Podcasts about writing class

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Andrea Askowitz called A Numbers Game. This story was previously published in Memoirland, a curated compilation of the week's best personal essays on the internet. It was also read live on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in 2024. A Numbers Game is a braided essay. So, In this episode, we will discuss the braided essay and how Andrea's came to be. Just a hint: Nicole Walker had something to do with it!More about how we became associated with the Flagstaff Festival of Science…Three years ago, we were hired by Dr. Jane Marks and Dr. Bruce Hungate, two famous ecologists from the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University. They heard our podcast and then started taking our classes which led to the idea that their students would benefit from taking our classes. So we've been doing online workshops and in-person workshops to help these scientists personalize their stories. This story was written during our second year collaborating with ECOSS. If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Poet Lynnell Edwards enjoys using what she calls "external prompts" from other authors. But she believes that "ultimately as writers, we've got to have sort of internal prompts." On this episode, Lynnell shares questions that will help you create your own personalized writing prompts. Learn how to generate a series of poems, essays, or linked short stories based on what you've already written.About Lynnell EdwardsLynnell Edwards is the author of six collections of poetry, most recently, The Bearable Slant of Light, which documents the onset of bipolar disorder in her son, the impacts on the family, as well as constructions of mental illness as depicted in literature and history.  She is Associate Programs Director for the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University where she mentors and lectures in Poetry.  She is also Book Reviews Editor for Good River Review, Spalding's literary journal.  Find her at lynnelledwards.com for more about her work, including essays, poems online, interviews, and upcoming events.

On this episode, we're going to talk about using the letter form (epistolary) and specifically not telegraphing. If you don't know what telegraphing is, don't worry. You will after you hear our discussion at the end. The story in this episode is written by one of our favorite students, Danielle Huggins. This is the 4th time Danielle's been featured on the podcast but the first time she's joined us in the virtual studio. We are recording for the podcast as usual and you can also watch us on YouTube. Danielle's essay is titled A Letter to My Sister: I'm Sorry. Danielle Huggins is a writer from Northern New Jersey. She has been published in the Washington Post, Mutha Magazine, and GoMAG.com. She is a frequent contributor to Writing Class Radio. Danielle has taken First Draft, Second Draft, Final Draft, and Memoir. She is currently working on a memoir and attends First Draft Class as often as she can. She is on TikTok under @bipolardanielle and lives with her husband, daughter, mother, a wire fox terrier, and Sadie Cat. If you loved this story and want more, you can listen to Episode 105: Teach us Something We Don't Know. Episode 139: This is What Mania Looks Like. And Episode 152: How Music Inspires Storytelling. If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When novelist Tammy Oberhausen feels "stuck or uninspired," she tends "to wallow around with it for a while and feel bad." Writing prompts help her ideas flow again. "Don't wallow too much," she says. "Get the prompt and go with it."On this episode, Tammy shares how to use your dreams—which she says are like "personalized prompts"—in your writing.About Tammy OberhausenTammy Oberhausen is the author The Evolution of the Gospelettes, a novel published in 2024 by Fireside Industries.She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in English from Western Kentucky University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. While working as a book editor and teacher and raising two daughters, she kept coming back to a story about a family of gospel singers that wouldn't let her go. After three decades of developing her craft and writing and rewriting that story, the Gospelettes finally made their debut. A Kentucky native, she lives in Bowling Green with her husband.

KY Dept for Public Health shells out over $500k fir a middle school creative writing class for only "black or brown" girls. Some horrible bills are moving through our Legislature including on that will have a huge effect on deer hunting in Kentucky.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Rachel Perse, who had severe anxiety after giving birth to her first child, but pretended she was having the time of her life. She tells her important story and then talks to us about how she used writing to get to the truth. And to work out her shit around becoming a new mother.Rachel is here in the studio with us, so we are recording for the podcast as usual but now, you can also watch us on YouTube. Rachel Perse will be reading her story called The Lies I Told About Motherhood.Rachel Perse is a stay-at-home mom to her 8-month-old son and two dogs. She is a proud older sister, alumna of Emory University, former assistant dean of students at the University of Miami, public health educator, and now, writer.A Transcription of this episode is available on our network website.We also made available our raw recording process on YouTube.If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com. Check out our website for our Tips Clinic, every second Saturday.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amelia Zachry, author of Enough: A Memoir of Mistakes, Mania, and Motherhood, didn't think anyone would want to read about her trauma. But being vulnerable about her experiences "invited people to be vulnerable" in return. "And so that is the power of the word from page to the reader," Amelia says, "that we can transform that sense of healing to others through our words." On this episode, Amelia discusses several writing prompts that will help you tap into your emotions and "share your truth."About Amelia ZachryAmelia Zachry is the author of Enough: A Memoir of Mistakes, Mania, and Motherhood.She began writing her debut memoir after finding her voice, shedding silence and fear. Enough reveals secrets of sexual assault and subsequently a bipolar disorder diagnosis. She is an advocate for mental health and sexual assault awareness, supporting causes to dismantle rape culture and normalize mental health.When she's not writing, she can be found sculpting Raku-Yaki pottery or hiking with her husband and two magnificent daughters. Amelia currently resides in Nagoya, Japan. 

