On Riting

In this NONNANOWRIMO episode of the snarkiest writing podcast, MJ, Sean, and Chadd look at Stakes, those things which give conflict meaning. Other topics include Breeding Pairs, While Holding a Baby, and terrible twists resulting from asymmetrical stakes.  Want a replacement for twitter for finding calls for submissions and follows? https://linktr.ee/onriting has what you need.

In this special episode, Chadd and Sean [no MJ :(] go over their NaNoWriMo progress, outlining where they are, where they thought they'd be, and the scope of their work, as well are core themes and notes they're working from. Other topics include... mostly just that. It's really easy to get carried away when talking about your own shit, but I promise there are jokes and practice poi...

In this episode, Chadd, Sean, and MJ look at one of the inciting forces of the whole podcast: writing prompts and where to find them. Other topics include the best poetic form you don't know about, the second shittiest leprechaun we've ever read, and the dark grandeur of the institution known to us mortals as Waffle House.  Need some NaNoWriMo buddies, or want to complain about everyone...

In this episode of the snarkiest writing podcast, MJ, Chad, Chad's Assassin, and Shawn look at conceptualizing and outlining your NaNoWriMo book, or really any other work of long-form fiction! Other topics include the Assassination of Chad by the Coward [Redacted], the hottest bug girl in fiction, and MJ's incredible marketing prowess.  Want to help some people in need in an underserved...

In this episode, MJ, Chad, and Shaun take a look at one of the most contentious and beloved subjects in the writing cosmos: fanfiction. Other topics include honey-induced ursine obesity, the legality of wolfd****, and the seamless transition from great fanfic to great novel.  Want some free tutoring from Chad about how to get your fanfic to sale without having a writer living in Scotland tear you...

In this episode, Shaun makes a terrible mistake in sharing the worst thing every written with Chad, while all of Chad, Shaun, and MJ descend once more into the BOWELS of the internet to find the worst writing discourse around. Other topics include purple thunderstorms, the best idea for an already best selling book, and a dramatic reading of aforementioned Worse Thing Ever Written.  Want to show u...

In this episode, EmJay, Chad, and Shaun look at the mechanisms by which setting adds meaning to a story. Other topics include Grandfather Clocks, the nature of setting-only storytelling in games, and the curious way Wookiepedia has ruined everything.  Want to tell us exactly how many elves speak draconic in your science fantasy epic? Hell, you know the drill: https://linktr.ee/onriting 

In this episode, Sean, Chad, and MJ look at the vaguest and most instrumental topic in writing your book to be sold: Genre. Other topics include the magnificence of Tana French, the ins and outs of Exploitation, and the legal-into-literary concept of Scènes à faire. If you're a huge genre fan, or someone who's always been skeptical about genre as derivative and flattening, this is probab...

In this episode, Sean, Chadd, and MJ take on conventional publishing's preference for trauma, across writing, gaming, and reality TV. Other topics include Blown Away (movie and Netflix Show), the majesty of Black Leopard, Red Wolf , and the the narrow lanes that the concerned force people into.  Check out the work of Dan Friday, Glassworking God: https://www.fridayglass.com/index.html  If you...

Hi campers, MJ, Chadd, and Sean are back with Act Structure and more blown-out microphones than you can shake a manuscript at. Other topics include a LOT of 90's nostalgia, Sean having a meltdown over Canterbury Tales, the act structure of medical procedures, a literary case for baseball, and the WWE implications of the second act. We also talk a lot about J. Campbell, if that Hero's Jou...

In this episode of the snarkiest writing podcast, MJ, Sean, and Chadd look at Antagonists and Conflict, and the terrible advice people give about 'Villains.' Other topics include The Greatest Movie of All Time, how to fight a hurricane, and algebraic notation for writing an outlining.  Interested in getting feedback on your nanowrimo camp? Join us https://linktr.ee/onriting

MJ, Chadd, and Sean are back with the third To The People, and they've got some extra strange sources: r/writingprompts, r/cormacmccarthy, and r/donnysdaddidntdieinthatmine. Other topics include Captain Kirk's insatiable bloodlust, the occasional poetry of the Rohirrim, and The Rumor Come Out: Does Is Bruno Mars Gay?  If you've got an embarrassing writing question, by yourself of Do...

We've gone biweekly! In this episode, MJ, Chadd, and Sean look at the memes surrounding 'accurate depictions' of various mythological critters in Riting Communities, and how the Waters and Mountains tinge everything about Angels, Fairies, Goblins, and, of course, Italian Card Games. Other topics include Garfield's Love Tunnel, Merlin Learned Quick Attack!, and the Ouija Rubicon...

