I Should Be Writing

By Mur Lafferty

"I should be writing" is what people say, but they rarely do it. This podcast is designed to help you get past those blocks, whether it's what your teacher told you when you were a kid, to being total... more

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FAQs about I Should Be Writing:

How many episodes does I Should Be Writing have?

The podcast currently has 294 episodes available.

I Should Be Writing episodes:

May 12, 2022[ISBW] Minor Characters
Open

2022 Word Count: 68178

Writing Retreat coming in May

Good News Good News

Team Rejection count: 150

Main Topic: On Supporting Characters

Whydunit is more important than Whodunit

The Afterparty on Apple TV

It’s good to focus on moving the plot along, but think about doing it well

Babylon 5 “A View From the Gallery”, and the adventures of Mack and Bo.

The Contagonist as Catalyst

Build the back stories for the minor characters just as carefully as the main characters

Links

Merch Shop

Mur on Twitter

Mur on Instagram

Mur on Youtube

Mur's newsletter, The Hot Mic

Support via Patreon or Ko-Fi!

John Anealio on Bandcamp

May 3, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 36 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License
...more
38min
May 08, 2022[ISBW] Unwritten Etiquette for Writers
Main Topic: Unwritten Etiquette

The etiquette of talking about reading stories by your other author friends

Don’t ask if they read it, don’t ask if they liked it

The Blurb: the asking and the being asked

The unwritten rules for signing lines

Reader etiquette regarding used books

About well-wishes for award nominations

Remember, reviews are for other readers, not the writer (and potential mine fields)

Social Media: Promotion vs Self-Promotion (balanced by volume)

Networking: another minefield to tiptoe through

Links

Merch Shop

Mur on Twitter

Mur on Instagram

Mur on Youtube

Mur's newsletter, The Hot Mic

Support via Patreon or Ko-Fi!

John Anealio on Bandcamp

Twitch schedule for week of May 9:

Mon: 4:30pm Ditch Diggers with Alasdair Stuart

Tues: 3:00pm I Should Be Writing

Wed: 3:00pm Gaming

Thurs: 3:00pm NO STREAM

April 28, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 35 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License
...more
54min
May 07, 2022[ISBW] Rejectomancy
Main Topic: Rejectomancy Revisited

Diving into the alchemy of deciphering rejection letters

Does the story fit the magazine it’s being submitted to?

Social Media: the game is afoot and no one knows the rules

Try to level up networking skills

Links

Merch Shop

Mur on Twitter

Mur on Instagram

Mur on Youtube

Mur's newsletter, The Hot Mic

Support via Patreon or Ko-Fi!

John Anealio on Bandcamp

Twitch schedule for week of May 9:

Mon: 4:30pm Ditch Diggers with Alasdair Stuart

Tues: 3:00pm I Should Be Writing

Wed: 3:00pm Gaming

Thurs: 3:00pm NO STREAM

April 26, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 34 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License
...more
35min
May 05, 2022[ISBW] Unboxing: Story Engine
Main Topic: Story Engine

Unboxing: Story Engine… we have cards!

Booster: Eldritch Horror set

Today’s quandary is how to run a giveaway for the spare Story Engine set. Roll for wild luck.

Walking through the decks, and how to use them to help you tell your stories

Buy Your Own Story Engine deck: https://storyenginedeck.myshopify.com

Links

Merch Shop

Mur on Twitter

Mur on Instagram

Mur on Youtube

Mur's newsletter, The Hot Mic

Support via Patreon or Ko-Fi!

John Anealio on Bandcamp

Twitch schedule for week of May 9:

Mon: 4:30pm Ditch Diggers with Alasdair Stuart

Tues: 3:00pm I Should Be Writing

Wed: 3:00pm Gaming

Thurs: 3:00pm NO STREAM

April 21, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 33 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License
...more
41min
May 03, 2022[ISBW] Devil's Advocate: The Case for Distractions
Main Topic: Distractions

Sometimes, we just need a person, pet or thing to bounce ideas & questions off of

The games more fun to play have the more intricate and fleshed out stories

Writing on side projects when you get stuck on a primary project can be a good thing

Emotions are not reality, but take the emotions out of how the distractions make you feel

ISBW archives and DD archives are complete!

Links

Merch Shop

Mur on Twitter

Mur on Instagram

Mur on Youtube

Mur's newsletter, The Hot Mic

Support via Patreon or Ko-Fi!

