Mad Writers Union
28 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 7 years ago - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsSpeculative destruction, one episode at a time
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Episodes
Minisode 1: Goals update
May 18, 2017 19:56 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBOne of the Mad Writers has a little bit of news to share relating to their goals for the year. They discuss it all in this first ever minisode.
Episode 2.5: Oxygen Deprivation
April 01, 2017 20:12 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBOn this very special episode of Mad Writers Union, the Mad Writers finally get serious. They delve deep into their psyches and come through on the other side as changed writers. Follow along on their journey to where no man, woman or non-binary person has ever been before. Welcome to the Mad Writers Union.
Episode 2.4: Persistence with Cat Rambo
March 17, 2017 20:03 - 39 minutes - 36.7 MBMost working writers agree that there is one quality above all needed to make it in the business: persistence. The Mad Writers invited the legendary Cat Rambo over to talk persistence and writing. From her days at Johns Hopkins through to keeping up writing a short story a week after Clarion West and all the way to her days working in SFWA. Cat Rambo is a writer, teacher, SFWA president and previously secretary. Generous in her encouragement of new writers and brilliant in her turn of prose,...
Episode 2.3: Characters and Space Opera with Kameron Hurley
February 19, 2017 00:28 - 48 minutes - 22.2 MBOn this action-packed episode, the Mad Writers talk to Kameron Hurley. Their path wanders through non-fiction, characters, plotting or, rather, the lack thereof. Especially writers finding their own way in terms of the way they approach their methodology. Kameron shares her wisdom gained over more than a half-dozen books as well as several funny anecdotes from along the way. The big takeaway from this interview being, of course, that you need to figure out the best way for you to write, how...
Episode 2.2: Viable Paradise
February 08, 2017 05:35 - 1 hour - 56 MBViable Paradise, without hyperbole, changed the lives of all the Mad Writers. 16 months ago our intrepid hosts arrived on Martha's Vineyard and together with 21 other hopefuls went through a grueling week. In this episode, they go through their journey to the island as well as some of the things that have them thinking about their time there frequently. They share some reasons why they applied and what they did to get there. They also touch on the community of Viable Paradise teachers and al...
Episode 2.1: 2017 Goals
January 06, 2017 23:55 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBIt's 2017! All the Mad Writers survived 2016 which at times seemed somewhat unlikely! They are now hesitantly ready to tackle not only the second season of the podcast but also a number of writing goals. Tune in to our Mad Writers planning novel drafts, workshop applications and querying, they do it all! Or at least plan to. It might even be that they are finally learning their own, human limitations and are starting to consider them in their goals. Although their podcasting may be a little ...
Episode 1.22: Final Goals Checkin
December 27, 2016 19:22 - 43 minutes - 39.4 MBThe time has come for all mad writers to check in on their 2016 goals one last time! Spoiler warning; we had two failures and an epic win! As the year turns, so do the minds of our Mad Writers, returning to see what happened there. Recommended reading Tim's recommendation: Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere) by Lisa Cron Jay's recommendation: Monstress Volume 1: Awakenin...
Episode 1.21: Characterization
December 02, 2016 04:44 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBCharacterization, meaning presenting character through non-verbal means. This shows up in the way they choose their words, the way they dress, the way they hold themselves and all kinds of other details. The Mad Writers get flummoxed but then manage to rally and figure out several things about creating characters through showing and not telling. They discuss examples from Daredevil (the Netflix show), Mary Robinette Kowal, their own work as well as the sleazy lounge singer, Lionel Cheese tha...
Episode 1.20: NaNoWriMo - threat or opportunity?
November 16, 2016 04:41 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MBNaNoWriMo is the bane and simultaneously the hope of many a writer. Every November, millions of people get together to write 50.000 words. Our intrepid Mad Writers have entirely varying experiences with this yearly event. Jay has broken up with NaNoWriMo because while she always gets the trophy, it usually comes with completely unusable prose that she doesn't even consider worth editing. Nina on the other hand has very positive experiences with NaNoWriMo in that it is largely based on gamif...
Episode 1.19: Serial fiction with Mur Lafferty
October 20, 2016 00:45 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MBThere are many ways to serial fiction and Mur Lafferty knows about them all. From serializing her novellas and the book Playing For Keeps to participating in the Serial Box Bookburners serial fiction. The conversation goes from topic to topic, touching on her Star Wars novella as well as her upcoming book, Six Wakes. The Mad Writers really enjoyed talking to Mur and we hope you will enjoy listening to it. Mur Lafferty is a podcaster, writer, editor, winner of the John W. Campbell Award for B...