In this episode, Shaun, Chad, and MJ offer more instantly applicable advice than usual, all while disguising it as snark over the Riting Server revision and critique process. Other topics include avoiding the furor of authorial ghosts, MJ's terrifying closet of uncollected work, and the dark text known as Plain English for Lawyers.   Do you have something for us to critique? Join up at https:...

In this episode of the snarkiest writing podcast, Chad, Em-Jay, and Sean look at roleplaying games, roleplaying in riting communities, and the perilous example of looking at the licensed fiction-section of the Barnes and Noble. Other topics include how throwing great pool parties has sparked almost as many careers as great prose, Doing the Voices, and the perfection of the vampire known as Dev/Nul...

In this episode, MJ, Shawn, and Chadd are joined by backpacker, witch, and published author, Diana Helmuth to talk about the process of suffering outside. There will also be writing advice, a discussion of the alarming impact of Serendipity on writing success, and a brief explanation of What The Bandanas Are For.  If you want more tips about how to look like an anime girl while turning into a Were...

In this episode, MJ, Chad, and Shawn look at a fertile vein exposed by the blasting of r/movies: how to be a terrible consumer. Other topics include Drizzt Do'urden, the ending of The Sopranos, Godzilla, simulacra on the practical end of the colonial ambitions of central Europe, and Wulfgar the Barbarian's powerful seed.  Here's that link we mentioned: https://linktr.ee/onriting

In this episode, MJ, Chad, and Sean look at fictional depictions of authors, and try to extract a lot of myths of riterdom that emerge from all of us having watched too much Californication. Other topics include Bookselling in the late Renaissance, the Lathe of Heaven being on a hair-trigger, and Catfishing, (but only as Jude Law).  Want to get in touch with us to bring up that we never really tal...

In this episode, MJ, Cead, and Shaun get on their eSkateboards and ollie into that vast, mysterious cyber-expanse: what is revealed when you type "How write a novel" into the the gaping maw of google. Other topics include Breaking Rules, the most memorable episode of X-Files, 120 pages on the Battle of Waterloo (No mentions of ABBA, strangely enough), and IGN.  Want to get in touch with...

We're headed back to Reddit and the worst of the worst on Disboard for the second installment of To The People! This time, Chad has gone spelunking on discord, Shaun has undertaken an anthropological study of r/writing's Top-All Time, and MJ has started exploring the rarest (and in some ways, most pathetic) Riting Communities: those that charge for participation. Other topics include Pre...

In this episode, MJ, Chad, and Sean dive in to the primordial ooze from which a good 50%+ of the writing advice on the internet springs: the Iowa Writers Workshop and their benefactor, the CIA. Other topics include the FBI's tendency to make the same mistakes over and over again, the FBI having really cool windbreakers, and FBI agent Fox Mulder's whole deal. Oh, they also talk about writ...

24 hours late on the upload for this one! I have to say, the wait was worth it for this one.  This week, Chad, Shaun, and MJ take a look at three of the most influential and monstrous writers of the 20th century, and break down the ideology that motivated both their actions and their writing. Other topics include doing things In Minecraft, Disney Land Speculation, the movie Battleship, and surpris...

You know what, who even cares about submissions? I'll just go on wattpad and post up my stuff; I've got like, 90 followers, 90 views is a lot better than most stuff on there. Fame and fortune will come crashing in any second now!  In this episode, Shion, Chat, and EmJay walk you through all the steps of the submissions process, from what terms to google, to how to get over your bio-writi...

In this episode, Chad takes us on a voyage of discovery, diving into Riting Communities and the specific, terrible answers they gave to his questions, good and bad. Other topics include Plot Holes, Can't Hardly Wait, and the narrative utility of hiring a bunch of bounty hunters while everyone is making their Quizno's order.  We have a discord! https://discord.gg/gEWfVHWU  Want to send us...

Oh boy, this one's a doozy. Sean, MJ, and Chadd discuss England, Zombies, Werner Herzog, Robin Williams, Diegesis, the Dialectic, the Czech Republic, Alcohol, George Romero, Carpentry, Jesus, and just about everything else under the sun. Be warned, this is a little more blue and a WHOLE lot longer than other episodes so far.  Join our discord https://discord.gg/gEWfVHWU  Email us complaints a...