Writing is hard sometimes, and for me, I kinda need all the help I can get. As with most writers, I learned writing from reading. However, it’s always great to hear from actual professional writers who want to share their knowledge and experiences with others. While blogs and writing books are fine, I’ve always enjoyed podcasts about writing. Here are some of the writing podcasts I listen to that discuss the craft of writing.
Basics are important. The GG podcast episodes are weekly bite-size audio lessons on common grammar mistakes and language bloopers. It won’t turn you into a grammar expert overnight, but you’ll find yourself gradually speaking and writing better the longer you keep listening.
A group of published novelists and comic book creators got together to bring you this Hugo award-winning podcast where every episode is around five minutes long because as they say — “You’re in a hurry, and we’re not that smart.” They go deep on the technical stuff, which I find really useful.
This podcast, which has been running for several years, is one part writing lesson, one part pep talk, and one part chronicle of the journey of host Mur Lafferty from a self-confessed “wannabe” to published, award-winning author.
The host interviews some pretty high-profile authors, all of them with the same set of questions. One of my favorites is “Is it easier to write the first sentence of a book, or the last?”
I started listening to this screenwriting podcast hosted by actual working Hollywood screenwriters John August (Big Fish, Go) and Craig Mazin (The Hangover) not because I wanted to learn to write for films but because I love movies. But I learned a lot about writing stories and how to not bore your readers. They have lots of advice about working in the movie business, too.
Come back next week for a list of podcasts that tackle the business side of professional writing.
I’m giving a talk on how to launch/boost your writing career through Wattpad and other online serial fiction platforms on March 18, 2017 in Makati City. More info here.