Today on our show, we share a New York Times Modern Love essay we love by Jessica Strawser , editor-at-large at Writer’s Digest . Her essay caught the attention of literary agent Barbara Poelle , an agent with the Irene Goodman Literary Agency and the author of Funny You Should Ask: Mostly Serious Answers to Mostly Serious Questions About the Publishing Industry . Her book is based on her Writer's Digest column of the same name. On today’s show, we share our conversation with Barbara about how t...
May 06, 2020•37 min•Season 9Ep. 81
Today on our show, we are talking about what we can’t stop talking about, the coronavirus. Every email, text, call starts with, “How are you holding up?” It’s beautiful and exhausting, so we put out a call for coronavirus stories. We have two stories to share. One is by our own Andrea Askowitz who is still living in Madrid. Madrid is one of the most contagious cities on earth and if you’ve seen her videos of her family dancing on FB, you are aware she’s going a little stir-crazy. Writing has hel...
Apr 01, 2020•27 min•Season 9Ep. 80
Today on our show, we take a look at bringing an obsession into a story. It’s possible to go deep into an obsession that has almost nothing to do with the story you are trying to tell without being distracting. That obsession can deepen the meaning of the story by giving us a peek into you, the narrator. Editors get a lot of stories about cancer, dead dogs, aging parents, etc. We’re not saying, stay away from these topics. We’re saying, writing about an obsession is a way to write about de...
Mar 04, 2020•23 min•Season 8Ep. 79
Today on our show, we’re talking about how writing helps you figure out how you think. And helps you see yourself, specifically your failures more clearly because it’s hard to ignore a pattern when you see it in writing. We share an essay by listener, Karen Debonis who’s story, “Even the Weak Can Weather the Storm” is about what it ultimately took to make her change from being overly agreeable to a fierce badass defender of her child. It wasn’t his illness that was the catalyst, but reading back...
Feb 05, 2020•16 min•Season 8Ep. 78
Today on our show, we’re talking to Susan Shapiro about literary citizenship. A literary citizen is someone who does good things for other literary people like re-tweet their published essays, share insider dos and don’ts, and hook people up with editors. Being a good literary citizen will help you get published because it shows that you know what’s going on in the literary world, helps build your platform, and it probably brings you some good karma. Susan Shapiro has made a career out of ...
Jan 08, 2020•36 min•Season 8Ep. 77
On this episode, you’ll hear two stories about abortion, because we believe abortion stories must be told to keep abortions safe, legal, and accessible. If all women who had abortions told their stories, abortion would not be stigmatized, public perception would change, and laws would change. We put a call out for abortion stories. We received several, all from women who did not regret their abortions. According to The Guardian, 95% of all women who have abortions don’t regret them. So thi...
Dec 04, 2019•36 min•Season 8Ep. 76
Today on our show, we’re talking to Lilly Dancyger , an editor at Catapult , among many things. She’s also a freelance editor at Narratively and Barrelhouse Books , a memoir writing teacher, writer, curator of Memoir Monday, and the editor of the just-released anthology called Burn It Down . We talked to her about what she’s looking for in an essay, and how to successfully pitch to Narratively and Catapult. Read this before you submit to Lilly or anywhere. Ariel Henley reads her essay call...
Nov 06, 2019•41 min•Season 8Ep. 75
We recorded this show from Miami and Madrid. If you are new to Writing Class Radio, welcome. Today on our show, we have the brilliant and generous Dani Shapiro , author of five novels and five memoirs, plus thousands of essays and a podcast called Family Secrets. A few years ago, Andrea sat down with Dani and talked about thinking like a writer, repeating themes in writing, figuring out what a story is about, and the conflicts all writers face, especially mothers, in revealing other people...
Oct 02, 2019•38 min•Season 8Ep. 74
Today our show is going to be a little different because shit just got really real. Three weeks ago, Allison was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer. In this episode, we share the stories we wrote about this situation. We are treating this episode as if we’re in writing class by sharing our own writing and critiquing it, because writing and sharing and then getting and giving feedback is how we deal with whatever's going on in our lives. We thought writing and critiquing would help us process ...