Today we bring you another story told live on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in September 2024. This story is by Emma Lathrop and is about her anxiety. This quality she thought was hindering her turned out to be something she now values. Two years ago, we were hired by Dr. Jane Marks and Dr. Bruce Hungate, two famous ecologists from ECOSS at Northern Arizona University. They heard our podcast and then started taking our classes which led to the idea that their students would benefit from taking our classes. So we've been doing online workshops and in-person workshops to help these scientists personalize their stories. The stories are amazing. I have learned so much about science through their stories in a way that brings me in. This is our second year collaborating with the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University. The scientists are so smart and they are trying to save our planet and we get to help them reach more people by personalizing their message. Today's storyteller, Emma Lathop, is a PhD candidate in ECOSS at Northern Arizona University. If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.Starting in 2025, a new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Author Jessica Handler believes "that when we write well, we're writing about what matters to us." What matters to you? On this episode, Jessica shares a prompt that will help you understand what you're trying to do with your writing. It's one that she often used while working on her memoir, Invisible Sisters.Jessica also shares a prompt that will help you regain focus and use your senses in a work in progress. Her third prompt will help you generate ideas for future projects. About Jessica HandlerJessica Handler is the author of the novel The Magnetic Girl, winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize and a nominee for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, a 2019 “Books All Georgians Should Read,” an Indie Next pick, Wall Street Journal Spring 2019 pick, Bitter Southerner Summer 2019 pick, and a Southern Independent Bookseller's Association “Okra Pick.” Her memoir Invisible Sisters was also named one of the “Books All Georgians Should Read,” and her craft guide Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss was praised by Vanity Fair magazine. Her writing has appeared on NPR, in Tin House, Drunken Boat, Full Grown People, Oldster, The Bitter Southerner, Electric Literature, Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, Newsweek, The Washington Post and elsewhere.

Today we bring you a story told live at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in September 2024. We're talking about making a connection from your personal life to what we study. We're also talking about being vulnerable. Because everyone will love you more. We promise. This is our second year collaborating with the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University. Two years ago, we were hired by Dr. Jane Marks and Dr. Bruce Hungate, two famous ecologists from ECOSS at Northern Arizona University. They heard our podcast and then started taking our classes which led to the idea that their students would benefit from taking our classes. So we've been doing online workshops and in-person workshops to help these scientists personalize their stories. The stories are amazing. I have learned so much about science through their stories in a way that brings me in. Well, you'll see. Today's story is by Megan Quinn, a master's degree student in the biology department at NAU. Megan's essay reveals her eating disorder and how she's been healing from that…much like burned trees heal from high intensity wild fires. If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we are re-running a story by Emily Henderson titled After Our Son Died, My Husband Gave Me The Most Meaningful Christmas Gift Of My Life. Emily workshopped this essay in our Final Draft class and then the Huffington Post published it on December 25, 2021. This story is an excellent example of using an object to convey emotion, details, and telling in addition to showing. Emily tells us how she's feeling the entire story which intensifies vulnerability. To hear another of Emily's stories, listen to Episode 103: Writing the Same Story Over and Over and Episode 160: Cliches Saved My LifeEmily Henderson is a runner and writer living in Santa Barbara, California. Her essays have appeared in Scary Mommy, the Santa Barbara Independent, Huffington Post, and Writing Class Radio. Emily is currently writing a memoir about processing the loss of her son while running every street in her city. You can follow her on Instagram at @emilykathleenwrites or visit https://substack.com/@emilyhendersonIf you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.Starting in 2025, a new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For poet and fiction writer B. Elizabeth Beck, "making sure that you are actively engaged in a community is... the salvation to your sanity and to your work."On this episode, Elizabeth discusses her participation in writing and music communities. She founded Teen Howl and Poetry at the/ˈtā-bəl/, two Lexington-based reading series where poets of all ages support each other's writing. Elizabeth has also discovered community with fellow fans of the Grateful Dead and Phish, and these experiences, as well as her love of visual art, often inspire her writing. Learn how to engage with art and music in your own writing with help from Elizabeth's favorite prompt.About B. Elizabeth Becklizabeth Beck is a poet who writes fiction. Dancing on the Page (Rabbit House Press, 2024) is her fifth poetry collection. Accents Publishing will publish Swan Songs, her debut collection of short stories, in 2025.Mama Tried (Broadstone Books) won the American Book Fest Prize for Poetry. She was a finalist in the Kentucky State Poetry Society Grand Prix Prize and has been nominated several times for the Pushcart Prize. Elizabeth is a recipient of The Kentucky Foundation for Women grant.Her work appears in journals and anthologies, including Poetica Magazine, Appalachian Review, Limestone Blue, and Harvard Education Press. Elizabeth founded two poetry series, Teen Howl, and Poetry at the/ˈtā-bəl/ in Lexington, Kentucky.