Next-Level Diversity: Beyond Faces and Names
The author of Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird (Norton, 2025) encourages writers to consider a deeper definition of diversity and embrace alternative storytelling styles and structures.
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Not All Stories Are Straight: Circular and Nested Structures From Asian Storytelling
The author of Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird (Norton, 2025) recommends writers embrace circuitous storytelling structures, typical of nonwestern literature.
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The Joy of Holding Back: The East Asian Four-Act Structure
The author of Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird (Norton, 2025) encourages writers to introduce a surprising element more than halfway into their storytelling structure.
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Ten Questions for Austin Araujo
“I had many beginnings and several endings, and I tried to arrange the poems in a way that might ask why that was.” —Austin Araujo, author of At the Park on the Edge of the Country
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The Comedy of Short Fiction
The author of I’ll Give You a Reason contemplates the common ground between a joke and a short story.
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Family Stories: Alternatives for Load-Bearing Clichés
The author of Family Family explores why tired tropes proliferate in fiction—and how to avoid them.
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Craft Capsule: Braided Narratives
The author of I Know You Know Who I Am recalls his first attempt at writing a braided narrative.
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Craft Capsule: The Arc of Understanding
The author of Anodyne shares her methodology for determining the order of poems in a collection.
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Craft Capsule: The Arc of Epiphany
The author of Thin Places considers how to write an essay (or essay collection) that follows the arc of epiphany.
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