I Should Be Writing

By Mur Lafferty

Arts Literature

What's I Should Be Writing about?

The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers

4.5

272 ratings

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LAST EPISODE

Dropping Truth Bombs

01.23.2021

The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.

I Should Be Writing episodes:

01.23.2021 Dropping Truth Bombs The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
01.22.2021 Real Talk, Get to Work Had a talk with someone last week that didn't go the way I'd hoped, and I'm forced to start looking at my habits a little closer.
01.21.2021 Weaponizing Language I did want to talk about the power of language again this month, but I did not expect the president to whip his fans into a fury with some very amazing weaponized language, so this topic hit a little close ...
01.13.2021 Turn It Off I found it very hard to concentrate after the events of January 6, so I realized that in order to get work done, I had to do some self care and turn it off. News, social media, the whole world ...
01.12.2021 Grim and Determined in 2021 It's a new year, and things are still pretty terrible, so we face the new year with hope, but not pollyanna resolutions.
12.22.2020 A Writing Christmas Carol Brought to you by patrons Jon Tollerton and Zach Payne! I wanted to do a Christmas Carol overall, but ended up talking about my own past, present and future. Stuff got real. We talked about 12 Days of Christmas parodies ...
12.21.2020 Productivity? Now? I wanted to cover the concept of productivity in December, which is hard in a GOOD year. We also touch on the idea of finding writer's groups in 2020. December 15, 2020 \| Season 16 Ep 52 (Episode 550) \| ...
12.17.2020 Tropes, Cliches, Derivatives People in crit groups can mean so much when they say those three words. What makes something derivative, or a trope, or a cliche? December 10, 2020 \| Season 16 Ep 51 (Episode 549) \| murverse.com \| Copyright 2020, Mur ...
12.15.2020 Gift Guide for Writers We go through the best gifts to give the writer in your life. Full list at murverse.com.
12.07.2020 Words Have Power! Yeah, it's cliche, but the basic decisions on how to describe people, considering your POV and your own biases, can dramatically affect your book.
12.04.2020 Are Goals for Writers Different? A little bit of NaNoWriMo wrap-up, but then we deal with the idea of goals again, and the trouble I have with these goal programs that are everywhere. And I'm taking another one now.
11.14.2020 Equipment - Rerun The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
11.14.2020 The Time Eater - Rerun The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
11.12.2020 WMUR - Wanting Nothing! - Rerun Back to the spoof radio shows, this time we look at the soap opera, and how it gives us one of the basic things about characters. Namely- they've got to WANT something. Goal: 20,000
11.11.2020 No Magic Bullets - Rerun DESPITE what I posted yesterday about the power of placebos, you still have to do the work, sorry to say. Ain't nothing out there going to do it for you. And around this time you have to remember that. Just ...
11.10.2020 WMUR - The People's Placebo - Rerun Do you need that cup of tea, or the right music, or your lucky Star Wars figure to sit beside your monitor so you can imagine it saying "you got this!" Whatever feather you need to hold in your trunk, ...
11.09.2020 Write whenever you can - Rerun I talk about good old Chuck Palahniuk and how he wrote Fight Club. If it's good enough for the NYT Bestseller then it's good enough for you! Or something more motivational. (He wasn't a bestseller when he wrote Fight Club, ...
11.09.2020 WMUR - Nonlinear Writing - Rerun Write whatever scene is in your mind. Don't worry about whether it follows the last scene, or even if it's got the right characters. Just get the words down, and fix it in edits! Goal: 13333
11.09.2020 Filler - Rerun Now is the time to pull out all your description: food, drink, color, touch, adverbs, adjectives, spelling out contractions, etc. All of that and more. Get those words in, by any means necessary! Goal- 11666
11.08.2020 Distractions - Rerun Should have run November 6. Considering how distracted/low energy I've been this week, I figured getting back to the daily show with a distractions episode was appropriate. Catching up with a lot of episodes today. Goal- 10,000 My wordcount- ...not ...
11.06.2020 Comparing yourself to others - Rerun TL;DR - Don't. But the podcast is cleverer than that. Your wordcount is your own and that's OK. Me, I'm dealing with a lot of intensity with current events and confusion with my WiP. I'm behind. But I don't care. ...
11.05.2020 PCs and NPCs - Rerun We are back with our 2016 fantasy RPG, and we discuss the importance of both PCs (aka Player Characters, aka the important people in your stories) and NPCs (the spear carries and the cashiers and the red shirts.)
11.04.2020 WMUR- Bike Brothers! What Can Break? - Rerun Back in 2017 my NaNoWriMo MO was to spoof on radio shows. This is my Car Talk homage. We don't like it when things break, but our stories need them to! Goal: 5000
11.02.2020 How DARE You? - Rerun You'll get pushback during NaNoWriMo. Some people will make fun. Some will dismiss you. Some will be downright jackasses. BUT I am a skilled jackass-to-English translator, and I cover what some of those comments mean. Goal: 3333 words This year ...
11.02.2020 The NaNoWriMo Adventure Begins! It's November 1. You walk into a tavern and discover you're on a quest. There are metaphors and daggers involved. This year November will feature daily reruns of past NaNoWriMo episodes! Tune into Twitch.tv/mightymur for live write-ins on Tuesday and ...
10.27.2020 Looking Ahead, and Taking a Break October/November always feels like a renewing time for me, for my own personal reasons, so I talk about that.
10.22.2020 What if I write myself into a corner? We chat about writing yourself into a corner, the "Sliding Doors" moment, a peek in to the way I think about this show. How the sausage is made, actually. But also, HOLY CRAP Tom Lehrer music is in the public ...
10.20.2020 Should you use versioning in writing? I talk how to keep up with versioning. Well. I try, anyway. That, plus the motivational power of 4thewords.com and more NaNo prep talk!
10.16.2020 Back up your work! You will want to gain and keep momentum going in October as you prepare for NaNoWriMo. And good lord, folks, back up your computer and your work!
10.15.2020 ISBW #527: Feedback/Live Questions The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
10.13.2020 ISBW #526: Outlining With the Story Grid method The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
10.06.2020 ISBW #525: Outlining using Save the Cat method The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
10.02.2020 ISBW #524: Outlining with the snowflake method The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
09.28.2020 ISBW #523: NaNoWriMo Prep & Plan The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
09.24.2020 ISBW #522: Agents, ADD, and Track Changes The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
09.22.2020 ISBW #521: Bad Days are the BEST The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
09.21.2020 ISBW #520: The Angry Molasses Episode The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
09.19.2020 ISBW #519: Protagonists vs Antagonists The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
09.17.2020 ISBW #518: Why Create During a Pandemic? The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
09.10.2020 ISBW #517: Book is done, now what? The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
09.09.2020 ISBW #516: Adult ADD and time management The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
09.08.2020 ISBW #515: Epiphany! Distracting the creative mind The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
08.25.2020 ISBW #514: How to do long term goals The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
08.24.2020 ISBW #513: Emotions vs Reality The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
08.21.2020 ISBW #512: Also, the Hugos were AWESOME The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
08.20.2020 ISBW #511: Characters are hard, editors are awesome The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
08.09.2020 ISBW #510: So the Hugos happened. The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
08.07.2020 ISBW #509: Feeedback and talking The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
07.31.2020 ISBW #508: Feedback, Live on Twitch The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.
07.30.2020 ISBW #507: Recording of half a crowdcast stream The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers.

