Behind the Prose

What writing advice can one mine from a two-hour interview with prolific essayist, author, and professor Philip Lopate?

If you read the July 2018 issue of The Writer, you learned about Lopate's overall approach and philosophy in "Playing on all 88 keys: The prose playbook of Phillip Lopate" who was my former grad school writing teacher.

In part two, we go further into that philosophy, and you'll hear tips that didn't make the article.

I love this episode because it starts with the question, "Out of the books that you've written, is there a book that you feel you've learned the most about yourself from as a writer?"

You might recognize the title of this podcast if you picked up the July 2018 issue of The Writer.  In it, you'll find my article on my former grad school writing teacher Phillip Lopate. 

I interviewed Lopate last December about his career and in the next two episodes, I'm sharing some of our chat with you.

In it, we talk about his latest book, A Mother's Tale, the usefulness of code-switching, the importance of anticipating the readers' objections, and much, much more!

In April 2017, I invited author and engineer Nick Arvin to the school where I work. Over two days, he gave several talks on writing, and I recorded one of them: “Nick Arvin and The Short Story.”

In this episode, I'm giving you that recording!  Nick discusses his short story “Along the Highways.” He gives one of the most thorough, honest, and humorous sessions that I’ve ever heard on writing.

He talks about his career in engineering and as an author and how each informs his work in the other. He cracks a lot of jokes (with good comedic timing) and even shares how much he got paid for optioning one of his novels.

Head over to the show-page on Behind the Prose for the full description and links!

Welcome to this special episode of Behind the Prose. Special, because I bet you didn't think it was coming! More special, because it features former guest, literary historical fiction writer and fellow New School Creative Writing MFA Grad Scott Alexander Hess. This time, I talk to him about how he wrote his latest novella, Skyscraper, while he was in the middle of writing a novel. In this episode, besides hearing me butcher the name of his publisher, Lethe Press, you’ll learn why I disappeared and why I’m back!

Today's episode is brought to you by: coincidence.

It's how I met both of these great writers. Last year, I covered Bob Brody's essay panel at the American Society of Journalists and Authors for The Writer Magazine. His book Playing Catch with Strangers came out on Father's Day this June on Heliotrope Books.

This year, I interviewed Mandy Len Catron for my book proposal on Modern Love essays. Her new book How to Fall in With Anyone comes out on June 27 on Simon and Schuster.

Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.

Hey Prosers,

I know. I know.  Let's not talk about that lil' missing in action thing. The important thing is that I'm here now and so are you!

This episode features a humor writer that I discovered earlier this year on McSweeney's. Adam Rotstein has an undergraduate degree in - get this - neuroscience - but he abandoned the field to pursue his love of comedy and humor writing and now he's in LA working on a pilot.

In this show, which was recorded in March but fell victim to my unbalanced work schedule, we talk about Adam's writing process, his experience writing for Reductress, and how his degree helps his writing.

Humor writer Adam Rotstein

 

ABOUT ADAM ROTSTEIN

Adam Rotstein is a writer who likes to bridge the gap between branded content and plain ol' content. As a copywriter, he has written for 72andSunny, Code&Theory, and VaynerMedia. As a comedy writer, his work has been published in McSweeney's, Reductress, Funny or Die, and CollegeHumor.

Follow him on Twitter.

In this episode, I talk to Geeta Kothari, an English professor and author of the new short story collection I Brake For Moose, out now on Braddock Avenue Books.

In this episode, we’re venturing into the land of humor. I discovered actress, singer, and writer Gilli Messer during my daily reading.

I loved her piece on McSweeney’s: "Young Couple Shares Vows Amidst State Sponsored Chaos."

Listen to learn how she landed her first clip on a major humor site and nailed the voice of New York Times’ wedding beat writers.

In this episode you’ll also learn:

How an anthropology degree at Barnard College helped Gilli become a better writerThe great new term for your day jobHow to use the question “what if” to write a humor pieceHow to wrangle inspiration onto the page

 

Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.

I met Alyssa Sorresso at the Creative Nonfiction Writer’s Conference in 2015 (not 2014 as I think I said in the podcast). Alyssa’s essay had just been published in Creative Nonfiction, and she approached me after the magazine’s founder and the “Godfather of Creative Nonfiction” Lee Gutkind announced that I was looking for people to interview.

Though one of her websites uses the word “tactless” (ironically paired with her middle name, Grace), that’s not the word that comes to mind when she introduced herself (poised and confident) or when I read her essay later (deliberate and intense).

I asked Alyssa to be a guest on Behind the Prose, and she agreed. Finally, in October 2016, I scheduled the interview. Alyssa was almost a month into a self-funded sabbatical and she Skyped with me from a London flat.

In this episode you’ll hear us discuss:

what’s it like to work with Hattie Fletcher, managing editor of Creative Nonfiction;When personal is too personal for a personal essay; andWhy performing “live lit” may help your writing practice.

Plume Senior Editor Kate Napolitano recorded this in October 2016, right before my schedule went to hell in a Coach bag, but I'm happy to finally share it with you. A graduate of The College of New Jersey, Kate's got a girl-next-door vibe and she gives us an honest look at working your way up the ranks in the world's oldest apprenticeship style career. (Not sure if it's actually the world's oldest, but it has to be close.) Kate purchased Phoebe Robinson's debut book "You Can't Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have To Explain." Robinson is a comedian, actress, writer, and one half of 2 Dope Queens, the popular WNYC podcast.

Here are some highlights from the show:

Kate’s Publishing Journey 5:17Middle-age career change into publishing? 8:15I can’t believe I have this job! 10:29Phoebe “Culture Tastemaker” Robinson 11:50What can writers learn from Phoebe’s book? 16:03