#84: Henry Lien — Eastern Narrative Structures, Choosing the Right Ideas, and Writing Lessons from George R.R. Martin & Kelly Link

About this episode

Henry Lien discusses Eastern narrative structures and writing lessons from notable authors.

How do cultural values shape narrative structure? This is one of the main questions in author Henry Lien's most recent book, Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling. After leaping headfirst into writing at age 42 and spending some formative time at the Clarion Workshop learning from George R.R. Martin, Kelly Link, and Chuck Palahniuk, Henry developed a fascination with form which eventually led him to kishōtenketsu (East Asian four-act structure). In this episode of Always Choose Orange, Henry and I talk about: The differences between a typical Eastern story and a typical Western story Why Disney's version of Mulan strayed from the original source material How newer writers can steer clear of cultural appropriation The use of circular narrative structure in the level design of the Metroid games Website: https://henrylien.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/henrylienauthor/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HenryLienAuthor Resources mentioned by Henry: Powers of Ten™ (1977) https://writingtheother.com Writing the Other by Nisi Shawl & Cynthia Ward

People in this episode

Host: Alex Accornero

Guest: Henry Lien

Topics covered

• narrative structure
• cultural values
• Eastern storytelling
• cultural appropriation
• video game design

Keywords

• narrative structure
• Eastern storytelling
• cultural appropriation
• George R.R. Martin
• video game design

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Disney, Writing the Other

Books & works: Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling, Powers of Ten™, Writing the Other

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