Episodes

A Time I Had an Unpopular Opinion
Jan. 30, 2019

A Time I Had an Unpopular Opinion

In this episode we air the winner of our fall writing contest--Jen Antill. The prompt: A Time I Had an Unpopular Opinion reaped a story about a woman who is pregnant at 24, but doesn’t want to be. It turns out, she never wanted to be a mother. Starting with a prompt like a time you had an unpopular…
Everyone Needs an Editor/Friend
Jan. 23, 2019

Everyone Needs an Editor/Friend

This is the final episode of the Andrea Show. For the last seven weeks, we brought you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge on her 50th birthday in May 2018, which was i…
What's Your Achilles Heel?
Jan. 16, 2019

What's Your Achilles Heel?

For the next two weeks, we will bring you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “Wr…
Write About Me!
Jan. 9, 2019

Write About Me!

For the next three weeks, we will bring you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “…
The Mean Letter You Always Wanted to Write
Jan. 1, 2019

The Mean Letter You Always Wanted to Write

This week, Andrea uses the epistolary form--story written as a letter--to get her point across. The letter form is very intimate because the narrator is speaking directing to you. We hope this process will help writers get published or at least get inspire to write. For the next four weeks, we will…
From Writing Prompt to Published Story
Dec. 26, 2018

From Writing Prompt to Published Story

For the next five weeks, we'll bring you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “W…
Should I Edit Out the Dick Pics?
Dec. 19, 2018

Should I Edit Out the Dick Pics?

This is week three of an eight-week experiment. We’re bringing you a story a week by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbur…
Funny Story...My Brother Has Cancer
Dec. 12, 2018

Funny Story...My Brother Has Cancer

For the next seven weeks, we will bring you a story written and read by Writing Class Radio co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. Andrea took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. He said, “…
It's Not Possible to Write 52 Bad Stories in a Row
Dec. 5, 2018

It's Not Possible to Write 52 Bad Stories in a Row

Welcome to Season 6. For the next eight weeks, we will bring you a story a week written and read by co-host, Andrea Askowitz, with commentary by her editor, co-host, Allison Langer. This week, Andrea tells us why she took a weekly essay challenge, which was inspired by a quote by the author of Fahr…
We Don't Care About Your Life if it Doesn't Serve this Story
Nov. 7, 2018

We Don't Care About Your Life if it Doesn't Serve this Story

This is our 50th episode and our last episode of Season 5. Today we’re talking about omitting needless words because who has time for excessive blah, blah, blah. You will hear a great example of a story that got chopped in half. Allison Langer’s story called Why I decided to ignore the judgy snobs …
This is Awkward. Nobody Wants to Talk About Money
Oct. 3, 2018

This is Awkward. Nobody Wants to Talk About Money

Writing about hard topics like money is awkward. No one wants to admit that they have money. And no one wants to admit that they don’t have money. Money is one of those topics that embarrasses people or divides people. This episode talks about MONEY. In this episode, we are also asking our listen…
Get Into a Writing Class So You Can Write About Your F'd Up Family
Sept. 4, 2018

Get Into a Writing Class So You Can Write About Your F'd Up Family

Today on our show we’re talking about compassion, families, and the legacy they leave. We’re also talking about how to write about those people in our lives who have fucked us up. And who hasn’t been fucked up by a parent? However, nobody wants to hear a rant. We must get to know the characters fro…
Show and Tell
Aug. 1, 2018

Show and Tell

In this episode, we examine the popular writing tenet, show DON’T tell. We believe just showing is not only impossible, but detrimental to your story. Telling gives insight into what the narrator is thinking and feeling. To test this theory, we asked our students to just SHOW. We gave the prompt: A…
An Object is More than Just an Object
July 4, 2018

An Object is More than Just an Object

Today on our show, we're talking about objects. Things like a pen, trash cans, reading glasses, and a scale. We can build stories around these things because these objects affect our lives. They can stand in for an emotion. The phrase for this is object correlative. T.S. Eliot used this phrase to d…
Identity is Fuzzy. What's Behind Your Many Faces?
June 6, 2018

Identity is Fuzzy. What's Behind Your Many Faces?

Today we are talking about identity; how sometimes what we show on the outside is not what we feel on the inside. As a storyteller, you have to know who you are. Or try to figure out who you are through the writing. Three of our students address identity. First Aaron Curtis, who is a blogger and …
Voices Carry a Lot of Weight in a Story
May 1, 2018

Voices Carry a Lot of Weight in a Story

The way a story is told out loud adds another layer to a story. On this episode, we’re talking about how our physical voices can carry a story with inflection, pace, volume, tone, and pitch. Voice can even make us love a story we might otherwise not like, or understand. Meet Asia Sampson renown…
Voices in Your Head
April 3, 2018

Voices in Your Head

Writing is a gift of yourself. It should give the reader or listener a glimpse inside. It should be something true and new and vulnerable. In a story, we reveal ourselves through voice. What we mean by voice in a story is the tone, the mood, and the personality of the narrator. Voice can be created…
Secret Pleasures, Who Are We to Judge?
March 7, 2018

Secret Pleasures, Who Are We to Judge?

On this episode, we’re talking about secret pleasures, with a twist. We’re bringing you the winner of our writing contest. We gave the prompt: Secret Pleasure and we got some good ones. Our winner, Erika Flynn from New York City is a professional mistress. She tells us how SHE is the secret pleasur…
The Moment I Knew Everything Was About to Change
Feb. 6, 2018

The Moment I Knew Everything Was About to Change

We’re in season 5! We decided, after 40 episodes, to follow a schedule. So please look out for us on the first Wednesday of every month. On this episode, we’re talking about moments. Going to a moment is a storytelling technique that requires the narrator to first remember something dramatic or i…
Likable Narrator: Be the Biggest Asshole in the Story
Jan. 9, 2018

Likable Narrator: Be the Biggest Asshole in the Story

On this episode, we’re talking about creating a likable narrator. The narrator is the I in the story. It’s YOU. We see this a lot with beginner writers and we probably did this too, and that is tell a story about a time we were the hero. Sad truth: no one wants to hear how great you are. This is tr…
Get Out of Your Way and Write
Dec. 11, 2017

Get Out of Your Way and Write

On today’s episode we’re talking about getting out of our own way when writing a story. The writing process starts with getting the truth on paper. We write about situations or problems we’re dealing with or have dealt with, things we’re still trying to understand or resolve. The goal is getting to…
Write Better by Mimicking the Masters
Nov. 21, 2017

Write Better by Mimicking the Masters

On today’s episode we’re talking about mimicking the masters the way you’d imagine a painting class in Paris that goes to the Louvre to practice painting like Leonardo de Vinci. We think it’s worth copying a method that works because we know it worked in the past. Learn the rules before breaking th…
Ready to Write that Memoir or Novel? Nov. is National Novel Writing Month
Nov. 1, 2017

Ready to Write that Memoir or Novel? Nov. is National Novel Writing Month

November is #NaNoWriMo (https://nanowrimo.org/), and we have executive director, Grant Faulkner (http://www.grantfaulkner.com/), on our show. Today we’re talking about novels because we go both ways. And also because storytelling principles are the same when writing fiction or nonfiction. Get insp…
Hurricanes and Stories Define Us, Since the Beginning of Time
Oct. 17, 2017

Hurricanes and Stories Define Us, Since the Beginning of Time

On this episode of Writing Class Radio we ask for your support, because producing ain’t free. Please go to writingclassradio.com and hit the donate button. This podcast is equal parts heart (the truth) and art (the craft). This episode was conceived after Hurricane Irma blew through South Florida…