Writers Drinking Coffee

In which we explore TV and other Tropes in writing. A Trope can be defined as a cliche, but it can also be a leitmotif (in the musical sense) or standard devices used in serial dramas. We think it works for any writing, playing to the audience’s expectations of the narrative. … Continue... Episode 104 – Tropes and Perspectives

In this interview we celebrate J.L. Torres’ new book, Migrations. We discuss the impact of migration on storytelling, and the Diasporica (Puerto Rican Diaspora) on American literary culture. … Continue... Episode 103 – Diasporica with Professor J.L. Torres

We explore some of our favorite crime novels, the genre at large as part of mystery, and pick apart the differences between detective novels (tending to support law & order) vs caper novels (tending to be anti-establishment or radical) and the exceptions. Crime and caper novels can be historic or modern, and cross every genre. What do you need to think about when writing crime stories? We have som...

Jordan makes movies. He started acting in commercials and showing up for casting calls, then discovered that he really liked directing. The next step involved him needing scripts, so he started adapting short stories into scripts – then just writing his own. All perfectly logical, right? Making movies is fun! … Continue... Episode 101 – Short movies with Jordan Heron

Paul Attaway is a new author who published his first book this last fall. He talks about his writing process, how to decide what the book is actually about – namely, a family drama with a murder. He approached writing his first book with a hybrid approach of plotting and organic growth based on the inter-relationship of characters. … Continue... Episode 100 – Interview with Paul Attawa...

What’s in your notebook? The WDC crew all keep a little notebook of some fashion – although there’s discussion over moleskine, spiral notebooks, electronic Notes. Having a notebook in hand or in easy reach can help keep those nifty ideas from flitting back out of your brain by trapping them in ink or electrons. And then there’s refining the idea… … Continue... Episode 99 – Notes and No...

David Drake picked up writing, so he says, as a therapy for his time spent riding tanks around Vietnam and Cambodia. But what started as short stories ended up as a brilliant and far-reaching career that explored historic fantasy, horror, sci fi, and everything in between. Whether you love Roman legions, Byzantine politics, or Space Opera that combines the spirits of each, Drake has something for...

In which we celebrate our own Chaz’ new book coming out in May 2021. Formerly only found if you were a Patreon member, now you can buy Three Twins at the Crater School in book format. Based on the concept of boarding school storylines from England, these posit a habitable Mars and a race to colonize the moons and planets in a steampunk Ethership universe. … Continue... Episode 97 – Chaz Bren...

Carol Wolf says “If you point a camera at someone and ask them what they know about how to live your life, they tell you amazing, inspiring, and moving stories.” What is the lived experience? We continue our discussion from last week talking about the importance of telling your own (and other people’s) life stories with Carol’s film making experience, with some digressions for shark mating habits...

There are so many people who talk about writing down family memoirs. We interviewed Jill Phillips, who has completed her first novel of non-fiction memoirs to talk about her process, her journey, and her recommendations for anyone thinking it’s time to start writing their own family stories. She describes how to start and set yourself up for success, deliberations on whose truth to go with, and ot...

Exploring topics in gay romance, and emotive expression open for men – and how reading novels outside your own experience act like empathy boxes of learning and understanding. Aleksandr’s character-driven approach to storytelling combines with research to create vivid stories and hot gay romance. They also have some excellent advice for writers on maintaining separation from a day job while avoidi...

Nancy has found a unique way of conquering the general zeitgeist of creativity challenge with meditation and poetry to unlock new creativity. We discuss colonialism, and the challenge of looking at discovered civilizations (on earth, in space, wherever) through a lens of diversity instead of the old models, and what might happen when we start to do that even more. … Continue... Episode 93 –...

Bruce helps advance the question what the term “literary” means. Is it a commercial label? Is it a publishing market category for how to put similar books together in a bookstore? Class distinction or participation is one way to look, but so is technical accomplishment. In any case, learning to write seems a noble (and spiritual) way to squander your time as well as a social network, and Bruce has...

In this episode, Dave, Chaz, and John briefly discuss character development using the "Big Five" model of personality before haring off on a number of predictable tangents. Also in this episode: everything Dave knows about factor analysis and psychological modeling (tl;dr: psychology is squishy); what Chaz doesn't know about "Aspects of the Novel:" by E.M. Forster (quite a bit, and seemingly proud...

It’s Black History month, and we all watched Bridgerton (and a certain Duke) over Christmas, right? We invite Madeleine Robins back and start pondering how to make our writing accurately reflect the cultural mélange that existed in London and beyond. From racism to classism, our writers look at our inherent biases, how “common knowledge” of history isn’t, and how it takes something evocative with...

Jennifer has been nominated twice for the Bram Stoker award for horror, and won both the Bram Stoker and the Hugo Award for editing work. She’s written stories and novels for Battletech, Shadowrun, Valdemar, as well as many original stories and novels in YA Horror, Fantasy, and Sci Fi. She has the Best Quote Ever: You can be blunt or you can be vulgar but you can’t be both. … Continue... Epi...

Who is the first wizard on call when you need to make movie magic? Meg is a that wizard! A storyboard artist introduces us all to the world where the print meets the screen. Come learn about this exciting position working in TV and Movies, where you can tell stories with pictures and words in tandem. … Continue... Episode 88 – Interview with Megan Lloyd: Storyboarding

WDC once again talks with master of many forms Carol Wolf, who discusses plays, movies, screenplays, horror, and some of her recent work, and inspires WDC to write more! … Continue... Episode 87 – Carol Wolf, Shotgun Artist

There are writers who can take one genre and then turn it into multiple genres before they're done - and you can't put the books down. We sat down one of our favorites who gets away with it all the time. Charles Stross, unrepentant Pantser, as he labels himself, tells us all about his books, his inspirations, his process, and his latest projects. … Continue... Episode 86 – Charlie Stro...

Juliette’s second book, Transgressions of Power (sequel to Mazes of Power), is coming out in February! Get your tiara and boa together and think about what you’re going to wear to her book release party! Juliette talks about dialect work, plotting, and how world building and pre-construction helps her write faster. … Continue... Episode 85 – Juliette Wade Returns!

Richard Kadrey has been a successful novelist, written for comic books, scripts, and journalistic articles about art, culture, and technology. He creates music under the name Seven Blood-Stained Orchids. We caught up with him to find out the latest gossip on his Sandman Slim series, as there’s rumors of a movie in the offing. … Continue... Episode 84 – Interview with Richard Kadrey

In which our merry hosts contemplate finding the right point of view from which to tell a story. The perspective of looking at a story is fungible, but each point of view will have a different voice. The coffee committee ponders the right point of view for a story about an incident, and how the voice of the view affects the story's tone and outcome. … Continue... Episode 83 – From a Ce...

This is our first foray into discussing satire, and how to make fun of politics. Whether cartooning, focusing a microscope on an individual trait or issue, or simply drawing attention to an injustice, satire has a place in writing and the arts. … Continue... Episode 82 – Writing Political Satire

We welcome another podcaster - Norman Leonard, the creative mind behind the kids’ podcast, Cobbler’s Gulch. Is it for kids? Or is it a podcast narrative for adults? Who loves goblins and gooslers and trolls and two-headed soil serpents? We do, and we say they’re for everyone, especially orphans. … Continue... Episode 81 – Podcasting from Cobbler’s Gulch

The midwinter holidays have an old tradition of ghost stories and scary tales to whisper around the fire as people huddle close and wait for the light to return. We've recreated this for you with new spooky stories written by Chaz and Jeannie, and with a little help from John they're going to read them to you. … Continue... Episode 80 – Midwinter Ghosts and Scary Stories