This week author Olivia Snow joins the Cru to talk regency romance writing, writing while parenting, and the mutual suffering all writers share. We talk shop along the way, from character creation to outlining to marketing, and take a good long look at how to create real depth for characters. The flash fiction portion of the podcast kicks off at 12:40 and includes a crusty (or at least, suspected to be crusty) duke, a light haunting, a snowball fight, and the alteration of travel p...

We continue our series on POV narration this week with a discussion on Third Person Limited. The Cru agrees this is a sweet spot between first person and third person omniscient, offering a balance between the closeness to the character of first person while maintaining enough distance to keep things interesting and open. We give tips for using 3rd limited to maintain reader engagement, craft a character voice, and for juggling multiple character povs in a larger work. Is it possible to have ...

The Cru sit down with board game designer Bruce Glassco, author of Betrayal at House on the Hill, to chat about narrative game design and literary inspiration in board games. Bruce shares his inspiration for a haunted house game, as well as the challenges (and tricks to overcome them) of writing a horror-genre board game. It's a fun conversation ranging from Wuthering Heights to the challenges of playtesting. Stories begin at the 25:45 mark and include a cursed bargain and the price of eterna...

This week you will hear all about second person point of view. You'll enjoy a few choose your own adventure-style (NB- they can't be actual Choose Your Own Adventure stories, as that's trademarked) stories, and you'll hopefully share in the nostalgia the Cru has for those marvelous works of the 80s and 90s. You'll also learn about the immersive narration second person pov provides, including the dangers of using the reader as a character. It's a fun writing challenge, and you're sure to enjoy...

Welcome to Spooky Season! In our writing craft discussion this week, we focus on first person narration. It can be particularly powerful for horror, but can wear on readers when they have to read "I, I, I" over and over again. So, it must be treated with care! BUT, for those willing to practice with it, it opens plenty of doors. From unreliable narrators to the horrific tension found only inside the head of a madman, we cover it all. Stories this week begin around the 20:40 mark and include a...

This week the Cru studies Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. We discuss his life, his career, and the styles and themes towards which he gravitated. Place and time were super important to Mahfouz, and Krispy shares what it was like to walk through Cairo following Mahfouz's footsteps. Then we shamelessly steal his style as an author imitation challenge, learning from his style to strengthen our own. Stories begin at the 23:30 mark and include the life of a jinn, told through her own words; a train...

In this episode, the Cru dives into the world of submissions: the grind of rejection slips; the rare joy of a personal note from the editor; the endless predawn hours of "why did I have to fall in love with writing;" and the importance of READING THE DANG GUIDELINES when sending your work to literary magazines. We swap insights on what editors look for, how to handle feedback, and the value of old-fashioned gumption. Stories this week begin around the 31:30 mark (yeah, we packing in a LOT of ...

The Cru returns for Season 5 of Radio FreeWrite! In this episode, we set fresh writing goals, reflect on unions and collective action, and laugh about Monty Python as we take on the Scots phrase ca’ canny: a call to ease up, work slow, and resist. Stories this week begin at the 16:30 mark and explore resistance in many forms: a poetic plea for freedom from work and a greening earth, a Joycean sketch of paralysis on the farm, a futuristic Uber ride tinged with climate anxiety, a fantasy where ...

In the Season 4 finale, the Radio FreeWrite crew looks back on their writing goals—ranging from dialogue practice to poetic experimentation—and what they’ve learned along the way. Krispy shares how a season of poetry shaped his approach to language, while PC, Spud, and WebEater reflect on growth, discipline, and finding focus as writers. Then, inspired by the prompt Batrachomyomachia (“the battle of frogs and mice”), they read original first-draft stories: an epic blank-verse poem on anxiety,...

This week we got deep into writing nerd territory, swapping stories about the books that shape our craft—Slaughterhouse‑Five, Catch‑22, and one Nabokov short story WebEater dissected like he was an eager fifth grader who'd just been handed his first owl pellet. We talked about borrowing and adapting structure from other authors, the little lies we tell ourselves to keep writing, and that weird optimism/pessimism dance that happens whenever Vonnegut comes up. And also, cat anuses *. Then we re...

Krispy had wedding #2 out of 3 this year (to the same woman) but still pinched out a story. We talked about making dialogue sound natural, how to write characters who don't sound like, well, you talking to yourself, and why highlighting every line in neon colors might help. Bam! Pow! Then we read stories for the prompt Queensberry Rules (a set of regulations for boxing matches (that introduced the use of padded gloves in boxing as well as the 10-second count)). Stories feature everything from...

We fell straight into the story‑structure void this week—Dan Harmon’s Story Circle (of Community fame, as Murph will be quick to tell you; only casuals know him from Rick and Morty), Joseph Campbell, sitcom plotting, and the eternal “oh god, my draft needs an actual plot” realization. We shared our outlining disasters, surprise rewrites, and that moment when you finally admit the story isn’t done yet. Afterward, we read stories inspired by U and Non‑U, a very British way of deciding whether y...

This episode special guest Matt Weinkam joins us! We talk about Literary Cleveland, a nonprofit organization and creative writing center that empowers people to explore other voices and discover their own; Cleveland's own free literary conference the Inkubator; our creative influences; and the paths that lead people back to writing. Then we reflect on early inspirations, experimenting with style, and how community programs make writing more accessible. Then, stories inspired by the prompt Gan...

This episode JUST C.O.S. joins us to talk about writing, life, and The Sparrow's Fortune, a poetry collective working to inspire, educate, and encourage our community through arts, entertainment, and creative writing workshops. We discussed the challenge of learning to accept critique without losing your love for the craft, and the sheer joy of watching other people create. There were birds in the walls, Tony Morrison quotes in the air, and a...spirited... discussion about what counts as “arm...

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. Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do...

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 j...

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. Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thin...

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 surviva...

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 a...

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. Be s...