Quick Take
- Narration: Eric Michael Summerer handles the conversational debate format well, though with only 66 minutes of material the session passes quickly.
- Themes: Craft debate as method, fiction vs. screenwriting tension, the pragmatics of storytelling argument
- Mood: Lively and combative, like a good argument in a writers’ room that never quite resolves
- Verdict: A brief recorded debate between two writers thinking seriously about craft, valuable as a companion to the full book rather than as a standalone listening experience.
There is a particular kind of writing conversation that is more useful than any lecture: two people who have genuinely different instincts about a craft problem arguing it out in real time, without the obligation to reach a conclusion. Matt Bird’s The Secrets of Story audiobook is that kind of conversation, with Bird, author of the craft guide bearing the same name, and James Kennedy, novelist and author of The Order of Odd-Fish, conducting what the synopsis describes as raucous debates about the craft of novel writing, screenwriting, and storytelling.
At one hour and six minutes, this is not an audiobook in the conventional sense. It is a recorded conversation, or a series of them, and the format is closer to a podcast episode than to the instructional audiobook that the title might suggest. That distinction matters for anyone who comes to this expecting the systematic framework of the full print book, which is a comprehensive guide to narrative structure organized around what Bird calls the Twelve Pillars of Story. The audio does not replicate or summarize that structure. It captures two writers in active, opinionated discussion.
The Value of the Argument Itself
What makes this listening experience worth an hour of your time is not what Bird and Kennedy conclude but how they think. The cross-pollination between novel writing and screenwriting is particularly productive, because the two forms have developed adjacent but distinct craft traditions, and watching someone who thinks primarily in narrative prose argue with someone who thinks in scene and structure reveals assumptions that neither form typically surfaces on its own. Bird’s craft guide is built partly on that cross-pollination, drawing on screenwriting analysis to diagnose problems in novel prose, and the conversation here extends that project into live argument.
Eric Michael Summerer narrates, and the audio engineering is clean for a recorded debate format. Without reviews to draw on, the quality signal comes primarily from the credentials of the participants. Bird’s print book has 770 ratings at 4.6 stars on this platform, which establishes that the underlying framework resonates with working writers. Kennedy’s novel work demonstrates the kind of specific, genre-conscious storytelling sensibility that makes for productive rather than merely entertaining disagreement.
What This Is Not
This is not a guide to Bird’s Twelve Pillars framework. It does not walk through the systematic approach to story craft that the full book provides. It does not offer before-and-after specimen analyses or step-by-step diagnostic exercises. Listeners who want those things should go to the print edition of The Secrets of Story. This recording is an extension of that book’s ideas into a more provisional, exploratory register, and it is most valuable when understood as such.
The absence of reviews makes it impossible to calibrate how the broader listening audience has responded. The format is unusual enough that it may simply not have been discovered by the listeners who would find it most useful. Writers who follow either Bird or Kennedy’s work are the most natural audience, but the recording is not restricted to that group. Anyone interested in how two serious craft thinkers argue about what makes stories work will find the conversation instructive, even when, perhaps especially when, neither participant wins the point.
Who Should Listen, Who Should Skip
Writers who have read or are planning to read the full print edition of The Secrets of Story will get the most from this recording, which extends the book’s ideas into a more dynamic, debatable form. Writers who are brand new to Bird’s framework and are looking for systematic instruction in story structure should start with the print book rather than the audio. For an hour of craft conversation between two writers who clearly enjoy the argument, there are worse ways to spend a commute or a long walk. Readers who require resolution, clear takeaways, or structured lessons may find the format unsatisfying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Secrets of Story audiobook the same as the print book, or is it different content entirely?
It is different content. The print book is a comprehensive craft guide organized around Bird’s Twelve Pillars framework with systematic instruction and analysis. The audiobook is a recorded debate between Bird and novelist James Kennedy about craft questions. It functions as a companion or extension of the book’s ideas rather than an audio edition of the same text.
At just over an hour, does this audiobook have enough substance to justify the purchase?
At 66 minutes, this is a short listening investment. The value depends on what you are looking for. As a recorded craft debate with two informed participants, it rewards close listening. As a substitute for the full print framework, it is insufficient. Listeners who treat it as a bonus conversation rather than a complete guide will find it more satisfying than those who expect it to stand alone.
Who is James Kennedy, and why does his participation matter to the conversation?
Kennedy is the author of The Order of Odd-Fish, a genre-conscious novel with a specific kind of structured absurdism that makes him a useful sparring partner for Bird’s craft analysis. His sensibility as a novelist provides productive friction against Bird’s screenwriting-influenced framework, and that friction is where the debate generates its most interesting claims.
Does Eric Michael Summerer’s narration work for a debate or conversation format?
Summerer handles the conversational material clearly, and the audio engineering is adequate for a recorded debate format. The production is not theatrical or dramatized, which suits the nature of the content. Listeners accustomed to professionally recorded instructional audiobooks may notice the more informal production quality, but it does not impede the content.