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Dana Shavin, who submitted her essay to the podcast. When it came in, we were blown away. The writing is so smart and well-crafted. In this episode, we talk about the difference between situation and story and we also discuss why callbacks are effective.Dana Shavin is an award-winning humor columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and the author of a memoir, The Body Tourist and the collection of essays, Finding the World: Thoughts on Life, Love, Home and Dogs.Dana's essays and articles have appeared in The Sun, Oxford American, Garden and Gun, Travel + Leisure, Alaska Quarterly Review, Fourth Genre, Today.com, Appalachian Review, Psychology Today, Bark, The Writer, and others. You can find more at Danashavin.com, and follow her on Facebook at Dana Shavin Writes. If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Rachel Kramer Bussel. Her story was so relatable, that we realized sometimes we choose stories so we can just talk about ourselves. And that's just what we do in this episode. We also talk about the narrator's brilliance in drawing us in with just the right details. Rachel's story is titled, The Craving That Killed My VeganismRachel Kramer Bussel (rachelkramerbussel.com) is an essayist and freelance writer specializing in books, culture, relationships, mental health, and feminism. She is the editor of Open Secrets Magazine (opensecretsmag.substack.com) and over 70 anthologies, and is the author of How to Write Erotica and Lap Dance Lust. Rachel's writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Salon, The Village Voice, and other publications. She teaches essay writing classes online and is currently editing an anthology about our attachments to your belongings.If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Novelist Jacinda Townsend believes that "writing is a habit, and the imagination begets the imagination." Having a set writing routine helps her create because "the imagination is a kind of muscle." On this episode, Jacinda explains the steps she takes each morning to fire up her imagination, including using writing prompts.Her favorite prompt to share focuses on pacing. Her students generate such strong work with this exercise that some have even published their finished pieces.About Jacinda TownsendJacinda Townsend is the author of Trigger Warning (Graywolf, 2025) and Mother Country (Graywolf, 2022), winner of the 2023 Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Townsend's first novel, Saint Monkey (Norton, 2014), winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for historical fiction, was an Honor Book of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. A former broadcast journalist and elected official, Townsend has written nonfiction for Al Jazeera and The White Review.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sarena Neyman. Sarena is in Allison's 2nd Draft class, which contains writers who come together to share a draft of their essay and receive feedback from the group. Sarena was previously published on Writing Class Radio. Episode 187: The Bigger Table: How I Lost My Husband But Gained a Bigger Family. In that episode, we discussed Sarena's brilliant landings. In this episode we will discuss landings again, because like last time, they are perfect. We will also talk about humor and details. This narrator is hilarious and so good at the highlighting little things.Sarena Neyman has been writing for numerous human rights groups for more than 20 years, working on causes from digital privacy to affordable housing to marriage equality. She writes for cabinlife.com and PeaceVoice.com. Sarena lives in Western Massachusetts.If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the final story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned.Today's story is by Nicole Walker whose story tells us everything we need to know about why she writes and why she wrote this story. When she wrote about her abortion at 11 in the New York Times, all the shame she carried for more than forty years melted away. This is why we write. Nicole Walker is an English professor at Northern Arizona University and the author of 8 books. You can find Nicole on Facebook, Twitter @nikwalkotter, Instagram @nikwalker28, and her website nikwalk.com.This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women's Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, Women's Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the sixth story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned.Today's story is by Derick Cook who describes his wife's near-death experience when doctors sent her home after her water broke at 16 weeks. Derick's wife should have gotten an abortion right away, but because her fetus still had cardiac activity and she wasn't yet on the verge of death, her doctor was afraid to offer common-sense care. This story is tragic, but it has a happy ending. Derick Cook is a high school football champ, drummer, and guitar player. Because of what Derick's wife went through, Derick has become an activist. He told us he wants to write a book. I hope he does. Find Derick on Facebook.This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women's Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, Women's Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Novelist Robert Gipe believes that when you use writing prompts, "you're just kind of fishing for something that works."If you're lucky, you might end up with "a couple of sentences that have some energy to them, that have some heat." Robert says those sentences can help you build a piece of writing "you feel good enough about to share with others."Try your luck with three of Robert's favorite writing prompts. According to him, these prompts use form "as a way of letting your unconscious drive the content." About Robert GipeRobert Gipe won the 2015 Weatherford Award for Outstanding Appalachian Novel for his first novel, Trampoline. His second novel, Weedeater, was published in 2018. His third novel, Pop, was published in 2021.All three novels are published by Ohio University Press. In 2021, the trilogy won the Judy Gaines Young Book Award.From 1997 to 2018, Gipe directed the Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College Appalachian Program in Harlan. Gipe is founding producer of the Higher Ground Community Performance Series and has served as a script consultant for the Hulu series, Dopesick, and a producer on the feature film, The Evening Hour.Gipe resides in Harlan County, Kentucky. He grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee.

