Writing Podcast Episode 730: Kate Forsyth goes behind the scenes of her new book, ‘The Changeling’

Ever wanted a step-by-step insight into building a novel? Well, in this episode, you have access to bestselling author Kate Forsyth’s note-taking, research and writing process in the creation of her latest novel, The Changeling! It’s a fascinating look into the actual nuts and bolts of crafting a story, from idea to finished edit – including mistakes made along the way! Kate generously shares her methods in this special episode and a bonus Q&A session, with a link to the video available in the show notes.

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00:00 Welcome
05:44 Writers in the wild
06:56 WIN: Bad Neighbours by Joanna Jenkins
08:25 Word of the week: ‘Pyroclastic’
09:22 Kate Forsyth: Behind the scenes of The Changeling
12:56 Beginnings
14:10 Stage one of the process
18:58 Timelines
23:00 Building the protagonist’s story
26:01 Relevance to today
27:00 Asking questions
30:32 Key dates and weaving the story into them
31:48 On location research
34:06 New beginnings
36:38 Narrative structure
40:00 Thematic structure
41:48 Building the word count
43:55 The editing process
48:03 Q&A
62:35 Final thoughts

Links mentioned in this episode

Writer in residence: Kate Forsyth

Dr Kate Forsyth is an award-winning author, poet, and storyteller. Her historical novels for adults include Psykhe, a reimagining of the ancient Greek myth from the viewpoint of the young woman at its heart which reached No. 3 on the Australian Fiction bestsellers list; The Crimson Thread, a retelling of the myth of the minotaur set in Crete during World War II which The Washington Review called ‘a riveting tale of courage, love, and betrayal’; and Bitter Greens, a reimagining of ‘Rapunzel’ which won the American Library Award for Best Historical Fiction.

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This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre and our course History, Mystery and Magic.

 

Find out more about your host, Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo on Twitter and @valeriekhoo on Instagram).

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