Aug 28, 2019•30 min•Season 8Ep. 73
Today on our show, we’re talking about how to create a scene and why scenes matter. We often bring up the writing tip show AND tell. The scene is the show. It’s the action. It’s where we put dialogue and show character. Scenes are the moments we remember. For more on show and tell, listen to Episode 47: Show and Tell . You’ll hear one of Andrea Askowitz’s stories, where she fights with her son about homework. And you’ll hear stories by Allison Langer and Misha Mehrel where they show and tell eff...
Aug 14, 2019•14 min•Season 8Ep. 72
This episode contains content about a suicide attempt. Today on our show, we’re talking about a container, which is a cool way to structure a story. It’s a method to tell your entire story while you are contained in a place or period of time. For example, on a plane, in a meeting, or an afternoon at a hair appointment. The goal is for the narrator to take the reader or listener along in the moment while stepping out of the container to tell a much bigger story. Lorinne Griswold, a lis...
Jul 31, 2019•20 min•Season 8Ep. 71
Today on our show, we’re talking about how to write about the unbelievable. Things like UFOs, mediums, and talking to the dead. In the story you’ll hear, our narrator hears a voice from beyond. In this episode, like many past episodes, we also get into the concept of likeable narrator. If you want more on likeable narrator, listen to these episodes: Likeable Narrator--Be the Biggest Asshole in the Story ; A Time I Fucked Up part 1 and part 2 . We bring up likeable narrator, because we feel like ...
Jul 17, 2019•16 min•Season 8Ep. 70
Today on our show, we’re talking about how to end a story when the situation is ongoing. You’ll hear an essay by the Brazilian born Miami writer, Camile Flosi Araujo . Camile brings us into her world, which changed dramatically for her when she got into a car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. She made a startling discovery, not that she’s pissed about the accident, although she is, but that she’s pissed at herself for how she lived before the accident. Listen to hear how she ...
Jul 03, 2019•23 min•Season 7Ep. 69
Today on our show, we’re talking about metaphors and how they work in a story. We share a story by Elizabeth Newdom whose story is shaped around a metaphor. Elizabeth’s essay first appeared in Motherwell , an online magazine that tells all sides of the parenting story. We called the editors of Motherwell, Randi Olin and Lauren Apfel , a badass editing duo and talked to them about their tag team approach to editing, what grabbed them about Elizabeth’s story, and the use of metaphors. We’ll...
Jun 19, 2019•26 min•Season 7Ep. 68
Today on our show we’re talking about perseverance, a quality important if you want to be a writer, a runner, or someone successful at crafting the dreaded college essay. What makes your essay stand out to publishers and to college admissions directors is the situation and the story. They want to see the loss or the win, because that’s what allows others to connect with your story. They also want to know what you learned from the experience and how that experience informed your character. Alliso...
Jun 05, 2019•12 min•Season 7Ep. 67
Today on our show we’re talking about bragging, specifically on the dreaded college essay. How do you brag yourself up without sounding like a total $#&%$#? (We’re PG for the high schoolers...as if). The answer is, you have to be willing to get vulnerable and reveal your ugly side, then you can brag all you want. Allison has been working with high school students all over the country on their college admissions essays. This is the first episode in a two-part series where we bring you common ...
May 22, 2019•12 min•Season 7Ep. 66
Do you know how sometimes when you’re reading a story you feel like the story slows down in a critical moment? Maybe the narrator describes the people in a room or the birds on a tree nearby. Maybe there’s a flashback to a memory. In that moment, the reader becomes hyper aware and hopefully totally drawn in. Today on our show we’re talking about slowing down and expanding a moment. A moment in a story that says to the reader, “Hey, pay attention. I’m about to give you some details that are impor...
May 08, 2019•23 min•Season 7Ep. 65
In class, sometimes we ask people to close their eyes and smell sunblock, or freshly baked bread. Sometimes we play a Beatles song or have students squeeze Play-Doh. Sometimes we throw out a word like pussy. Then, we ask students to write about the first thing that comes to mind. All of these prompts inspire stories. Today on our show we’re talking about how inspiration for stories can come in a word, a song, a scent, or an object like a dress. You will hear a story by Nancy Brier , a listener f...