This is the fifth story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight how Florida's current 6-week abortion ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on Amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned.Today's story is by Dr. Cecilia Grande, an OB-GYN in Miami, Florida. Her story is about how the current abortion laws are prohibiting her and her colleagues from giving standard care to her patients and tragically, women are dying. Dr. Grande lists the exceptions provided by the law, but walks us through why these exceptions are grossly inadequate and why even the exception for rape and incest does not protect rape victims unless they report their rape and can provide a court order. The exceptions, in short, are cruel. Dr. Cecilia Grande has been a practicing physician in Miami for 30 years.The Yes on 4 campaign is taking the full live show, Our Abortion Stories, on the road. Join us in a city near you:Tour Dates:Tallahassee, Oct. 24Jacksonville, Oct. 25Orlando, Oct. 26Ft. Lauderdale, Oct. 28Click on the city for tickets and theater locations.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women's Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, Women's Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the fourth story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned.Today's story is by Nilsa Ada Rivera. Nilsa's story shows what someone living on the street goes through when she learns she's pregnant and wants to have a baby. In Nilsa's case, the fetus had severe health problems and Nilsa had to make the hard decision to terminate the pregnancy. Nilsa is Catholic and until recently struggled with her decision. Ultimately she believes God is the only entity that can judge her. She's been on the podcast before when she wrote about hearing loss. For more Nilsa, here's Episode 29 and Episode 107. Nilsa Ada Rivera is a housing analyst and writer. Nilsa and I have been in writing groups together for about 15 years. She is coming out with her first book in 2025 about affordable housing. You can find Nilsa Rivera on Instagram @nilsawrites and Facebook.This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women's Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, Women's Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the third story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned.Today's story is by Matt Tente. Matt's story is in the epistolary form, which means it was told in the form of a letter. Matt comes with a perspective about how healthcare could be handled if we in Florida work hard enough to win Yes on 4. We found Matt's story on HuffPost, where it was published in a longer form. Matt Tente is a screenwriter and portrait photographer who came in from California where he lives with his wife and one-year-old son. You can find him on Instagram @matttenteheadshots. This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women's Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, Women's Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the second story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4 to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned. Today's story is by Nicole Crooks and is titled The Shade of Our Grandmothers' Trees. Nicole tells the story of sexual molestation and rape. Neither the abuse nor the rape were described, but there is mention of both. If this is a difficult subject for you to hear about, please skip this episode. In Nicole's story she grapples with reporting her rape and ultimately doesn't, just as the women she counseled ultimately didn't report theirs.Nicole Crooks is a coach and consultant who is committed to black women's well-being and building community. You can find Nicole on Instagram at @IamnicolecrooksThis event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women's Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, Women's Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

SCRIPTWRITING TALK AND MORE! Welcome To Plotpoints Podcast! Mark Sevi and Guests Show Notes September 20, 2024 Episode #292 This show and all subsequent shows dedicated to the brave Ukrainian people. This is Plotpoints Podcast! www.plotpoints.com GO HERE FOR INFO ON SCRIPTWRITING CLASSES   SHAMELESS PROMOS: Creative Screenwriting Magazine – Articles by Mark Sevi for CS Magazine / Latest Article:  LINK Final Draft – Articles by Mark Sevi for Final Draft Scriptwriting Manual for All Writers! On AMAZON SHOW DETAILS 00:00:00 INTRO Podcast theme music by Mark Sevi, Interstitial Music by MaxKo Music MARK IS JOINED BY WRITER CHRIS STIRES Chris' bio at end of show notes 00:00:00 USELESS CHATTER! 00:2:00 WHAT ARE WE WATCHING? 00:8:00 WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON? 00:10:00 TOP 5 VAMPIRE, ZOMBIE, WEREWOLF MOVIES 2000-2024 00:15:00 DIALOGUE TIPS 00:19:00 WRITER'S QUOTE(S) 00:20:00 BYE BYE Need a Writing Class? For info go to www.

