17.12: Structuring a Story Within a Story

Your Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Peng Shepherd, and Howard Tayler



One common structure—both macro and micro—is the "story within a story," or "framing story" structure, and yet somehow we've never really explored it on Writing Excuses. Guest host Peng Shepherd is here to help us set things right.



Liner Notes: Here are some examples of story-within-a-story structure...



Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer

Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons

Neverending Story, by Michael Ende

One Thousand and One Nights

Sun the Moon and the Stars, by Stephen Brust

Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow



Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson

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