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Is AI writing worth your energy?
Writing a novel from the first-person perspective
How to write the first chapter of a romance novel
Attributes of the working novelist
What in the world is Fratire, and can you write it?
Ten novels with surprise endings
Creating colorful characters
Best novels of this century
So, your novel won’t fit in a standard genre?
Third-person limited point-of-view
The hero’s journey in Modern fiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaf by Leaf

Leaf by Leaf
Leaf by Leaf

Leaf by Leaf is a craft-focused podcast for writers of fiction and nonfiction. Each episode, digs into a celebrated book to uncover the techniques behind great storytelling , character development, voice, structure, dialogue, and more. No jargon. No gatekeeping. Just an honest, accessible conversation about what it takes to write well.

Episode 05 – We Need to Talk About Kevin
byRobert Benson

In this episode of Leaf by Leaf, Sophie takes us inside one of the most unsettling narrators in contemporary fiction — Eva Khatchadourian, the mother at the center of Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin. Writing letters to her estranged husband in the aftermath of her son's school shooting, Eva controls everything we know — and that control is exactly the problem. Sophie explores four craft techniques Shriver uses to make Eva's unreliability so devastating: the strategic gaps in her account, the rationalizations that confess more than they conceal, the way the novel positions the reader as juror, and how the letter form itself gives Eva cover to withhold the truth she can't face. For any writer working in first person, this is essential listening.

Episode 05 – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Episode 05 – We Need to Talk About Kevin
4 May, 2026
Robert Benson
Episode 04 – First lines and Opening Chapters
17 April, 2026
Robert Benson
Episode 03 – Non-Linear Storytelling
3 April, 2026
Robert Benson
Episode 02 – Voice and First-person Intimacy
29 March, 2026
Robert Benson
Episode 01 – Character Development
27 March, 2026
Robert Benson
Episode 14-2025 Fresh Cultivars to Brighten Your Garden
23 March, 2025
Robert Benson
Episode 13-2025 The Woolly Devil
16 March, 2025
Robert Benson
Episode 12 -2025 Xeriscaping Your Suburban Lawn
8 March, 2025
Robert Benson
Episode 11-2025 The Fragrant Legacy of Lavender
27 February, 2025
Robert Benson
Episode 10-2025 Brush Holly: A Stunning Shrub for Stylish Landscaping
19 February, 2025
Robert Benson
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Legacy Information About Leaf by Leaf

When this podcast turned from plants toward writing, I discovered that the earlier episodes couldn’t be tucked away without beginning again under a different name. Since Leaf by Leaf belongs naturally to both subjects, I decided to let those earlier conversations remain. If plants aren’t your path, you can simply begin with the more recent, writing-centered episodes.

The Scarlet Kingfisher

A suspense novel about the discovery of a new species.

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