Today, we are starting a new series in support of reproductive rights–specifically Yes on 4 here in Florida to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned. Our first story in the series is by Liz Chifari. We asked Liz why she wrote this story and she said, “.... because it was time.”Liz had two abortions. In 1970, before abortion was legal, Liz had to proclaim she was mentally ill to get an abortion. In 1997, when she thought she was in perimenopause and already had a family, she went to an abortion clinic. Her story is about how radically different her experiences were. This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women's Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olan at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, Women's Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When creative writer Deidra White feels stuck with her writing, she tells herself to "write the poem that you need to read." This exercise helps with one of the most challenging aspects of writing: visualizing your audience.Deidra shares several other ways she likes to jump start her writing. She also describes how she rediscovered her passion for words as a nontraditional college student, why she enjoys teaching young people, and more. About Deidra WhiteDeidra White is a Lexington, KY, native, a University of Kentucky MFA graduate, and an aspiring Affrilachian poet.She received the 2022 Farquhar Award for Poetry for “Meihua;” the Patricia and William Stacy Endowed Fellowship for Distinguished Honors in English; and the William Hugh Jansen Fiction Award in the Art of Storytelling/Folklore for “Woodstock.” White was the 2023 winner of the Broadside Poetry Contest for “When They Came” and the 2023 winner of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Nonfiction Award for her contemporary piece, “DUCK." She was also the Keynote Speaker for the 2024 Youth Poet Laureate commencement. Her work engages the tradition of Affrilachian writing and explores the intricate dynamics of Black womanhood with an eye to connections of the past to present.

On September 18, 2024, we are launching a new series in support of a family's reproductive rights--specifically the Yes on 4 campaign here in Florida to get rid of a near abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v Wade. The stories in the series were told live on stage at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. Each storyteller stood in front of an audience of 400 people and read their story.As the country gears up for the election on November 5th 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only ultra important but will also save lives. I know that is counter intuitive, so stay tuned. This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women's Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olan at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women's Freedom Coalition, Women's Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, All Angels Episcopal Church, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jennifer Sizeland, who lives in Manchester, England. Her story, I found connection through a tattoo of a bee is a great example of situation and story. It's important to know the difference and we will discuss why.Jennifer Sizeland is a freelance writer and assistant producer with 14 years of experience in the media industry. She has written for many publications including the BBC, the Independent, Metro, Manchester Mill, Fodor's Travel, Gastro Obscura, Reader's Digest, and Stylist. For more Jennifer Sizeland, go to her website Jennifersizeland.com. She lives in Manchester, England and you can follow her on Instagram at @lifeofsize.If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Farida Taha. Farida writes about losing her daughter to cancer and how she's moving forward. We talk a lot about loss on our podcast, because writing is how so many people process grief. We believe writing opens the heart, clears the mind, and helps us understand and process. In this essay, Farida throws out some incredibly poignant lines that reveal intense pain and so much hope for the future.Farida Taha is a writer and mother of three. She is originally from New York City and resides in Miami, FL. She is an avid listener and former writing class radio student. You can find her on Instagram @faridae.If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Are you an aspiring writer who thinks you'll write a novel when you have more time or your children are older? If so, author and Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House has some advice for you. “Often you cannot create the perfect conditions for your writing,” he says. “I think if you wait around for that, you're never going to get anything written.” Silas knows this from experience, having written his first three novels when his children were small. “Sometimes you just have to do it,” he continues.Silas shares a multi-step writing prompt that will help you create vivid characters, whether you're working on fiction, poetry, or memoir. It's the perfect opportunity to stop waiting and start writing.About Silas HouseSilas House is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of seven novels, four plays, and one book of creative nonfiction. His writing has been featured in Time, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and many other publications.House currently serves as the Poet Laureate of Kentucky and is a 2022 winner of the Duggins Prize, the largest award for an LGBTQ writer in the nation. He has been a finalist for a Grammy Award and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. His most recent novel, Lark Ascending, won the Southern Book Prize and the Editor's Award from Booklist, among other honors.