Older episodes

I Should Be Writing

What's I Should Be Writing about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

I Should Be Writing episodes:

Dropping Truth Bombs

Real Talk, Get to Work

Weaponizing Language

Turn It Off

Grim and Determined in 2021

A Writing Christmas Carol

Productivity? Now?

Tropes, Cliches, Derivatives

Gift Guide for Writers

Words Have Power!

Are Goals for Writers Different?

Equipment - Rerun

The Time Eater - Rerun

WMUR - Wanting Nothing! - Rerun

No Magic Bullets - Rerun

WMUR - The People's Placebo - Rerun

Write whenever you can - Rerun

WMUR - Nonlinear Writing - Rerun

Filler - Rerun

Distractions - Rerun

Comparing yourself to others - Rerun

PCs and NPCs - Rerun

WMUR- Bike Brothers! What Can Break? - Rerun

How DARE You? - Rerun

The NaNoWriMo Adventure Begins!

Looking Ahead, and Taking a Break

What if I write myself into a corner?

Should you use versioning in writing?

Back up your work!

ISBW #527: Feedback/Live Questions

ISBW #526: Outlining With the Story Grid method

ISBW #525: Outlining using Save the Cat method

ISBW #524: Outlining with the snowflake method

ISBW #523: NaNoWriMo Prep & Plan

ISBW #522: Agents, ADD, and Track Changes

ISBW #521: Bad Days are the BEST

ISBW #520: The Angry Molasses Episode

ISBW #519: Protagonists vs Antagonists

ISBW #518: Why Create During a Pandemic?

ISBW #517: Book is done, now what?

ISBW #516: Adult ADD and time management

ISBW #515: Epiphany! Distracting the creative mind

ISBW #514: How to do long term goals

ISBW #513: Emotions vs Reality

ISBW #512: Also, the Hugos were AWESOME

ISBW #511: Characters are hard, editors are awesome

ISBW #510: So the Hugos happened.

ISBW #509: Feeedback and talking

ISBW #508: Feedback, Live on Twitch

ISBW #507: Recording of half a crowdcast stream

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