John Anealio on Bandcamp

Twitch schedule for week of May 2:

Mon: 4:30pm Ditch Diggers with Matt Wallace

Tues: 3:00pm I Should Be Writing

Wed: 3:00pm Gaming

Thurs: 3:00pm I Should Be Writing with Marguerite Kenner

April 19, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 32 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License
...more
35min
April 24, 2022[ISBW] I AM A FLAWED WRITER
Open

2022 Word Count: 65178

Your Mur doesn’t pun, and your daddy doesn’t rock ‘n roll

Good News Good News

Team Rejection count: 141 ??

Spoilers Club: “One for All” by Lillie Lainoff – April 30, 6pm Eastern

Main Topic: Examinations of Flaws in the Writing

Over explaining or under explaining in descriptions and dialogue

Repeating repetitive phrases over and over

The challenges in designing satisfying interpersonal conflict

Editing cleanup on Aisle 4

Working with the characters living in your head

Keeping track of word counts in edit passes

April 14, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 31 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License
...more
39min
April 21, 2022[ISBW] What Makes a Setting Really Work?
Please note as of April 21, 2022, I Should Be Writing is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 4.0 License.
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Open

2022 Word Count: 50200

Science research!

Good News Good News

Team Rejection count: 141

Welcome Cosmo Quest raiders!

Spoilers Club: “One for All” by Lillie Lainoff

Main Topic: Hitting Home Runs with Your Story Settings

Tips on making settings come to life… it’s all about the details

Guidelines for using real business names in your stories?

Trademarks vs Copyrights

April 12, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 30 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License
...more
34min
April 14, 2022[ISBW] Peek at Patreon: Grab Bag of Topics
Main Topic: Talking taxes, money, habits, and news

Amazing reveals in 2022 Hugo Finalist announcements

Spoilers Club reminder: One for All by Lillie Lainoff, copy giveaways next week

Tangling with Taxes, what can help freelancers

YNAB: https://www.youneedabudget.com/our-app-lineup/

How advances work (a breakdown)

Patreon: Bar Con Chat and Notes

Resurrecting the Magic Spreadsheet?

Requesting recommendations for Tips & Tricks for alternatives to “write every day”

[ Turbo Tango Raid incoming ]

Links

Merch Shop

Mur on Twitter

Mur on Instagram

Mur on Youtube

Mur's newsletter, The Hot Mic

Support via Patreon or Ko-Fi!

John Anealio on Bandcamp

Twitch schedule for April 18-30:

Mon: Ditch Diggers with Matt Wallace 12pm

Tues: ISBW 3pm

Wed: Gaming (Inscription) 3pm

Thurs: ISBW 3pm

Sat: SPOILERS CLUB! 6pm We talk One For All -with ALL the spoilers- with special guest Lillie Lainoff!

April 7, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 29 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License
...more
54min
April 13, 2022[ISBW] How Should You Use Social Media?
Good News Good News

Team Rejection count: 115

First new Ditch Diggers has arrived!

Spoilers Club, April 30, 6pm: One for All by Lillie Lainoff

Main Topic: How You Should Use Social Media (At Your Career Stage)?

Elon Musk. Buying into Twitter. Because speech freedoms confuse him?

Facebook is the worst. Facebook decides who sees your content, not you.

Tik Tok… hmph, get off my lawn

Choose what safeguards work best for your online presence comfort levels

Be your best self, be kind, considerate, and have fun

Links

Merch Shop

Mur on Twitter

Mur on Instagram

Mur on Youtube

Mur's newsletter, The Hot Mic

Support via Patreon or Ko-Fi!

John Anealio on Bandcamp

Twitch schedule for April 18-30:

Mon: Ditch Diggers with Matt Wallace 12pm

Tues: ISBW 3pm

Wed: Gaming (Inscription) 3pm

Thurs: ISBW 3pm

Sat: SPOILERS CLUB! 6pm We talk One For All -with ALL the spoilers- with special guest Lillie Lainoff!

April 5, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 28 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 License
...more
43min
April 07, 2022[ISBW] Rights, Creative Commons, National Backup Day, BUT NOT BORING
Open

2022 Word Count: 44000 (?)

Good News Good News

Team Rejection count: 111

Ditch Diggers returns April 4, Noon Eastern!

Book Club: “One for All” by Lillie Lainoff

Main Topic: Important yet Boring writing related side topics

Are you doing your backups of your work? And you know you should be, right?

There are so many cloud-based options, what are you waiting for?

Now, about your rights and copyright…

Creative Commons licensing: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Stream break: Tornado Warning

Creative Commons implementation examples

Dancing along that knife edge that is fan fiction

Will the Afterlife series go public domain?

March 31, 2022 | Season 18 Ep 27 | murverse.com
Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 4.0 License
...more
44min

FAQs about I Should Be Writing:

How many episodes does I Should Be Writing have?

The podcast currently has 294 episodes available.