40: Mackendrick's Rules, Part 1

Jun 05 2023 69 mins  
The great filmmaker Alexander Mackendrick famously passed along 41 rules of writing advice and now Matt and James are going to evaluate them all in a three-part epic!

Episode 39: Agents

Feb 02 2023 82 mins  
James and Matt discuss their checkered history of getting agents/managers, failing to hold onto them, and getting new ones, with lots of tips for the unagented! Check out lots of supplemental materials on SecretsOfStory.com.