Five More Podcasts For Aspiring Writers To Listen To
I love podcasts. I listen to them when I’m walking, driving and when I can’t sleep at night. My favorite podcasts to listen to are about the craft of writing, and I’ve listened to a lot of them! Below are a few of my favorites—the ones that I feel are the most useful for aspiring writers, and the ones I look forward to listening to each week.
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
Bianca Marais is an author, teacher and writing coach and she’s created, in my opinion, the go-to hub for all things writing. There are two main segments of each episode: Books-with-Hooks and author interviews. In the Books-with-Hooks segment, aspiring authors submit their query letters for co-hosts Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra (who also happen to be established literary agents) to read and analyze. They usually go over four query letters per episode, and Carly and CeCe tell listeners what works and what doesn’t work for each letter, as well as teach listeners about what agents are looking for in a well written and attention grabbing query letter. This is a master class on query letters and how agents think—and the lessons I’ve learned from listening were instrumental in helping me craft my own query letter.
After the Books-With-Hooks segment, Bianca interviews a guest author and they talk about all things craft. Again, this part of the podcast is filled with valuable lessons for aspiring or established authors. It’s fascinating to hear how each author works and writes, as every single one seems to do it differently—and each author’s path to success is different, as well. Bianca sincerely wants to help aspiring authors succeed, and that comes across in the interviews and the care she takes in making sure listeners receive practical advice and takeaways each week.
Additionally, there are two bonus segments: the first is for listeners who have a question for Bianca, Carly or CeCe (listeners can submit questions for them on the podcast website), and the second bonus segment is for writers who are looking for competitive titles, or comp titles, to include in their query letters and pitches.
Lit Match
Abigail K. Perry is a book coach and developmental editor and she’s created this podcast to help emerging authors find the best literary agent for their books. Each week she interviews a literary agent and they talk about their manuscript wish lists (#MSWL), what they’re looking for in a submission and how they like to work with writers. I learn something new in each episode. If you’re a writer interested in finding an agent who represents Upmarket Fiction, Women’s Fiction and YA, this is the place for you. But even if you don’t write in those genres (I don’t!), I think you’ll still find the conversations riveting and insightful.
Also, every few weeks Abigail sits down with editor and book coach, Savannah Gilbo, to discuss the first chapter of a book they’ve chosen, and why it works and why, maybe, it doesn’t work so well. These two can get really granular in this segment, and I love listening to it. As a writer, it’s endlessly interesting to me to hear, from an editor’s perspective, about why a piece of writing works and how I might incorporate some of those techniques into my own opening pages!
Let’s Talk Memoir
Attention all memoir writers! Ronit Plank hosts this incredibly useful podcast about all things memoir and creative nonfiction. She interviews established authors in this genre about their writing process and, importantly, what they have learned about sharing their most personal stories with the world.
She tries to keep each episode to about thirty minutes, which makes this a great choice for writers who are short on time. In the first season, Ronit spoke with authors about the nature of memoir, the key principle for structuring memoir, writing about our families and children, turning yourself into a character and much, much more. I learn something new each time I listen, and I’m always excited to see a new episode in my feed.
#AmWriting
Fiction author KJ Dell’Antonia, romance author Sarina Bowen, and nonfiction author Jessica Lahey host the #AmWriting podcast, which I always find entertaining and fun to listen to. They talk about craft and productivity with each other and with guest authors, and each week I’m furiously scribbling notes about what I’ve learned so I can incorporate it into my own writing life.
The three of them are honest and forthright about their successes and their not-so-successful moments as writers, and they are transparent about all aspects of their writing careers. It’s so useful to hear from established authors about what they struggle with, and how they keep going despite these struggles.
In addition to being an author of two NY Times bestselling novels, KJ is also a certified book coach. Her interviews always get into the nitty-gritty aspects about the craft of writing, which I love, and it always feels like I’m listening to a conversation amongst good friends. Every week the hosts of #AmWriting demystify what it takes to become a successful author with their candidness and honesty—and it’s so useful to be reminded how much work goes into getting to where they’ve gotten to!
In the Know: Walks of Life
This isn’t a podcast about writing, but if you need inspiration for your writing, this is one to listen to. Every episode, which is about twenty minutes long, features an anonymous Gen Zer talking about what is on their mind. No subject matter is off limits. As the speaker takes a walk through their neighborhood, they talk about their greatest hopes, their biggest challenges, their regrets and their successes. It’s a riveting look into the lives of people like us, with no filters or scripts or interview questions. As the speaker walks, they open up about what it feels like to be them, alive at this moment and in this place.
If you’re looking to deepen your characters or need inspiration for developing stories, I highly recommend listening to this podcast. It’s a gem.
Check out our other podcast posts:
6 Podcasts Aspiring Writers Should Subscribe To Right Now
6 More Podcasts Aspiring Writers Should Subscribe To (Part 2)
Another 6 Podcasts Aspiring Writers Should Subscribe To (Part 3)
