21.26: Setting the Pace
Our hosts explore the many tools writers can use to control pacing. We discuss how cadence, transitions, tone, sentence structure, and white space can all speed up or slow down a reader’s experience. And remember, fast i...
Podcast Index
Podcasts
Browse podcasts by category, open recent episodes, and download audio to listen offline.
All
News
Politics
Music
Sports
Technology
Comedy
Arts
Business
Education
Fiction
Government
Health & Fitness
History
Kids & Family
Leisure
Religion & Spirituality
Science
Society & Culture
True Crime
TV & Film
Horror Stories
Horror Stories
Auditory Anthology
Keith Conrad / Darren Marlar
Epic Saga in Sound: Book of Enoch
Epic Saga In Sound
Voce Narrante
Voce Narrante
Relatos 3roticos En Español ORIGINAL
Eric
Geezer Gus Presents™ - Classic Radio Shows / Classic Comedy Shows
Geezer Gus
Stargate SG1 For the First Time - STILL Not a Star Trek Podcast
Brent Allen and Jeff Akin
Ghost - Scary Stories
Caloroga Shark Media | Award-winning writers
Frames of Fantasy
Frames of Fantasy
Fluent Fiction - Danish
FluentFiction.org
Fluent Fiction - Vietnamese
FluentFiction.org
Galactic Horrors
Galactic Horrors
The Utopia Project
theutopiaproject
Writing Excuses
Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
Quinn's Ideas
Quinn's Ideas
Stories - Scary
Sol Good Network
Daily Short Stories - Ghost and Horror Stories
Sol Good Network
Children's Stories - Daily Short Stories
Sol Good Network
Stories - Children
Sol Good Network
Children's Stories
Sol Good Network
Science Fiction - Daily Short Stories
Sol Good Network
Daily Short Stories - Mystery & Suspense
Sol Good Network
Christmas Stories
Sol Good Network
Stories - Science Fiction
Sol Good Network
Daily Science Fiction Stories
solgoodmedia.com
Daily Mystery and Suspense Stories
solgoodmedia.com
Daily Ghost and Horror Stories
solgoodmedia.com
Daily Children's Stories
solgoodmedia.com
Daily Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Dragnet
Jack Webb
Amos N Andy Radio
Correll & Gosden
Old Time Radio Our Miss Brooks
Al Lewis
SciFi Cast
solgoodmedia.com
Amos N Andy Daily
Correll & Gosden
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar Daily
CBS Radio
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar Radio
CBS Radio
Fiction
Writing Excuses
Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
21.25: Follow the Bouncing Ball
In this episode, our hosts explore how writers control their readers’ attention with the metaphor of a bouncing ball. We break down techniques for guiding focus on the page, including POV choice, selective description, r...
21.24: Deconstructing the Seven Point Plot Structure
Dan Wells joins our conversation as we break down the seven-point plot structure! Using examples from Star Wars, Toy Story, and other films, we discuss how each point creates conflict, drives character growth, and moves ...
21.23: Barrier Breaking: Interruptions
In this episode, our hosts explore one of the most persistent barriers to writing: interruptions. From family members and pets to emails, meetings, fatigue, and neurodivergence, they discuss how disruptions can derail cr...
21.22: The Order of the Telling
*Time-Sensitive*Our final WXR cruise is almost sold out, grab your spot before June 4th, 2026 here!This week, we are talking about the order in which we present information to the reader as contrasted with the order in w...
21.21: Rhythm and Words
*Time-Sensitive*Our final WXR cruise is almost sold out, grab your spot before June 4th, 2026 here!Today, we’re continuing the conversation on sequencing by focusing on rhythm—how the musicality of language shapes pacing...
21.20: Sequencing from Mega to Micro
Today, we explore why writers place information in the order they do. From broad-to-narrow framing and cause-and-effect to repetition, rhythm, and surprise, we discuss how sequencing shapes the pacing, emotion, and clari...
21.19: Getting Everything Connected
Today, our hosts discuss how to make every part of your story feel connected through causal chains, thematic resonance, and reader pattern recognition. We take the idea that each action in a story should lead naturally t...
21.18: Deconstructing the Three Act Structure
Today, we are joined by Margaret Dunlap as we dive into the three-act structure. This traditional framework—setup, confrontation, and resolution—is a tool to use rather than a formula to follow. We break down each act, e...
21.17: The Up and Down Escalators
Today we zoom out from moment-to-moment tension and look at how escalation and de-escalation shape a story at the structural level—how raising stakes, lowering pressure, and shifting focus can control pacing, reader emot...
21.16: Tension and Release as Call and Response
Today, we’re talking about tension and release as a kind of call and response, and how that dynamic can guide your reader through a story. It explores how different types of tension—conflict, unanswered questions, antici...
21.15: Using Contrast for Maximum Effect
Today, we’re talking about how to use contrast to make key moments in your story hit harder, especially in the middle. We explore how pairing light and dark beats, shifting expectations, or placing opposing elements side...
21.14: Because at First, They Don’t Succeed
Today, we’re talking about the “try-fail cycle” and why failure is essential to making the middle of your story actually interesting. It allows readers to follow characters as they try something, fail, adjust, and try ag...
21.13: Does The Middle Have To Be Soggy?
Today, we’re taking on the idea of the “soggy middle” and why stories start to lose momentum—often because characters lack clear action, obstacles feel thin, or scenes repeat without meaningful change. We break down how ...
21.12: Breaking Down Barriers- Environment
When writing feels harder than it should, the problem might not be the story— it might be the room. In this episode, our hosts explore how environment shapes process, from desks and chairs to light, sound, and visual clu...
21.11: The Cold Open- Action
Sometimes the fastest way to hook a reader is to start with something exploding. In this episode, our hosts dig into the promise — and the pitfalls — of opening with action, and why survival alone is rarely enough to mak...
21.10: The Cold Open- Voice
A cold open can hook a reader with nothing more than voice. In this episode, our hosts explore what makes a voice-driven opening work — cadence, rhythm, authority, and a clear reason to care. We break down how aesthetic ...
21.09: Grounding The Reader
Grounding a reader starts in the very first lines of a story. Where are we? Who are we with? What kind of story are we in? Our hosts explore how emotion, context, and sensory detail work together to create immersion, and...
21.08: Setting Expectations
In this episode, we explore what it really means to set reader expectations at the beginning of a story. We talk about how openings communicate the shape of what’s to come — from genre and tone to the kind of emotional r...
21.07: Deep Dive- “With Her Serpent Locks”
To celebrate Mary Robinette’s birthday today (!!), she is taking us inside the craft (and emotional engine) of her short story “With Her Serpent Locks,” using it as a case study in beginnings, control, and creative “leve...