Start With This
च्यानल विवरणहरू
Start With This
The creators of Welcome to Night Vale Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink believe the only bad writing is not writing. Start With This is a podcast gone creativity playground designed to put your ideas in motion. Each episode centers around a writing topic. Then they give listeners two short assignments:...
हालैका एपिसोडहरू
62 एपिसोडहरूPerceiving the Audience w/Sarah Maria Griffin
Author and poet Sarah Griffin joins us to talk about how the awareness of an audience affects our writing.
Guest: Sarah Maria Grif...
The Burnout Cycle w/Janina Matthewson
Burnout is real and it comes around on the regular.
Guest: Janina Matthewson, https://twitter.com/j9andif
CONS...
Minimal w/Brie Williams
Writing more with less.
Guest: Brie Williams, https://twitter.com/briezillionaire
CONSUME: Getting on with Jam...
But How Does It End?
How do you land the ending?
CONSUME: Three options: 1)The last three pages of Inherent Vice, starting where the character gets on...
Like This But Better
Elevating basic language to something special. (This episode is available exclusively on Patreon. Hear the rest at http://patreon.com/startwiththis)
How to Like
There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure.
CONSUME: Podcast ¡Uy Que Horror! particularly the episode “2012: Kurse a di Xtabai (Be...
Low Barrier to Entry?
They say that podcasting has a low barrier to entry. Wtf does that even mean? (This episode is available exclusively on Patreon. Hear the rest at http...
The Tease
What makes a good tease? Listen and find out.
CONSUME: “Lupin” French Crime/Adventure Drama on Netflix
CREATE:...
How to Dislike
It's easy to dislike something, but much harder to do it well. (This episode is available exclusively on Patreon. Hear the rest at http://patreon.com/...
Five Easy Rules to Become a Great Writer!
Just follow these simple rules and something something...
CONSUME: Elmore Leonard’s famous rules of writing https://www.writingcla...
Keep It Weird
What makes something weird, and is that a good thing? (This episode is available exclusively on Patreon. Hear the rest at http: patreon.com/startwitht...
Melodrama
Mightly push your powerful writing to the top of the highest literary peaks! Or… work on your craft.
CONSUME: The Pillars of the E...
Borrow or Steal
Good artists borrow; great artists steal. What? Let's break this down. (This episode is available exclusively on Patreon. Hear the rest at http: patre...
Journey Vs. Destination
Getting there is 1/x the fun!
CONSUME: “The Sink” a 6-episode podcast by Natasha Hodgson, produced by the BBC
...
Imposter Syndrome
You’re a writer, because you write. Don’t tell yourself otherwise.
CONSUME: “Dead Eyes” a podcast by Connor Ratliff
<...
As It Happens
Celebrating the act of daily creation with Jonathan Mann.
CONSUME: Go listen to more of Jonathan Mann’s podcast “As It Happens”
Hooptedoodle
Stop and describe the roses.
CONSUME: Chapter 1 of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden
CREATE: Write a 200 or so wor...
Non-Lovecraftian Horror
There's so much more to horror, we couldn’t stop at Lovecraft.
CONSUME: Watch any of the movies on Joseph’s horror movie recommend...
Lovecraftian Horror
Lovecraft was a racist and a bad writer, yet his ideas and his stories live on. So what do we do with them?
CONSUME: “The Ballad o...
Agency
A character has a problem. As a result of that problem, they make a decision. As a result of that decision, they change.
CONSUME:...
Exaggeration
Fiction is a lie. Hopefully a good, fun lie.
CONSUME: “Small Triumph Big Speech” podcast by Dylan Marron
CREAT...
Exposition
What do you need to set the scene?
CONSUME: "Anthropocene Reviewed" podcast by John Green
CREATE: Write a 200...
Perfection Is for Assholes
Perfection is a target, not a goal.
CONSUME: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
CREATE: Spend 58 minutes brains...
Five Senses
We experience more than what we see.
CONSUME: “How to Meet and Dance with Your Death” by Larissa Shmailo (http://larissashmailo.b...
Writer's Voice
What do you sound like, as a writer?
CONSUME: “Exercises in Style” by Raymond Queneau (excerpt: https://monoskop.org/images/4/49/Q...
Present Tense
You write in the here and now.
CONSUME: “Girls, at Play” by Celeste Ng https://blr.med.nyu.edu/content/archive/2010/fall/girlsatpl...
Second Person
You are intrigued by second person narratives.
CONSUME: GirlsArePretty.com
CREATE: Write a 200-400 word story...
Negative Space
What's there that's not there?
CONSUME: “Dear Committee Members” by Julie Schumaker
CREATE: Set a timer for 15...
Narrative Structure
What is the shape of your narrative?
CONSUME: “17776 Football” by Jon Bois https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football
...
To Write in a Plague
How are you doing?
CONSUME: The podcast Our Plague Year https://ourplagueyear.libsyn.com/
and the webcomic Val...
Satire
How strong is your satire?
CONSUME: Two podcasts: "A Very Fatal Murder" and "This Sounds Serious." Both podcasts are a riff on the...
Absurdity
Writing what's absurd.
CONSUME: Clip from You, the Living. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOwpd2I_4mo
CREATE:...
Stage Directions
When do you use stage directions, and how descriptive do you get?
CONSUME: "How to use stage directions" by Sam Graber
http...
The Possibility of Failure
Failure is scary but it can also be interesting and even fruitful. (like when Jeffrey posts the wrong episode file to the podcast feed. here’s the cor...
Monologue
Sometimes our writing flow doesn’t flow. What’s causing this and how do we get it moving again?
Consume: Magnus Archives podcast
Writer's Block
Sometimes our writing flow doesn’t flow. What’s causing this and how do we get it moving again?
Consume: Have You Heard George’s P...
Honesty
What does it mean to tell your story honestly?
Consume: Moonface by James Kim
Create: Take a moment in your li...
Don't Forget Your Story
A lot of writing is fine-tuning your writing, or creating clever structure, but the most important thing is the story itself.
Cons...
Writing for Performance (Live from Boston)
We’re live from Boston with special guest Bilal Dardai, alum of the Neo-Futurist theater company and writer for the podcast “Unwell.” In this episode...
Outlining
Outlining your story is like a puzzle for plot. In this episode, we talk about how mapping out what will happen before you start writing gives your st...