The Failing Writers Podcast

What is ergodic literature? Well, it's when a story becomes more than just something you read, and you become part of it. But pretend you haven't read that, so that you can find out from listening to this wonderful episode. In which, we have a chat with "S" co-author Doug Dorst and You Say Which Way author Deb Potter, in our quest to get to the bottom of what ergodic fiction is and why it's so blummin' good. Enjoy! Here's some links for things in the show and stuff... https://dougdorst.com/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/S-Doug-Dorst/dp/0316201642 https://yousaywhichway.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unfortunates https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/327088/house-of-leaves-by-danielewski-mark-z/9781529943993 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_(book) [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_(book)] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Should you treat yourself to a writing retreat? If you did it twice would you be re-treating yourself to a writing retreat? If you tweeted about treating yourself to a writers retreat would you be tweeting your re-treat of retreating to a retreat? And if you then re-tweeted your... OK, I'll stop. Tom & Jon not only answer the first of these pressing questions, but as they disappear into the wilderness (sort of) to sample a writers' retreat, they seek to answer the biggest question of all. The one that's been haunting them for as long as they've been doing this podcast. Can they actually knuckle down and write for 2 and a half days straight? No social media. No boxsets. No 'nipping to the pub for one' and then accidentally spending the entire afternoon there? ... What? Well I'm obviously not going to tell you am I? Of course not. What do you mean, I'm being a tease? That's what these bits of blurb are for! to tease you in. Oh stop arguing and hit play. Here's where we went: https://writersretreatuk.co.uk/2023/01/our-own-venue-the-retreat-at-the-kings-arms/ [https://writersretreatuk.co.uk/2023/01/our-own-venue-the-retreat-at-the-kings-arms/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Are you querying? or nearly querying? Maybe you’re fearing querying? Or merely getting weary and a bit teary querying? Well let’s hear from three writers who’ve been down in those querying trenches for a while now. Find out how they're approaching it, what agents' responses have been like and how they’re holding up under pressure. Because when it comes to finding an agent, it’s more often than not, a long and painful process. No matter how talented a writer you are. Byddi Lee: Byddi’s website: https://www.byddilee.com Byddi's Books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Byddi-Lee/author/B00OICWYUU?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1726051761&sr=1-3&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true [https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Byddi-Lee/author/B00OICWYUU?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1726051761&sr=1-3&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true] Özgür Uyanık: Short stories MEN ALONE https://www.parthianbooks.com/products/men-alone-short-stories?_pos=1&_sid=53c734e1d&_ss=r [https://www.parthianbooks.com/products/men-alone-short-stories?_pos=1&_sid=53c734e1d&_ss=r] Short story from the collection, BANTER: https://nation.cymru/culture/short-story-banter/ [https://nation.cymru/culture/short-story-banter/] Novel CONCEPTION: https://www.fairlightbooks.co.uk/conception/ [https://www.fairlightbooks.co.uk/conception/] THREADS https://www.threads.net/@liberatedsleepless [https://www.threads.net/@liberatedsleepless] SUBSTACK https://ozguruyanik.substack.com [https://ozguruyanik.substack.com/] Mari Stewart: Mari’s website: https://mari-stewart.com [https://mari-stewart.com/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

... What? Did 2 weeks just fly by since the last episode? No flippin' way. Time, I think, we had a chat about time. The fact that there's never enough of it. Especially for writing. Why is that? Well Oliver Burkeman might just have some answers. Prepare to face the subject of time and limitation face-on. Get ready to completely re-think how we view those precious hours, minutes and seconds. And ask... 'what would happen if we spent less of it worrying about the fact it's running out, and more of it just... being in it.' Or even becoming time itself? Might this shift in thinking actually help us stop procrastinating? and start spending more of our time doing the things that actually matter? Hopefully, yes. But what does actually matter? You might have to answer that one yourself. Regardless, whatever you do, you should definitely spend the next forty five minutes wasting your time listening to Oliver Burkeman. Get a load of Oliver's brilliant 400 Weeks here: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/fourthousandweeks Get free incredible anti-procrastinatory tips here: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/posts And get Oliver's sparkly, life changing new book here: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/meditationsformortals ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Well, that’s the summer hiatus done with - and we're back with an episode which asks the question, "how do you know if your writing is good enough?" In an attempt to answer that question, we’re going to be looking at a couple of Tom’s flash fiction stories and asking if, why, and how, one of them is slightly less rubbish than the other. Both stories were entered into the same competition, but only one of them got published. Can Dave guess which one is which? Can YOU guess which one is which? Well, to answer either of those questions, you're gonna have to have a listen, aren't you! ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.