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sarena Neyman. Sarena is in Allison's 2nd Draft class, which is made up of writers who come together to share a draft of their essay and receive feedback from the group. Sarena's stories are funny and brimming with voice and perfect landings.Sarena Neyman has been writing for numerous human rights groups for more than 20 years, working on causes from digital privacy to affordable housing to marriage equality. She writes for cabinlife.com and PeaceVoice.com. Sarena lives in Western Massachusetts.If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Janet Funk. Janet writes about her experience sharing an essay she wrote with her family prior to submitting for publication to. The essay was about the horrible fourth of July when her brother Robbie drowned and was published in Business Insider on July 3, 2024.We'll discuss the age-old-memoir questions: How do we write about and publish stories about the people in our lives? Janet's essay was written from a prompt given in First Draft. The prompt was this: Write about Something Beautiful. Janet's story is called Something Beautiful Happened When I Shared My Writing with My FamilyJanet Funk lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband Johnny, two sons and goldendoodle. In her free time she kayaks, hikes and writes. She also works at the best thrift store in town.You can find her writing on her Substack https://janetfunk.substack.com/Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kaitlyn Hill, who writes young adult romantic comedies, didn't always take those stories seriously, even though she was drawn to them. "It was just really powerful for me to come to the realization that there is so much value in stuff that is fun and light and happy," she says.As Kaitlyn's writing prompt illustrates, she tries to keep fun in her process. Kaitlyn also shares how reading fueled her desire to be a writer, her love of fan fiction, and more.About Kaitlyn HillKaitlyn Hill is a writer who lives to tell love stories and make people laugh. While books make up most of her personality, Kaitlyn also enjoys messy reality TV, has never met a tea she didn't like, and thrives on overly ambitious home improvement projects.She resides in Kentucky with her real life romance hero. Kaitlyn is the author of Wild About You and other young adult romantic comedies, and can be found on social media @thekaitlynhill and at thekaitlynhill.com

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Bonnie Shor, who we call Blee. Blee has been a student of Writing Class Radio for two years. We love the shit out of her. Listen to what she told us: I took up knitting, Zumba and writing when I turned 60. Eight years later, there's a ball of yarn in my closet, and four unused Zumba classes on my lost dance card. My writing, though, can be found in several anthologies, most recently, Hellokoo Volume 1 Letter A, Loud Coffee Press Magazine, and now Writing Class Radio. For more Blee, check out her Instagram @Bleeshor. Blee's story is called Am I Turning Into My Mother? A question many people can totally relate to on so many levels. On this episode we talk about how Blee so elegantly described her mother and herself. We discuss what makes something universal, the details that drew us in and told us so much about the narrator, and we discuss why the structure she used is so effective. And finally, we talk about endings. This narrator nailed the ending in a huge way. Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Alison Colwell. At age 8, Alison was responsible for making sure her mother's epileptic seizure didn't kill her. In this essay, Alison takes us to a moment in the hospital where if she'd looked away, her mom might have died. Alison's essay is an excellent example of hot topic cold prose and is contained in a very short moment. We will go into detail about what we mean by hot topic cold prose and why the tool is so effective. Alison's essay is called Look Away.Alison Colwell graduated from the BFA program at UVIC and is now the Executive Director of the Galiano Community Food Program, a charity focused on increasing food security on Galiano Island. She is a single working mother of two children with mental health challenges and a survivor of domestic abuse, all of which inform her creative writing. Alison was recently awarded a Canada Council for the Arts Grant to work on a series of interconnected essays that weave fairy tales with memoir. Alison has been published in Rising Tides, Folklife Magazine, The Fieldstone Review, the NonBinary Review, The Fourth River, The Humber Literary Review, The Ocotillo Review, Daily Science Fiction, Flash Fiction Magazine, Crow & Cross Keys, The Drabble, and Tangled Locks Journal and is forthcoming in Two Hawks Quarterly and Hippocampus Magazine. Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. A transcription of this episode can be found of the Sound Off Media Company's Network Page. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sandra Gail Lambert, author of My Withered Legs and Other Essays, started writing in her forties. She believes her age helped her cope with the "rough and tumble world" of publishing."There's so much rejection [in publishing], and there's so much feedback that is not necessarily accurate or kind," Sandra says. "And when we're older, we just have tougher skin." That resilience allowed Sandra to "look for something in their critique... that helped me be a better writer without paying attention to their attitudes or assumptions or prejudices against me."Sandra shares several prompts she relies on when she's feeling lost in her writing. She also discusses why she chose to self-publish her novel The Sacrifice Zone: An Environmental Thriller; why she always returns to the body in her writing; and more. About Sandra Gail LambertSandra Gail Lambert writes fiction and memoir that is often about the disabled body and its relationship to the natural world. She's the author of the recently released My Withered Legs and Other Essays from the University of Georgia Press, the Lambda Literary Award nominated memoir, A Certain Loneliness, and two novels, The River's Memory and The Sacrifice Zone: An Environmental Thriller. 

