Radio FreeWrite
A podcast for lovers of stories- reading them, hearing them, and writing them. We provide a new prompt every week, then share the stories we have created from that prompt. We discuss the stories and the art of storytelling while encouraging listeners to create their own stories along with us.
Episodes
161 episodes
131: Batrachomyomachia – Reflecting on Writing Goals & Poetic Experiments | Radio FreeWrite Season 4 Finale
In the Season 4 finale, the Radio FreeWrite crew looks back on their writing goals—ranging from dialogue practice to poetic experimentation—and what they’ve learned along the way. Krispy shares how a season of poetry shaped his approach to lang...
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Season 4
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Episode 21
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1:20:46
130: Propaganda – How We Steal Writing Tricks from Other Authors (feat. Sandwich)
This week we got deep into writing nerd territory, swapping stories about the books that shape our craft—Slaughterhouse‑Five, Catch‑22, and one Nabokov short story WebEater dissected like he was an eager fifth grader who'd just been ha...
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Season 4
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Episode 20
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1:12:15
129: Queensbury Rules – Practicing Dialogue That Doesn’t Sound Wooden
Krispy had wedding #2 out of 3 this year (to the same woman) but still pinched out a story. We talked about making dialogue sound natural, how to write characters who don't sound like, well, you talking to yourself, and why highlightin...
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Season 4
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Episode 19
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1:04:05
128: U and Non‑U – Using Dan Harmon’s Story Circle to Jump-Start Plotting
We fell straight into the story‑structure void this week—Dan Harmon’s Story Circle (of Community fame, as Murph will be quick to tell you; only casuals know him from Rick and Morty), Joseph Campbell, sitcom plotting, and the e...
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Season 4
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Episode 18
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1:01:42
127: Ganymede – Building Writing Community with Literary Cleveland
This episode special guest Matt Weinkam joins us! We talk about Literary Cleveland, a nonprofit organization and creative writing center that empowers people to explore other voices and discover their own; Cleveland's own free literary conferen...
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Season 4
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Episode 127
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1:39:28
126: Ephesian – Building Writing Community & Embracing Critique (feat. JUST C.O.S.)
This episode JUST C.O.S. joins us to talk about writing, life, and The Sparrow's Fortune, a poetry collective working to inspire, educate, and encourage our community through arts, entertainment, and creative writing workshops. We discussed the...
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1:12:05
125: Yellowback – How We Approached Genre Fiction and Tropes
This prompt sent us into the glorious, pulpy world of yellowbacks— sensational novels with wild covers printed on the cheapest paper available. We chatted about book covers as promises to readers, genre tropes we secretly (or not‑so‑secretly) l...
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Season 4
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Episode 16
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53:44
124: Proteus – Revising Poetry & Balancing Editing with Creativity (feat. J.W. Surface)
Special Guest J.W. Surface joins us for this episode!Check out J.W.'s book Something Dark and Others here: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/something-dark-and-others<...
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Season 4
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Episode 15
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52:51
123: Wildcat – Untangling Plot vs. Story (While Forgetting Who Goes First)
Our first all‑in‑person episode in a while! We rambled (anticlockwise, of course) into a big discussion of plot vs. story—architects vs. gardeners, internal vs. external conflict, and how to give structure a story without killing the magic....
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Season 4
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Episode 14
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1:18:45
122 Everything Tastes of Porridge – Building Worlds Through Myth & Religion
We didn’t plan a topic this week, but PC accidentally pitched us a masterclass on worldbuilding. Cue a cosmic mythology with warring gods (a sentient tree vs... a lake), saltwater corruption, and squirrel crusaders. We talked about how...
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Season 4
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Episode 13
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51:38
121: The Old Man on the Mountain – Journaling, POV, & Character Voice
Murph confessed he struggled with this week’s prompt and wound up pulling us into his mad-cap shotgun brainstorming. That led us to a chat about journaling as a writing tool, experimenting with first vs. third person, and even pre‑planning your...
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Season 4
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Episode 12
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1:03:10
120: Eblis – Writing Convincing Villains (Without Loving Them Too Much)
This week, we dove into the eternal struggle of writing good villains: pure evil forces vs. sympathetic antiheroes, Darth Vader vs. Sauron, and why Nabokov’s Lolita is a masterclass in manipulation (of you, dear reader). We ta...
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Season 4
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Episode 11
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1:10:43
119: January – Writing for Joy, Not Publication
The Cru gathers for their annual Christmas retreat a little later than usual (although, as our generous host, Spliff, was keen to point out- the Christmas Season ends with the Epiphany, and we're under the wire with that one!) From the cozy cha...
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Season 4
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Episode 10
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1:04:27
118: Jaywalker – Maps, Worldbuilding, & Accidental Giant Trees
Have you ever broken the law? Well, you probably have. Actually, I'm not even sure jaywalking is illegal anymore. But! Even if you haven't broken the law in real life, have you ever had characters in your stories cross a road they ...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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56:57
117: Idunna – Writing Rituals, Music, & Getting into the Zone
NaNoWriMo was in full swing, so we got nerdy about writing habits: Alexander Litvinovsky soundtracks, video game music for fight scenes, and how misheard lyrics sometimes better than the actual line. We also debated tropes, predictability, and ...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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56:55
116: Triumvir – Guest Iron Brewed on Flash Fiction & Writing Process
Iron Brewed (or is it Irn Bru'd??) joined us for the first time! We talked about his year‑long poetry residency, typewriter quirks, and his moderately insane method of writing three totally different drafts of the same story before stitching to...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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57:01
Minizode #5: Why Do People Write?
Hello! In this Minizode, Krispy and Murph discuss the various reasons people find for writing. How was writing developed, and originally used? From passion, to fame and fortune, what drives people to put words on the page (or screen)? What moti...
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23:43
115: Zucchetto – Writing Sound Effects & Playing with Language
We tumbled into a chat about onomatopoeia, comic book “WHAM!”s, and whether you can even write sound effects in languages like Mandarin. From Chekhov’s snowy sibilance to Stacy Abrams’ long‑promised book, we swapped advice about finding time to...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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44:23
Minizode #4: After Acceptance
PC shares his experience of the publication process after a novel is accepted.
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23:16
114: Cleveland Museum of Art – Finding Story Inspiration in Visual Art
This week the Cru had a special prompt. We wandered the halls of the Cleveland Museum of Art, seeking inspiration, and all picked different artworks to inspire our writing. Art is it's own world: listen for mysterious galleries, goblins, bad re...
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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1:04:26
Minizode #3: How to Imitate an Author
WebEater and Murph discuss different approaches to imitating--- and learning from--- an author.
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34:27
113: Unhinged – Picking Which Drafts to Polish (and Which to Cast into the Fire)
Fresh from vacation, we talked about the dark art of editing. How do you know which pieces deserve your time, when to let stories sit for months (or years)? What about the stubborn love we feel for broken drafts no one else believes in? We offe...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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1:03:35
112: Hunky Dory – Writing Nonfiction, Reflection, and the Tools We Avoid
This week was half nonfiction, half fiction, and 100% navel‑gazing. We talked about how prompts can be used as writing exercises, not just story starters: dialogue drills, worldbuilding sprints, or even raw essays that feel more like therapy th...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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1:03:22