Episode 1.18: Self-editing
October 01, 2016 19:55 - 52 minutes - 48 MBThe bane of iGor's existence, self-editing, is none the less an important weapon in the writer's arsenal. For the continued co-operation of mini- *ahem* beta-readers, it is vital that writers are always respectful others' time and the best way to do that is to only send out the best thing that you can. This takes the form of various stages from the nitty-gritty sentence level stuff to the full-on story-level high vantage-point view. The Mad Writers weave through the inverse triangle of self-e...
Episode 1.17: Moderation with Steven H Silver
September 15, 2016 16:22 - 36 minutes - 33 MBThere comes in every writer's path to world domination a time for panel moderation. Our intrepid Mad Writers are fair newbies themselves in the big, bad world of conventions and none of them have ever moderated a panel, so they decided to call in some expert assistance in the form of Steven H. Silver. Currently the Events Director at SFWA, Steven has also been an author, editor, Chicon 2000 programs director, and a Jeopardy contestant. The Mad Writers grill Steven on the various aspects of be...
Episode 1.16: Networking
September 01, 2016 14:55 - 47 minutes - 44 MBDuring Worldcon, the mad writers grabbed master networker K.M. Szpara to join them for a little chat. They start with the basics of networking, with Kelly providing the Mad Writers with specific conversation starters. He emphasizes the power of listening. Thanks to their live studio audience they also discuss more fraught topics such as alcohol consumption during events. Receive instruction in how to leave a conversation you've been edged out of. Because of the live situation, this episode is...
Episode 1.15: Considering Self-care
August 15, 2016 15:26 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MBOne of the essential parts of a creative life is making sure that you can keep on creating new things. As MidAmericon II is fast approaching, our intrepid introverts talk about self-care. They touch on both acute situations as well as going the long slog that can sometimes get exhausting. This is a resource-heavy episode with a huge list of links to various things the Mad Writers have found helpful.Notable Notes Emergency Kittens Mary Robinette Kowal: Sometimes Writers Block is really Depre...
Episode 1.14: Alphas and Betas
August 01, 2016 17:02 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBJay's writing relies heavily on both alpha and beta readers. In this episode, she explains in detail her method of getting a book from an idea to finished draft. Her approach is very reliant on a communal form of storytelling. While they're talking, Nina realizes that Jay has been her alpha for a while already. Lots and lots of giggling ensues. Also actual organized comparisons of various methods of using alpha and beta readers, including one by one of our favorite authors, Mary Robinette Kow...
Episode 1.13: Flash Fiction
July 15, 2016 18:09 - 31 minutes - 29 MBTim is having problems with his Flash Fiction eating too many doughnuts and expanding into short story territory. The Mad Writers get together and try to figure out how to get his stories to stay within a reasonable range for Flash Fiction. They talk about the shape of a story vs Vignette, control of user perception, arranging implications instead of statements, getting rid of filler words and making words pull their weight. Many of the things they talk about are applicable to other forms of ...
Episode 1.12: Goals Check-In
July 01, 2016 15:25 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MBBack in January we announced our goals to the world. None of us would have any kind of idea of just how much things would shift during transit. And so, having reached the halfway point of the year, we thought we would have a look at how the work on our goals is progressing and just how much has changed.As with the original goal setting, we've had varying levels of success with our goals thus far and things have happened that we never expected to happen this, including moving house, quitting j...
Episode 1.11: Community Building
June 20, 2016 19:15 - 49 minutes - 45.8 MBThe Mad Writers keep referring to building your community and this week they are putting their money where their mouth is. They are joined by Crystal Huff who has been involved in ALL THE CONS. She also fights the kyriarchy professionally through giving workshops and for example consulting companies on creating a welcoming environment as well as dealing with Impostor Syndrome. The panelists cover how to deal with horrible situations, how to get new people without losing all of the old ones an...
Episode 1.10: Story Length
June 01, 2016 04:04 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBStory length can be confusing to some writers and none more so than Nina. The Mad Writers help Nina figure out what is going wrong and why her short stories keep accidentally turning into novels and novellas. They work through the Hugo definitions of the various story lengths as well as working through the things that make stories longer as you write.Notable Notes Orson Scott Card's MICE method as explained by Karen Woodward Writing Excuses MICE episode Writing Excuses episode on Short Sto...