This episode focuses on how to tell a story out loud. In May 2024, our own Andrea Askowitz made her way to a Moth storytelling competition and for the 15th time (over nine years), dropped her name in the bag. The prompt was snooping. Before she left home, her wife told her to look at this evening, if chosen, as practice instead of assuming this would be her Moth. So, when her name was chosen, Andrea had not memorized a story but instead decided to have fun telling the audience about the time she snooped on her daughter's Insta account. Did she win at long last? Listen to find out. In this episode, you will also hear tips on how to hone your story for both the page and the stage. If you want to tell a story out loud or if you want to hone a story you're writing for the page, sign up here to workshop with Andrea. Page to Stage and Back to Page is happening June 27, 2024 7-8:30 p.m. ET on Zoom.A transcription of this episode can be found on the Network Page.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Emma Lathrop, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Emma's story is about proving your value and fighting for your position as a woman in STEM. The best part is when we get a glimpse into how the field would look if Emma were the boss.This story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. Like episode 174, 175, 177, 179, and 180 this was a collaboration with ECOSS, The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, at Northern Arizona University and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true SCIENCE stories.Writing Class Radio worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and then they hired us to work with their students online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. Emma Lathrop is a PhD student at NAU in the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University. Her research focuses on understanding how susceptible carbon in deep soils is to decomposition and emission to the atmosphere as greenhouse gas. Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by our own Allison Langer. Her essay is called My Mom And I Fought For 55 Years. Now Battling My Son Is Making Me Rethink Everything, which was originally published in Huffington Post, May 16, 2023.In this episode, Allison shows us that you can write about the same thing over and over and you should. It's the only way to really work out your shit. Listen to the hosts discuss why writing and rewriting is important for your heart and your story.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Darby Bergl, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story is about resilience and survival in the face of a volatile father. Darby has a passion for ecology and the study of carbon dynamics in temperate forests, which she interjects into her story.Darby's story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories. Darby was totally present while telling her story on stage and her delivery was spot on. Writing Class Radio worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and then they hired us to work with their students online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. Darby Bergl is a PhD student at NAU in the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University. Darby's research focuses on the interactions between climate and soil biogeochemistry in terrestrial ecosystems. She is interested in utilizing radiocarbon techniques and modeling approaches to comprehend how C cycling, turnover, and storage will change over time and how this relates to the global C cycle. She plans to use the findings to participate in discussions about the carbon budget in northern hardwood forests with stakeholders, policy advisers, and community members.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Keven Griffen, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story uses science to understand an emotional connection to place. She did it by having us fall in love with the place. She set the scene and raised the stakes. Keven's story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories. Keven was dialed in while telling her story on stage and her delivery was impeccable. Writing Class Radio worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and then they hired us to work with their students online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. Keven Griffen is a PhD student at NAU in the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University. She is interested in how communities respond to disturbance in extreme environments, and her research is primarily focused on using biological soil crusts for restoration applications, their tolerances for extreme environments, and their responses to global change.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we bring you a story by Morgan Sutton that embodies everything a story should embody. The story uses no extra words; the narrator looks inside herself; and the story matters to the broader world.The story is so important because it explains a very dangerous and ugly assumption that is often made about women who've been raped. Morgan does it by examining her own situation and her own assumptions. There's no preaching. And there's nothing dogmatic. This is what writing and storytelling is all about. Getting to the truth. Morgan workshopped this story at Writing Class Radio's annual writing boot camp in Key Largo. She did the work to make the story great. Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On today's 175th Episode of The Thriller Zone, now in our 6th Season, we're happy to invite Don Winslow into our home for a face-to-face interview that, as you'll quickly notice, is truly a one of a kind opportunity for this host, and for you as an audience member.Don, as you may know, is a renowned thriller writer who has decades of experience as a seasoned writer, creating one hit after another. Today, Don discusses his journey as an author and the challenges he faced in the publishing industry. Despite initial rejections and being labeled a cult writer, Winslow persevered and eventually achieved success. He credits his partnership with agent Shane Salerno as a turning point in his career. Together, they started a rebellion against the limitations imposed by publishers and Hollywood. In our in-depth conversation, Winslow reflects on the impact of his mother, a librarian, who instilled in him a love for books and the belief that he could achieve anything. He also shares his thoughts on retirement and the future of the publishing industry. Digging deeper and opening up, Don reveals the evolution of storytelling and the impact of technology and AI on the industry. He emphasizes the authenticity of human communication and the importance of bringing heart and soul to writing. As our show begins to wrap, Don allows us an inside peek, as he shares advice for aspiring writers, encouraging them to never give up and set doable writing goals. He reflects on the emotional impact of his City Trilogy, which includes City On Fire, City Of Dreams and City In Ruins, as well as the upcoming film adaptation, and concludes by discussing his future plans, including his commitment to fighting against neo-fascism and—on a much lighter note—spending more time with his wife, Jean.All in all, this will stand out as one of the very finest episodes of The Thriller Zone since I launched the podcast nearly three years ago. I'm your host, David Temple, now let's meet the man of the hour, my friend Don Winslow here in TheThrillerZone.comTo learn more visit: DonWinslow.com and purchase his book #CityInRuins wherever you buy your books!