Worthy Writing Podcasts
If you’re looking for a good SFF writing podcast, here are three new ones I’ve discovered and recommend. (Scroll to the end for a link to my all-time favorites).
Most writing podcasts focus on novel writing. What has me excited about this one is how many of the featured guests also write short fiction, which is my current focus. Host Scott Edelman interviews fellow writers of SFF and comics over a meal, asking them in depth questions about their craft and their career paths.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to discover this podcast, which was recently nominated for a Hugo Award, but it’s been around for ten years with over 280 episodes. The host usually starts each one with a longish intro and housekeeping items, so if you’re short on time, just fast forward to the start of the meal. Here’s one of my favorites with award-winning author R.S.A. Garcia.
I’ve always thought that a key to good writing isn’t just studying stories you love but taking a closer look at fiction that doesn’t work for you and analyzing why. That’s where this podcast comes in. As its name suggests, Critical Friends by Strange Horizons critiques all types of speculative fiction, including science fiction, fantasy and horror. Critics analyze trends and sub-genres (cozy horror, romantasy, historical fantasy, “hopeful” fiction, queer SFF, etc.) as well as individual works and the genre as a whole. Occasionally guests take aim at themselves, discussing the role and pitfalls of literary critiques.
Another solid resource for writers of science fiction and fantasy is this podcast, which alternates between interviewing authors about their most recently released books and having those same authors give “master classes” focused on a specific element of craft, such as dialogue, fight scenes or voice.
The hosts are self-published authors, so there is a good amount of self-publishing advice despite the number of traditionally published heavy-hitters being interviewed (i.e. George RR Martin, Joe Abercrombie, etc). I particularly liked the Lit RPG 101 Masterclass, a subgenre I knew little about, with Matt Dinniman, author of Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Also, if you’re new to this blog, here is a previous post of my favorite writing craft podcasts I’d start with first. And if you want to learn more about the business side of things, here are podcasts that focus on the publishing industry.