Mommy's Pen

A writer's notes on family

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Archives for August 2018

The Mommy’s Pen Podcast: S2, E2: Worldview Genre and “Spirit Riding Free”

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This week we take a look at the Worldview genre.

You can also listen using any number of podcast platforms and apps including Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Season 2, Episode 2: The Worldview Genre and “Spirit Riding Free”

We start our exploration of genre with the help of the excellent kids series “Spirit Riding Free” from Netflix. The episode “Lucky and the Treacherous Trail” (season 1, episode 2) is a great example of the Worldview genre with a Maturation subgenre. (Other subgenres in the Worldview genre are: Education, Disillusionment and Revelation.)

Read the full transcript.

Things we mention that you should check out:

This post was lovingly sponsored by our Patreon supporters (you can become one, too!). 

Season 2 begins!

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This week we kick off season two with a look at the definition of genre. It’s not as boring as it sounds.

You can also listen using any number of podcast platforms and apps including Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Season 2, Episode 1: What is Genre and why is it important?

Genre is a fancy way of saying “this is what kind of story this is….” We explore Shawn Coyne’s definition of genre and talk about why it’s important to know what genre you’re writing in if you want readers to come away satisfied.

Read the full transcript.

Things we mention that you should check out:

  • Our mailing list! Sign up today and you’ll get cool subscriber only perks like bonus material and artwork from my forthcoming novel, The Cat, the Cash, the Leap and the List.
  • Shawn Coyne and the Story Grid. There’s a whole story grid universe: website, book and two podcasts.
  • The five leaf Genre Clover, or as Nora likes to call it, the Genre Flower.

This post was lovingly sponsored by our Patreon supporters (you can become one, too!). 

Mommy’s Pen Podcast – Episode 6: Full Story Analysis of Ivy & Bean

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Trumpets blaring: We are now available on Apple podcasts! Pretty please, leave us a review. Reviews are VERY important to help us grow.

This week we take every story element we’ve learned in the five previous episodes and put them together to analyze Ivy & Bean by Annie Barrows.

You can also listen using any number of podcast platforms and apps including Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Ivy and Bean - Book 1

Season 1, Episode 6: Full Story Analysis of Ivy & Bean

This week we build on the five previous episodes by analyzing the story structure of one whole book, Ivy & Bean by Annie Barrows. We also get excited for the eleventh book in the series, Ivy & Bean: One Big Happy Family, due out later this month. Nora is on a roll in this one — thankfully, most of the screaming has been edited out.

Read the transcript.

Things we mention that you should check out:

  • Our mailing list! Sign up today and you’ll get cool subscriber only perks like bonus material and artwork from my forthcoming novel, The Cat, the Cash, the Leap and the List.
  • All the other Ivy & Bean books and more about Annie Barrows.
  • If you want to learn more about the second plot point and the four-act structure for stories, I highly recommend the work of Larry Brooks. You can see a list of his books at the Story Fix website.

This post was lovingly sponsored by our Patreon supporters (you can become one, too!). 

The Mommy’s Pen Podcast – Episode 5: Second Plot Point (on Gardam Street!)

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This week on the podcast we discuss The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall and the story structure concept of the second plot point.

We are now available on Apple podcasts! Pretty please, leave us a review. Reviews are VERY important to help us grow.

You can also listen using any number of podcast platforms and apps including Spotify, Breaker, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

Show Notes:

Season 1, Episode 5: Second Plot Point (on Gardam Street!)

We review The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, the second book in the beloved Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall. Nora and I reminisce about meeting Birdsall at Wordstock a few years back. Not only does she write excellent books, she has the good sense to wear Haflinger slippers to a book signing. My admiration for her knows no bounds.

This episode’s art is a doctored up picture I took at Wordstock in 2013 where we saw Birdsall read and she signed a copy of The Penderwicks at Point Mouette for Nora.

I also explain the concept of a second plot point using Gardam Street as an example.

Read the transcript.

Things we mention that you should check out:

  • Our mailing list! Sign up today and you’ll get cool subscriber only perks like bonus material and artwork from my forthcoming novel, The Cat, the Cash, the Leap and the List.
  • Wordstock is an annual book festival in Portland, but I guess it’s now called the Portland Book Festival, which is lame, if you ask me. But still, it’s a good festival and worth the trip if you’re anywhere in the Pacific Northwest.
  • If you want to learn more about the second plot point and the four-act structure for stories, I highly recommend the work of Larry Brooks. You can see a list of his books at the Story Fix website.

This post was lovingly sponsored by our Patreon supporters (you can become one, too!).