Episode 1.9: Reward Systems
May 16, 2016 17:57 - 25 minutes - 34.6 MBEvery writer sometimes needs help with motivation. Inspired by Elizabeth Bear's recent article, the Mad Writers discuss ways writers can reward themselves on a job well done. Especially because the lag times for writers tend to be long, in traditional publishing more so. The volcano lair is filled with speculation over how to create suitable rewards for various situations to keep the motivation up.Notable Notes Elizabeth Bear: Burnout, creativity, and the tyranny of production schedules Kev...
Episode 1.8: Conventions
May 02, 2016 11:00 - 42 minutes - 58.1 MBConventions are both wonderful experiences as well as awesome networking opportunities for writers. In this episode, seasoned con runner Michael Lee joins the Mad Writers. He talks about his experience becoming a conrunner and his history in the Convention circuit. Beyond that he talks about ways especially those new to conventions can get the most out of their experience. The Mad Writers join Michael in giving examples of how to get to know people during conventions and talk about what to do...
Episode 1.7: Critique
April 18, 2016 17:00 - 32 minutes - 32.1 MBCritique is important for any writer their quest to become better. We are often blind to our own failings in the ways that are not obvious. Even more often we are blind to the things that are awesome in our own work. Having people, especially other writers, who can read our work with an eye toward improving can be the thin red line separating us from being aspiring to taking us to that coveted state of "published". Likewise, giving critique can be very good for your own writing. In this episo...
Episode 1.6: Keep working
April 05, 2016 04:58 - 23 minutes - 23.8 MBListeners may have noticed a bit of an unscheduled break recently. This was mainly due to life happening to all the Mad Writers at once aka our various lairs of Mad Writing getting melted down or exploded. As it happens, we were all going through different types of things so we thought we would talk about them, just in case it also proved useful to our listeners.Notable notes FXXK WRITING: Work and endurance in the wake of an emotional bruise by Jason Ridler Sometimes Writers Block is reall...
Episode 1.5: Working it!
March 10, 2016 17:04 - 26 minutes - 36.1 MBThis week our intrepid Mad Writers are discussing online workshops, where to find them, how to choose, and everything in between.The mad writers have all taken various online workshops from various instructors. Since lifelong learning is important we wanted to share our expertise with you.Notable notes Cat Rambo's online in-person workshops The Brainery Cat Rambo's online on demand workshops Tempest Bradford's classes Recommended Reading Tim's recommendation: Among Others (Hugo Award Win...
Episode 1.4: Making Your Characters Suffer
February 22, 2016 16:37 - 24 minutes - 33 MBIn this episode of Mad Writers Union, Nina is having problems making her characters suffer. She is aware that causing pain to the characters she loves is good for the readers because that's how fiction works. But it's still hard for her which is where Tim and Jay step in to help her. Notable notes: Take Off Your Pants!: Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing: Revised Edition by Libbie Hawker Leverage (TV series) Gentleman Bastard (3 Book Series) by Scott Lynch The Stainless Steel R...
Episode 1.3: Impostor Syndrome
February 08, 2016 16:25 - 24 minutes - 33.2 MBOn this episode of Mad Writers Union we talk about the thing that plagues most creative people in one form or another: Impostor Syndrome. We talk about just what it is, who gets it and most of all, how to get rid of it. Whatever you do, remember: you are not alone. Articles referenced Aidan Doyle's The Science Fiction Writer's Hierarchy of Doubt Kameron Hurley Don't Tell Me I'm Talented Writer communities Absolute Write Fantasy sub-Reddit Recommended reading: Tim's recommendation: To S...
Episode 1.2: Setting Goals
January 25, 2016 06:09 - 30 minutes - 41.5 MBIn this episode of the Mad Writers Union our intrepid podcasters figure out their own writing related goals for 2016. Nina has her goals fairly well covered. Tim gets rather too overly ambitious. The podcasters work through his goals to get them to a more realistic, doable level. Jay has the biggest problem of all in that her higher level goal is too amorphous to approach directly. The podcasters work through her situation in order to come at some form of goal to work toward in 2016. Recommen...
Episode 1.1: Achieving Goals
January 11, 2016 17:33 - 24 minutes - 33.4 MBOn the introductory episode of Mad Writers Union we discuss setting goals and setting yourself up to achieve them. What does it take to create goals that actually help you to achieve them? What else can you do to help yourself to achieve your goals? Some concepts from the episode: SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time bound goals) WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) from the book Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation by Gabriele Oettin...