To Plot or Not? featuring Jean Hanff Korelitz

This week’s show is a great episode for any writer who’s ever thought about plotting—how much they love it or hate it, whether they’re even doing it, and why plotting matters anyway. Our guest is Jean Hanff Korelitz, who’s most recent book, The Plot, has one of the best plots ever—and even she says sometimes you have to forget about the plot. We touch upon literary vs. commercial fiction, whether Jean agrees with Stephen King’s advice about plotting, and what some of her favorite books are that center writers as the primary protagonist. This is a writer’s episode—and yes, that means you. Enjoy!

ABOUT JEAN HANFF KORELITZ

Jean Hanff Korelitz is the author of many novels. Most recently, The Plot, which we’re talking about today. She’s also the author of You Should Have Known, which you might know as “The Undoing,” which was a version of the novel starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant that was recently on HBO. That wasn’t Jean’s first foray into film, though. Her novel Admission was adapted as the 2013 film of the same name, starring Tina Fey, Lily Tomlin and Paul Rudd, and then she’s also written The Devil and Webster, The White Rose, The Sabbathday River, and A Jury of Her Peers.