Summary

The article recommends three podcasts, "Start With This," "The Well-Storied Podcast," and "Fiction Writing Made Easy," as valuable resources for writers seeking to improve their craft through practical advice, inspiring discussions, and actionable writing prompts.

Abstract

The article titled "Want to Sharpen Your Writing Skills? Listen to these Podcasts!" introduces three podcasts that serve as effective tools for writers aiming to enhance their writing abilities. The author shares their personal journey of transitioning from consuming writing advice to actively writing, emphasizing the importance of practice. "Start With This," hosted by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, is praised for its entertaining delivery and unique assignments that challenge writers to apply what they've learned. "The Well-Storied Podcast," hosted by Kristen Kieffer, offers concise, actionable advice and tackles specific writing challenges, with episodes also available in blog form. Lastly, "Fiction Writing Made Easy," hosted by Savannah Gilbo, provides step-by-step strategies and supplementary resources such as articles and PDF cheatsheets, making it a comprehensive guide for fiction writers.

Opinions

The author found "Start With This" engaging and beneficial for sparking creativity, particularly appreciating the show's assignments that encourage active writing practice.
"The Well-Storied Podcast" is highly regarded for its succinct episodes and actionable advice, catering to writers who prefer quick, focused guidance without excessive chatter.
"Fiction Writing Made Easy" is commended for its practical strategies and valuable supplementary materials, including detailed show notes and free resources that enhance the learning experience.
The author believes that listening to these podcasts effectively combats writer's block by providing inspiration and structured prompts that motivate writing action.
The article suggests that while learning about writing is important, it is equally crucial to engage in the act of writing itself, a balance that these podcasts help achieve.

Want to Sharpen Your Writing Skills? Listen to these Podcasts!

I wanted to be a writer. So, I read books about writing. And read blogs about writing technique and habits. And listen to many writing podcasts. Also, I started scrolling Medium reading articles about any tips on writing.

But then I realized, I spent hours and hours learning how to write without actually writing!

Learning to write is like learning to swim. You can read all the best books about how to swim, but you won’t be able to master it unless you dive in.

And so I decide to write. But, what should I write? How do I start? I’m having a writer’s block!

Again, I procrastinate by listening to podcasts (Guilty!). But this time, the podcasts I listened to actually pushed me to practice writing. The kinds that get down to the nitty-gritty of writing. So, here are my favorite writing podcasts.

1. Start With This

I have been listening to Start With This too much that the jingle stuck in my head. This podcast is hosted by the duo behind “Welcome to Nightvale”, Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Listening to the two talking in itself is already entertaining. Plus, you will learn one thing or two about writing.

While targeted to a general audience of creators (whether podcasters, writers, or artists), I find the insights very fresh. In fact, listening to a podcaster or an artist’s creative process might give writers ideas and new approach to their work.

My favorite episode is their latest, “Second Person”, where they discussed utilizing second person narration in a work and its effect to the readers. Although quite risky and may seems like only a gimmick, second person can be a powerful tool. Enter the Aardvark by Jessica Anthony is an example of using second-person narration to great effect. In the novel, You (the main character) are a young Republican white male senator who ois closeted gay. Used this way, it forces us into an uncomfortable position, which is intended and could not be achieved in the same way using third person narrative.

What I really like about this podcast is every episode is accompanied by two kind of assignments: Consume and Create. The Consume assignment asks you to read or listen to one work related to the topic of the episode. As for the Create assignment, it’s the fun part. It makes you write. It gives you writing prompt for you to actually practice what has been discussed during the episode. The prompt is far from being generic and boring. To give you an idea, the Create assignment from Second Person episode is this:

Write a 200–400 word story in Second Person POV that begins with “You knew it was a bad idea, but you did it anyway”. And ends with “You still have 20 more to go.

2. The Well-Storied Podcast

The Well-Storied podcast host, Kristen Kieffer, provides insights, encouragements, and most importantly, actionable advice to help us write our great novel.

I like how every episode is usually only around 8 to 17 minutes. We are offfered with bite-size audio information that do not need a huge time commitment so it does not feel overwhelming. This is suitable for those who wants to get to the core real quick without listening to unneccessary chatters getting around the topic.

When you look at the episodes from this podcast, you will noticed that the titles are typical of blogs titles. This is because The Well-Storied started out as a blog and then become available in audio form. If you prefer reading, every episode is available in article form in its website.

This podcast is full of How-Tos and tips for specific aspects of challenges we might find while writing our book. Some of my favorite episodes are:

3. Fiction Writing Made Easy

In Fiction Writing Made Easy, Savannah Gilbo shares “simple, actionable, and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away”. This relatively recent podcast is a nice addition to the writing podcasts genre.

What I like about this podcast? The freebies! Who doesn’t like freebies, right? The episodes of this podcast are accompanied by links to articles that provide more info on the topic or a PDF writing cheatsheet.

I also appreciate how Savannah took the time to write detailed list of what she discussed in the episode along with the timestamps. So when you relisten or when you missed something you know exactly where to scroll in the episode. Or the list itself can serve as a takeaway note for you. It is helpful as You can look back at the note when you are writing.

Episodes to listen to:

So, those are the podcasts that I love. Now, go back to writing!