Writing in Progress

Justin and Jon give their initial reactions for this season's Writing Battle genres and live-react to their own draws.
Just under 40 minutes into the episode, Friend-of-the-Pod Trey Dowell stops by to give his thoughts and joins in on the fun.
Jon pushes his luck... can he defy the odds again??
Listen to find out! :)

Justin and Jon continue their long-running series exploring how to write specific elements of a story. Today, they discuss the element they both ranked as the most important: characters. In this 2+ hour episode, Justin and Jon consulted the Writing Battle forums to ask for advice on how to capture the magic of an engaging character.

It's been a minute, but Justin and Jon are back and ready to talk about writing.

Because we've been gone for a while, we decided to pack quite a bit into this episode--resulting in our longest ever: over 2 hours!

Below are time-stamps, in case you're here from Writing Battle and would like to skip through Justin & Jon rambling about their personal lives.

0:00 - Intro
2:32 - Jon's check-in and humorous Christmas card
9:12 - Justin's check-in
35:15 - Writing Battle Short Story 2023 talk.
1:00:45 - Justin & Jon interview each other
1:55:15 - Wipper Snapper community shout-out
2:00:15 - Wrapping things up

Justin and Jon are battling again! This episode was recorded live as they discovered their genres and prompts. (The character and word prompts they are sticking with are not shared, of course.)

Justin and Jon are thrilled to welcome Trey Dowell to Writing in Progress on the heels of teaching at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Trey’s list of accomplishments are extremely impressive:

-Traditionally published novel (The Protectors) through Simon and Schuster (Stephen King’s publisher)

-Former NYC Midnight overall flash fiction winner. The very next NYCM competition, Trey finished second overall in short story. In total, Trey has made six NYCM finals, winning a cash prize in three.

-Derringer Award winner and four-time finalist. 

-Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Award finalist.

-Writing Battle runner-up for alternate history flash fiction

Subjects include Trey’s writing process, specifically how he approaches NYC Midnight. We compare NYCM and Writing Battle. Trey also gives us interesting insight into his experience being traditionally published through Simon and Schuster and important lessons he learned for his next attempt at writing a novel. We also briefly touch on writing conferences and how important they can be.

I think the biggest takeaways from this episode:

Luck is a big part of it. Celebrate the wins. Keep writing.

The interview with Trey begins at 16:00, after check-ins with Justin and Jon.

Here are the pod’s social handles:

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: WritingInProgressPod

Twitter: @WritingInPod (mind the filters!)

Facebook: Writing In Progress

TikTok: Writing_in_progress_pod

Youtube: WritingInProgressPodcast

In the midst of (writers) battling, Justin and Jon press pause to discuss the competition. This episode includes:

7:30 - End of school year check-ins
16:30 - Looking back at Writer's Playground
31:30 - Initial impressions of this season's Writing Battle
1:05:00 - Responding to some WIPper-snappers' questions and comments.

As always, we love to hear from YOU! You can reach out on our socials, listed below:

Gmail - [email protected]
Instagram - @WritingInProgressPod
Twitter - @WritingInPod (mind the filters!)
Facebook - Writing In Progress
Youtube - Writing In Progress Podcast
TikTok - Writing_in_progress_pod

Justin and Jon are taking on a new contest: Writer's Playground, and who better to learn from than a previous winner? Ryan Fleming joins the pod to discuss his writing journey and experience winning Writer's Playground with his Poe-esque story "The Tragedy of Montague Bellot"

In Writer's Playground, you are assigned an object, and must choose from five possible settings and five possible characters. We discuss all eleven (and several possible combinations) giving our initial impressions and reactions. We had a lot of fun!

2:00 - Check-ins with Justin & Jon
13:36 - Interview with Ryan begins
29:00 - Conversation shifts to this season's Writer's Playground prompts
1:02:45 - Closing remarks with Justin and Jon

You can find the results of the Anniversary Challenge of Writer's Playground (which includes a link to Ryan's winning story) here: https://www.writersplaygroundllc.com/anniversary-challenge

You can connect with Ryan on Instagram  @Ryan.David.Fleming

You can connect with Writing In Progress on the following platforms:
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @WritingInPorgressPod
Twitter: @WritingInPod (mind the filters... Elon doesn't like us)
Facebook: Writing In Progress
Tik Tok: @Writing_in_progress_pod
Youtube: WritingInProgressPodcast

Justin and Jon discuss writing voice. What is it? How do you craft it? Is it something inherent or different for each individual story? Listen along and join our debate!

Time stamps:
0:00 - Wrapping up Writing Battle
4:23 - Voice Introduction
6:02 - Updates from us
22:25 - Voice discussion/debate
1:03:00 - Wipper Snapper spotlights

Reach out!
Email - [email protected]
Instagram - @WritingInProgressPod
Twitter - @WritingInPod
Facebook - Writing In Progress

Justin and Jon give some shout-outs to stories they loved in the debrief forums of Writing Battle.
Connect with us! (Join the WIPper Snappers!)
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @WritingInProgressPod
Twitter: @WritingInPod
Facebook: Writing In Progress
Time Stamps:
0:00 - A new chapter for Writing In Progress
8:40 - Check-ins
19:50 - Reflecting on our personal Writing Battle experiences
34:55 - WIPpy Awards!
1:12:00 - WIPper Snapper Community Comments

**Spoilers for WIPpy Awards**
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Justin:
Hook: Hivemind - Corrie Haldane
Setting: The Garden of Life and Death - Alexandra Otto
Ending: A Sacrifice - Charlie Rogers
Plot: Enough - Rose Camara
Humor: The trouble maker - the  rullaway kid
Voice: White Blanket - Anne Wilkins
Theme: Adventure is just another word for… - Trey Dowell
Characters: Even if it’s God - Allison Schiller
Meet Cute: Novel Finding on Rhodius Creare - Camsyn Clair
Winter Survival: Four Squared - T.E. Bradford
Occult: Momentum - EJ Sidle
Lost World: Water is Life - MM Schreier

Jon:
Hook: The Hidden Rules of Ownership - Melissa Jornd
Setting: A Dashing of Longing and a Helping of Heart - Melanie Mulrooney
Ending: To Tell the Sooth - Chad Frame
Plot: The Anarchist's Guide to Writing Romcom - AP Greenlaw
Humor: The Last Two Fingers - Jenna K.
Voice: Where the Wild Golf Balls Lie - Oneg K.
Theme: A Toymaker's Job Never Ends - Ariana Hager
Characters: Alive in the Wild - Nicole Roth
Meet Cute: Violet in the Weeds - Hillary Killam
Winter Survival: Lovebirds, Interrupted - Shannon Fujimura
Occult: Becky with the Good Hair - Pajamas All Day
Lost World: Adventure is Just Another Word For...  - Trey Dowel

This episode was recorded 1 month ago when Justin and Jon learned their prompts for the WritingBattle.com winter flash fiction contest! We are now able to post it, since peer judging has completed! Jon opted not to judge, so Justin was able to share all of his prompts on this episode. Justin was a judge, so Jon could only reveal his genre, to avoid a conflict of interest for Justin.

*We did run into a few technical difficulties on this live recording... so Jon will sound a little quieter than normal, and the ending cuts out about 5-10 seconds short. We're a work in progress :)

Also! We've gained a lot of new listeners lately! We want to connect with you!
Instagram: @writinginprogresspod
Twitter: @writinginpod
Facebook: Writing in Progress
Gmail: [email protected]

Join our community of WIPper-snappers! :)

We'll be following up with more WritingBattle content very soon! We're really excited to present the first ever WIPpys! :)