Episode 42: Mackendrick's Rules, the Epic Conclusion

It's another episode of Matt's new podcast, "A Good Story Well Told" with Jonathan Auxier, this time discussing "The Giver", but from now on, to get new content, you'll have to subscribe to the "A Good Story Well Told" feed. Meanwhile, this feed will remain active so you can enjoy the wonderful archives of Matt and James's content.

It's a special preview of the first episode of Matt's new podcast with Jonathan Auxier: A Good Story Well Told. Search for and subscribe to the new podcast to get a second episode now!

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 debate him on that.

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 story." James agrees and we dive into some of Douglas's many interesting new archetypes!

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.

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.

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)

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!

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.

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!