Like most writers, I'm short on time to discover new tips and tools for my craft. I find I get distracted trawling the internet for articles, links to resources or tips on how to improve my writing. Interviews with writers take time to read and, to be honest, if I have time to read I'd rather bury my nose in a book. I also find if I'm poised in front of my keyboard, I'm focused on building on my daily word count or editing my latest story.
That's the beauty of podcasts. You can listen to them while travelling to or for from the day job, while exercising or doing some household chores. There are many writing podcasts out there, some of them are very well presented, others biased towards sponsor or product promotion. Some even digress to lowbrow 'comic skits' or too much self-promotion. Here are my top three podcasts for the year. I've included the links so you can click and subscribe easily.
So You Want To Be A Writer - presented by Valerie Khoo and Alison Tait of the Australian Writers Centre. The pair are well-published and knowledgeable presenters - their wit and banter's spiced up with the highs and lows of real life experiences as writers. Each week they present tips and tools as well as an in-depth interview with an author. They interview a variety of writers, local and overseas, and discuss various writing genres and formats with plenty of KidLit information. Podcasts run for over an hour and includes links to show notes.
Write Through The Roof - presented by Melbourne writer, Madeleine D'este. She is a self-published author and fan of speculative fiction. Every few weeks, she interviews authors with the same questions which keeps the Q&A on track and punchy. Each author finishes up telling the listener one thing that's helped progress their writing. Also includes tips and tools and links to show notes. I really enjoy this podcast as it's without a bias towards successful, trade published authors and has an emerging author focus. Short punchy twenty minute podcast which is great for short drives.
Writing For Children - presented by US children's author and President of the Institute of Children's Literature, Katie Davis. These bite size podcasts are a monologue of 'to the point' writing tips, largely focused on the picture book and early reader format. There are no author interviews as the brief podcast only runs for eleven minutes. Show notes included.
Listening to podcasts is a great way to leave yourself more time to write. So if you're new to them, get on the bandwagon now.
This is my last blog post for 2017 - happy holidays and I'll be back in the new year with a refreshed website. In the meantime, keep in touch on social media.