Open Book with Narratively Academy

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.narrativelyacademy.com A former contributing editor at Narratively , Erika Hayasaki has written cover stories for The New York Times Magazine , WIRED , Newsweek and more, plus features for The Atlantic , The Guardian , National Geographic , Men’s Health , Elle , New Yor k magazine, The Cut , and many other publications. Erika joined...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.narrativelyacademy.com One of my favorite parts about being a journalist — as I’m sure I’ve written about before — is going on a deep dive of someone’s work and then getting to ask them all the questions that came up for me as I did. This — spoiler — is exactly what I got to do with Ada Calhoun recently, and it was such a joy! Ada —...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.narrativelyacademy.com In the days leading up to — and after — my interview with Kalila and Stevie of Heavyweight , I kept hearing from friends and strangers about how much they “omg, love this podcast!” And how it was their “absolute favorite,” (as it is mine)! Always with an exclamation point, always with the knowing enthusiasm th...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.narrativelyacademy.com Last week was what we were calling “Rejection Week” at Narratively Academy. I wrote a craft piece for which I spoke to several writers and editors about what it’s like to be on both sides of it, and shared some advice in Writers’ Room about it , too. I also got to speak with the one and only Parisa Saranj , wh...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.narrativelyacademy.com We really appreciate it when a successful author can be wholly honest and transparent about all of the ups and downs of the industry, and Kern Carter is nothing if not that. Kern has landed six separate book deals (yes, we said five when we promoted this chat; and yes, as he revealed in our live video, he land...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.narrativelyacademy.com It was incredible to see so many of you at our Pitch Perfect video session last week, where we talked over what we’re looking for in pitches and submission to Narratively.com (including our brand new call for pitches on unusual jobs ), along with some broader tips on pitching any editorial publication. If you...

Thanks so much to the over 400(!) of you who joined our live chat today with Lee Gutkind and Dinty W. Moore. What a pleasure to have these two literary legends get together to talk about flash essays—and to have so many of you join from all over the world and chime in with insightful comments and questions. Press play above to watch the full session. And we have a special little treat: our first-e...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.narrativelyacademy.com As a staff writer at The New Yorker, Lizzie Widdicombe has penned everything from breaking news posts to an 11,000-word profile of Taylor Swift. She has also authored over 200 pieces for the “Talk of the Town” section, where she served as deputy editor for nine years.

Thanks so much to everyone who joined our virtual launch party this Wednesday! It was such a treat to meet writers from all around the world and to hear about what you want from this writing community. Special thanks to Narratively Academy instructors Kerra Bolton , Audrey Clare Farley and Kern Carter for telling us all a bit about how you do what you do, and to everyone who asked a question out l...

A few weeks ago, we published a deeply moving essay by Elizabeth Laura Nelson about love, loss and moving on . Earlier this afternoon, our executive editor, Jesse Sposato, spoke with her about how the piece came to be, what the writing process was like, what she’s working on currently and so much more. We loved every minute of it, but this may be our favorite line: “I don’t love advice. I don’t lo...

Elizabeth Austin’s revealing and emotional story “ I Was the World’s Worst Cancer Mom ” has really hit a nerve with our readers. Earlier today, Narratively co-founder Brendan Spiegel sat down with Elizabeth to chat about what’s happened in her life since she wrote this piece, how she’s built her successful career as a freelance writer, and much more. We had a really fun chat—thanks so much to ever...