* * * * *Chapters00:00 Introduction and Background02:22 Early Days and Challenges06:03 The Turning Point09:25 Dealing with Rejection13:19 Meeting Shane Salerno22:57 The Moment of Confidence26:41 Retirement and Future Plans32:13 The Publishing Industry Today35:13 The Evolution of Storytelling36:10 The Impact of Technology and AI37:31 The Authenticity of Human Communication38:29 Advice for Aspiring Writers40:57 Setting Doable Writing Goals45:12 The Emotional Impact of the City Trilogy47:09 Film Adaptation of the City Trilogy49:32 Austin Butler as Danny in the Film Adaptation52:51 Overview of the City Trilogy56:13 The Emotional Impact of the Epilogue59:05 Reflecting on Gratitude and the Writing Journey01:04:35 Opening Line and Takeaway for a Writing Class01:08:10 Future Plans and Priorities TakeawaysDon't give up on your dreams, even in the face of rejection and setbacks.Success often comes after years of hard work and perseverance.Having a supportive partner or mentor can make a significant difference in your career.The publishing industry is evolving, but books and storytelling will always have a place in society. The storytelling industry has evolved throughout history, with changes in platforms & technology, but the desire for stories remains constant.Artificial intelligence may never be able to replicate the authenticity and emotional impact of human communication in storytelling.Aspiring writers should never give up and set doable writing goals to make progress.The City trilogy by Don Winslow which includes City On Fire, City Of Dreams & City In Ruins, explores timeless themes from classical literature in a modern setting, with a focus on character development and emotional depth. (00:00) - (00:15) - Chapter 2 (00:15) - Introduction and Background (02:37) - Early Days and Challenges (06:18) - The Turning Point (09:40) - Dealing with Rejection (13:34) - Meeting Shane Salerno (23:12) - The Moment of Confidence (26:56) - Retirement and Future Plans (33:07) - The Publishing Industry Today (36:07) - The Evolution of Storytelling (37:04) - The Impact of Technology and AI (38:25) - The Authenticity of Human Communication (39:23) - Advice for Aspiring Writers (41:51) - Setting Doable Writing Goals (46:06) - The Emotional Impact of the City Trilogy (48:03) - Film Adaptation of the City Trilogy (50:26) - Austin Butler as Danny in the Film Adaptation (53:45) - Overview of the City Trilogy (57:07) - The Emotional Impact of the Epilogue (59:59) - Reflecting on Gratitude and the Writing Journey (01:05:29) - Opening Line and Takeaway for a Writing Class (01:09:04) - Future Plans and Priorities The Thriller Zone with David Temple is sponsored in part by Blackstone Publishing.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jasmine Anenberg, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Her story is about losing a friend but gaining something he taught her, which is seeing the beauty in small things. She takes this lesson into her fieldwork as she studies mosses in dirt.Her story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories. Jasmine was totally present while telling her story on stage and her delivery was spot on. Writing Class Radio worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and then they hired us to work with their students online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jennifer Byrne, who conjures the courage to leave her husband after she's faced with removing a bird that flew into her house. Her story is an excellent example of using a book-end structure. Jennifer has been published in the New York Times (Tiny Love Stories), The Cut, Psychology Today, Good Housekeeping, Atlas Obscura, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The New Yorker Daily Shouts and The Guardian. She lives in New Jersey. Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Nick Link, a PhD student in the Mack Lab and part of the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University. His story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories.We worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and hired us to work with their students. We did that online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. Nick's story takes a personal experience that has been burned into his memory. As an undergraduate student, he and his housemates almost burned down the neighborhood when they got rid of their Christmas trees. This experience led him to his work today, building natural fire breaks in the forest of Alaska. Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Happy Valentine's Day. Today on our show, we bring you a story that was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories.We worked with our narrator of today's story Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, a conservation ecologist and professor at NAU, who happens to be married to Bruce. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and hired us to work with their students. We did that online and in person and all of it culminated in a live show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. Bruce Hungate's story is a love story. It's about his love for his wife, Jane, as well as his love for science and nature. His story is a great lesson on how to sneak science into a story.Bruce Hungate is a professor and director of ECOSS at Northern Arizona University. Bruce conducts research on ecosystems and how they respond to and shape environmental change. He trains future scientists and communicates the relevance of science to people around the world.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Christopher Blackwell. Chris is 42 and serving a 45-year prison sentence in Washington. Chris's story came to us through writer and Chris's mentor, Jamie Beth Cohen.This episode is about taking a small moment and bringing big meaning. Through details and emotion, Chris tells us so much about himself and his surroundings. When birds nest on the windowsill of the prison, all the men gather round. Their usual differences melt away. When the birds fly away, our narrator understands their lust for freedom.Christopher Blackwell co-founded Look 2 Justice, an organization that provides civic education to system-impacted communities and actively works to pass sentence and policy reform legislation. He is currently writing a book about solitary confinement. His writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and many other outlets. He is a contributing writer at Jewish Currents, a contributing editor at The Appeal, and works closely with the prison writing program Empowerment Avenue. You can follow him on X @chriswblackwell.Chris's story was originally published in The Appeal, which is a nonprofit news organization that envisions a world in which systems of support and care, not punishment, create public safety. Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sumitra Mattai. Sumitra is a writer and textile designer based in New York City. She holds a BFA in Textile Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Her essays on family, food and culture have been published widely. For more information, www.sumitramattai.com, Instagram @sumitramattai, or subscribe to her newsletter, "Clothbound," highlighting textiles in art, design and everyday life.Her story is a really interesting example of how to change-up structure. It's literally a list with soooooo many details that reveal so much about her. Through the list, we discover what the story is about, which is that despite insecurity, this narrator pushes on one day at a time.Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.There's more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison Langer on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You'll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you're a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. A Transcription of this episode is available here.There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.