Podcasts you should know about

I like to have something to listen to pretty much all the time. Audiobooks, music, and especially

Fiction

Uncanny Magazine : A new fiction collective of speculative fiction, Uncanny Magazine is run by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas, the podcast runs non-fiction articles, poetry and fiction published in the magazine also on the podcast. Three episodes old, the podcast is already promising.

Lightspeed : Lightspeed publishes one story a week out of their monthly issue for free both on their site in text form as well as on the podcast. Lightspeed publishes both science fiction and fantasy short stories. Lightspeed is a magazine that continues on the track started by Heinlein and others but also updating it as time moves on.

Apex Magazine : Apex is an online magazine of speculative fiction in both prose and poetry forms. They publish one story on the podcast every month, stories that are always twisted and beautiful.

Nightmare : This weekly horror podcast works very much on the same principle as Lightspeed, is also edited by John Joseph Adams, working forward from the illustrious horror set up by the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, Nightmare is very good at mixing the monstrous and the strange with the merely dark.

Clarkesworld : Clarkesworld publishes all or most of their fiction in the form of podcasts as well as the usual magazine. Clarkesworld publishes stories where style does not exist without substance and vice versa.

Welcome to Nightvale : A weird fiction podcast with an ongoing storyline about community radio host Cecil Gershwin Palmer in the fictional town of Night Vale, reporting the various happenings around town. Weather forecasts in the form of various Indie music, a five headed dragon and a faceless old woman each running for mayor and a Dog Park into which you never, ever go into.

Writing craft

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing : Mignon Fogarty explains the ins and outs of grammar and writing styles in this weekly few-minute podcast.

Writing Excuses : SFF authors Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler and Dan Wells discuss the craft of writing, one topic at a time, "fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry and we're not that smart". The ongoing season 10 is acting as a masterclass for writers, leading us from idea to finished draft, fifteen minutes at a time.

Hide and Create : By topic Hide and Create is very similar to Writing Excuses but it is a very different kind of podcast. Current regulars are Debbie Viguie, Michael J. Sullivan, Jordan Ellinger, and Joshua Essoe, two authors, an editor and a reviewer. About thirty minutes long, the topics they cover mostly tackle craft, with a nice mix of silliness and business stuff thrown in.

I Should Be Writing : Author and grand dame of podcasting Mur Lafferty talks about becoming a writer, interviewing people to ask them things that she wants and needs to know as a beginning author. Covering business, craft and most importantly, dealing with the mental problems of being a writer, such as the imposter syndrome, Lafferty is really good at encouraging writers to chase their dreams.

Writing business

Shipping & Handling : two literary agents, Jennifer Udden of The Donald Maass Literary Agency and Bridget Smith of Dunham Literary, Inc. drink wine and talk about what they're reading, what's happening in the business of speculative fiction as well as making predictions for the future.

The Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast : Audiobook narrator and all-around sound guy Simon Whistler talks to various self-published authors about their experiences, and how they've managed to make it

The Self-Publishing Podcast : Self-publishing moguls Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant and David W. Wright talk a slapdash but very much relevant game about the business of self-publishing with occasional guests, frequent bad ad-reads. Content warning for laddish humor.

The Creative Penn : Thriller and non-fiction author Joanna Penn talks to a number of, mostly, self-published authors, almost exclusively on the nitty gritty of making a living as an author. Past discussions include email lists, street teams as well as tools and marketing strategies.

Just for fun

SF Squeecast : The never ending panel discussion of vague positivity. Regulars include Seanan McGuire, Catherynne M. Valente, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.

Galactic Suburbia : Australian speculative fiction professionals Alex, Tansy and Alisa talk about all things SFnal with a feminist slant.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show : A weekly fannish popdcast done mainly by Shaun Duke and Jen Zink that covers everything from films to books to comics and in a meta way, even fandom.

Rocket Talk : Justin Landon hosts the Tor.com podcast, inviting guests, usually two at a time, to discuss interesting topics related to the field of speculative fiction. Past topics include bright and shiny fantasy, living with a writer and reader, writer and publisher biases. Smart people being smart about the things they are excited about.

Should Unpublished Writers Offer Advice

Picture from wikimedia

 I’m borrowing a topic from Hatrack River Workshop, as I frequently do.  A discussion that started out as writing research turned into a heated debate on whether unpublished aspiring writers should give and get critiques/writing advice from each other.  I understand the arguments against trusting advice from unpublished writers.  They have no credentials or proof that they know what they are doing, and there is some concern of the blind leading the blind.  It is hard to determine if someone really knows what they are talking about when they don’t have anything to back them up.   But it’s not any easier sorting through all of the professional advice from editors and published writers either.  There is so much writing advice out there and so much of it contradicts each other.  So even if an aspiring writer only sought out writing advice from published writers and legitimate editors, he/she could still be going in circles.

The problem with writing stories is that there is no right way of doing things.  There are as many paths as there are writers, and every single path will be viable for someone.  And while I do believe we should study the craft and soak up as much information as we can, the truth is that we kind of have to figure out most of it on our own.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that we have to reinvent the wheel.  But someone can give us the tools and tell us how to make a wheel, even draw a diagram, but the only real way to learn how to do it is to do it.

I think that sorting through the writing advice is a lot like sorting through all the parenting advice out there (I’ve touched on this on an early post, but I’m going to go into more depth here).

When I had my first baby, I read about four books on parenting and a ton of articles and blog posts on the internet, all written by professionals with impressive credentials.  So much of it was contradictory.  Put your baby on a schedule vs. follow your baby’s lead.  Baby should sleep with the parents vs. get the baby out of your bed or he/she will stay until he/she goes away to college, etc.  I had to pick and choose the advice that made the most sense to me, that fit my personality and the baby’s.

But sorting through the advice was so much easier than implementing it.  No matter how many fabulous examples the books gave, none of them fit my situation perfectly.  I was constantly tweaking and adapting the advice to fit my unique situation.  It was hard and involved failing at times, but no one can really tell you how to parent any more than anyone can tell you how to write.  It all comes from trial and error.

I realize that none of this directly addresses unpublished writers giving advice, so let’s get to that.  In keeping with parenting theme, I see unpublished writers as other new parents.  Having some good, solid friends who are in the same place as you in writing or parenting is like gold.  A lot of it is support, but sometimes just talking through your problems with them can help you see what you need to do.  And sometimes they can give you the best advice because they are right there with you and can understand where you are coming from better than any seasoned professional.   

Since you have to use your brain to sort through all that professional writing advice, I don’t see why you can’t also sort through the advice given by unpublished writers.   And who knows how many of those unpublished writers are on the verge of being published. 

Of course we shouldn’t blindly follow them, but then I believe we shouldn’t blindly follow anyone.  Each of us is unique, and we all have to find our own path.

~MaryAnn