Today I have the pleasure of speaking with fellow New Yorker and awesome author, Emma Straub. I had so much fun doing this interview because it was almost like talking to a parallel universe version of myself. After the interview, Emma and I figured out that as kids growing up in the same city around the same time, we came from fairly similar neighborhoods and we even the schools attended were very alike. Talk about crazy coincidence!

But now, let’s get down to business. Emma Straub is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Vacationers, Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures, and the short story collection Other People We Married. Her fiction and nonfiction have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Elle, and Conde Nast Traveler, and she is a contributing writer for Rookie. Straub’s work has been published in fifteen countries, and her newest book Modern Lovers is out now.

To listen to our conversation about writing, New York, and Emma’s new book, click play below.

In this episode Emma and I discuss:

• Point of view as a story vehicle
• How to decide who the true protagonist is in a multiple POV narrative
• Writing as collaboration with the reader
• Letting the characters lead the story
• How your real life experiences inform your writing
• Time as a focal point for character

Plus, Emma’s #1 tip for writers.

About Modern Lovers

A smart, highly entertaining novel about a tight-knit group of friends from college—their own kids now going to college—and what it means to finally grow up well after adulthood has set in. Like in The Vacationers, Straub again brings her keen observation and subtle wisdom to a story of relationships that explores ambition and pleasure, the excitement of youth and the shock of middle age, all while maintaining throughout that perfect balance of amusement, substance and tenderness. Elle confirms that Modern Lovers “has the smart, cool sensibility of Straub’s other novels,” and promises that “you’re sure to love this one just as much.”

If you decide to purchase a copy of Modern Lovers we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where DIY MFA gets a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

To learn more about Emma and her books, follow her on Twitter or Facebook. You can also visit her website at: www.emmastraub.net.

Link to Episode 103

(Right-click to download.)

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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 103: Writing the Multiple Point of View Novel – Interview with Emma Straub appeared first on DIY MFA.