All Things To All People
This isn’t a podcast for total beginners. We’re going to assume that you know what plot structure is, what a protagonist is, where ideas come from, and how to use a semicolon. This is a podcast for people who can already write okay, but want to do better.
The road to publishing can be a thorny one, filled with con artists lying in wait to pounce on unwary writers. Fortunately, Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware is here to tell us how to avoid being scammed.
In part two of our discussion on the dark side of fandom, RS Benedict talks to Tim Heiderich about parasocial relationships, Twitch streamers, Nazis, Pink Floyd’s The Wall and fans who want to watch their idols burn.
Fandom can be fun, but it can also turn ugly too, or it can keep us so busy focusing on someone else’s work that we fail to develop our own talents.
RS Benedict talks to Stephen Mazur, Assistant Editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, about originality. How important is it, really?
Much of speculative literature focuses on superheroes and Chosen Ones. But what about ordinary people or flawed people who don’t save the world? Do they matter?
Tons of stories feature guns, but they’re usually portrayed in a wildly unrealistic way. Nate Bethea of “What a Hell of a Way to Die” was kind enough to stop by to talk to us about what writers get wrong about firearms.
R.S. Benedict and guest Meg talk about the creepy, objectifying, or just plain ridiculous way that all too many male authors write female characters.
In this episode, special guest Jennifer Albright of Have You Seen This? drops by to talk about Mary Sues, a term used to describe an overly-perfect female character created as a self-insertion wish fulfillment vehicle for the author.
In this episode, learn a simple exercise that will help you cultivate your inner witness. It might even help with your anxiety, too.
In this episode, we look at things other than fiction that a well-rounded writer should read—poetry, literature in a foreign language, nonfiction and literary criticism.