Mabfan's Musings

Last summer, I had the opportunity to teach for one day at the Odyssey science fiction and fantasy writing workshop run by Jeanne Cavelos. At the time, Jeanne asked if they could tape part of my interaction with the students for an eventual podcast release, and I was delighted to say yes.

I'm pleased to note that my podcast, which is all about the plot skeleton, has now been released. Here's the description of the podcast:

Michael A. Burstein was a guest lecturer at Odyssey in the summer of 2007. Michael led the class in a lively question-and-answer session focused on the key ingredients of science fiction and fantasy and shared his experiences as a writer of short fiction. In this podcast, Michael explores plot and describes the plot skeleton. What is the appeal of an "unplotted" story? What are the advantages of a "plotted" story, and specifically of a story that uses the plot skeleton? Why is this basic construction so powerful? Michael leads you step by step through the plot skeleton, beginning with a character in a context with a problem and building as the character struggles to solve the problem. Michael also discusses how to make the reader care and how a character's reaction to a problem reveals his nature.

The podcast is about 15 minutes long, and if you want to learn a little something about plotting – or just how I do plotting – you might find the podcast of interest.

You can download the podcast at Odyssey Podcast #11: Michael A. Burstein on the Plot Skeleton.

Or, if you want to check out all the Odyssey Podcasts, which includes advice on writing from Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Robert J. Sawyer, and many others.