Radio FreeWrite

This prompt sent us into the glorious, pulpy world of yellowbacks— sensational novels with wild covers printed on the cheapest paper available. We chatted about book covers as promises to readers, genre tropes we secretly (or not‑so‑secretly) love, and what happens when you just lean into the ridiculous.

After that, we read first‑draft tales of arrogant jungle hunters, rom‑com hijinks, and paperback‑worthy melodrama.

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.

Special Guest J.W. Surface joins us for this episode!

Check out J.W.'s book Something Dark and Others here: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/something-dark-and-others

And check out Gargoyle Publications here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GargoylePublications

We spent this week talking about the strange joys of revising poetry—line breaks that refuse to cooperate, words that suddenly look wrong, and that drive —it's not a compulsion, I swear!— to tirelessly edit draft after draft. . J.W. Surface joined us to chat about novels a decade in the making, typewritten poems, and how hard it is not to tinker forever.

Then we shifted (see what we did there?) into stories inspired by Proteus, the Greek myth’s shape‑shifting prophet—complete with quests, bargains, and an epic fight with mortality itself.

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.

Our first all‑in‑person episode in a while! We rambled (anticlockwise, of course) into a big discussion of plot vs. story—architects vs. gardeners, internal vs. external conflict, and how to give structure a story without killing the magic.

Then came stories inspired by Wildcat, featuring everything from ghostly surprises to chaotic encounters that prove plot, as important as it is, isn’t everything.

Stories start at 25:23. 

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.

We didn’t plan a topic this week, but PC accidentally pitched us a masterclass on worldbuilding. Cue a cosmic mythology with warring gods (a sentient tree vs... a lake), saltwater corruption, and squirrel crusaders. We talked about how to sneak in just enough lore to make a fantasy world come alive—without writing a thousand‑page slog no one will read.

Then we read first‑draft stories for the prompt Everything Tastes of Porridge, ranging from surreal food magic to grim little tales of survival.

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.

Murph confessed he struggled with this week’s prompt and wound up pulling us into his mad-cap shotgun brainstorming. That led us to a chat about journaling as a writing tool, experimenting with first vs. third person, and even pre‑planning your day in prose (yes, really).

Then we read stories for The Old Man on the Mountain (an expression used by Marco Polo to describe Muhammad III of Alamut, the grand master of the Order of Assassins), which include assassins, epic quests, and a problem so absurdly NSFW that Hassan Ibn al‑Sabah would rather die than explain it to a date.

Happy writing, everyone!

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.

This week, we dove into the eternal struggle of writing good villains: pure evil forces vs. sympathetic antiheroes, Darth Vader vs. Sauron, and why Nabokov’s Lolita is a masterclass in manipulation (of you, dear reader). We talked about finding that tiny spark of humanity in awful characters but stopping before you accidentally make them too likable.

Then we read first‑draft stories for Eblis, a name straight out of Islamic myth, perfect for tales of angels, devils, and moral messiness.

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.

The Cru gathers for their annual Christmas retreat a little later than usual (although, as our generous host, Spliff, was keen to point out- the Christmas Season ends with the Epiphany, and we're under the wire with that one!) From the cozy chaos of the Christmas Cabin, we talked about writing just for the fun of it—no publishing pressure, no perfectionism—plus Lord of the Rings Risk, cinnamon rolls, and the joy of staying up until 3 a.m. for your own reasons, not because of a toddler.

After that, we shared first‑draft stories inspired by January, a month of new beginnings, frosty names, and revolutionary zeal.

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.

Have you ever broken the law? Well, you probably have. Actually, I'm not even sure jaywalking is illegal anymore. 

But! Even if you haven't broken the law in real life, have you ever had characters in your stories cross a road they weren't supposed to cross?

Somehow we started with mulled wine and ended up talking about how worldbuilding accidents turn into entire plotlines and why Asgar’s map generator is both a blessing and a dangerous timesink. And about Giant Trees.

We read stories inspired by Jaywalker, which felt oddly personal.

If you get inspired, and even if you don't, maybe write a story yourself, and read it out loud to a fellow living, breathing human being. 

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.

NaNoWriMo was in full swing, so we got nerdy about writing habits: Alexander Litvinovsky soundtracks, video game music for fight scenes, and how misheard lyrics sometimes better than the actual line. We also debated tropes, predictability, and how much surprise a story actually needs.

This episode's got WebEater, Murph, and PC, coming at you with fresh stories and writing discussion! Winter's here, so it's time to get cozy, break out the typewriter (if you're WebEater), computer, or pen, and unleash your imagination. If you write about sunny, tropical places, maybe the cold won't be as bad?

Then we read first‑draft stories for Idunna, Norse goddess of youth and magic apples, because those apples are starting to look mighty fine as the years tick on.

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.

Iron Brewed (or is it Irn Bru'd??) joined us for the first time! We talked about his year‑long poetry residency, typewriter quirks, and his moderately insane method of writing three totally different drafts of the same story before stitching together the best bits. We also geeked out about favorite authors, NaNoWriMo plans, and how different tools change the way you write.

Then we read first‑draft stories inspired by Triumvir, an ancient Roman leader.

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

 
Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do.

Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.