Apr 24, 2019•14 min•Season 7Ep. 64
Today on our show we’re talking about pitching to publications, what to include in a query letter and all the homework you need to do before you pitch to an editor. Writer Baylea Jones shares her pitch and her story. We speak with Ravishly editor Erin Khar about what it was like to receive Baylea’s pitch, as well as why she chose Baylea’s story. Erin will also discuss the basic how-to’s for submitting stories for Ravishly and elsewhere. Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true per...
Apr 10, 2019•27 min•Season 7Ep. 63
Details matter. Details bring the reader/listener into a world they may know nothing about. They help us trust the narrator. The more specific the details; the more universal the story. In this episode we bring you a story by Inessa Freylekhman . She’s a Feng Shui expert, speaker, spiritual counselor and author. Inessa uses details well throughout her story, but there is one specific detail that exemplifies the type of detail we’re always looking for. Listen for it. To help you get specific in y...
Mar 27, 2019•21 min•Season 7Ep. 62
On this episode, we talk about procrastination. We also talk about speaking directly to the reader from a place of experience. And giving advice, which is really hard in a story and in life. If you're willing to be vulnerable, you can do it. We’re starting with a story by Jenni Berrett called You Aren’t Lazy--You’re Just Terrified: On Paralysis and Perfectionism. Jenni is a columnist at Ravishly , an online magazine that celebrates the mess of being human. Her story is relevant to all of us mess...
Mar 13, 2019•17 min•Season 7Ep. 61
In this episode we’re talking about writing about death. We have a story by Leslie Gray Streeter , a columnist for the Palm Beach Post who also contributes to Modern Loss, the online magazine dedicated to normalizing the way we talk about loss. Leslie’s story is called, What I did with My Husband’s Life Insurance Money . Leslie uses humor and a conversational style when writing about the death of her husband, the same humor and voice she’d use to write about anything. We also s...
Feb 27, 2019•24 min•Season 7Ep. 60
In this episode we air the winner of our fall writing contest-- Jen Antill . The prompt: A Time I Had an Unpopular Opinion reaped a story about a woman who is pregnant at 24, but doesn’t want to be. It turns out, she never wanted to be a mother. Starting with a prompt like a time you had an unpopular opinion can lead to a story with tension, conflict, and high stakes, all of which make for a great story. Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories from the stud...
Jan 30, 2019•11 min•Ep. 59
This is the final episode of the Andrea Show. For the last seven weeks, we brought you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge on her 50th birthday in May 2018, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad stories in a row.” This week Andrea’s story conflates edito...
Jan 23, 2019•18 min•Season 6Ep. 58
For the next two weeks, we will bring you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad stories in a row.” This week Andrea takes us on a 12-mile run through Miami, where she snaps something in her leg. She uses the experienc...
Jan 16, 2019•14 min•Season 6Ep. 57
For the next three weeks, we will bring you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad stories in a row.” On this episode, Allison and Andrea talk about a subject that comes up in every writing class: What do you do about ...
Jan 09, 2019•13 min•Season 6Ep. 56
This week, Andrea uses the epistolary form--story written as a letter--to get her point across. The letter form is very intimate because the narrator is speaking directing to you. We hope this process will help writers get published or at least get inspire to write. For the next four weeks, we will bring you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by ...
Jan 01, 2019•10 min•Season 6Ep. 55
For the next five weeks, we'll bring you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad stories in a row.” This week, something cool happened. Andrea didn’t know what to write about, so she called Allison and they both set tim...
Dec 26, 2018•24 min•Season 6Ep. 54
This is week three of an eight-week experiment. We’re bringing you a story a week by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz , with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer . Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad stories in a row.” On this episode, Andrea tells a story about what girls have to endure in our modern world. She was in...
Dec 19, 2018•16 min•Season 6Ep. 53
For the next seven weeks, we will bring you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz , with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer . Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad stories in a row.” This week, Andrea tells a funny story about a not funny at all topic--her brother’s cancer diagnosis. After the st...
Dec 12, 2018•15 min•Season 6Ep. 52
