Episode 63: Party Time
The WITTScasters miss the social aspect of writing: readings, conferences, parties, after-parties, etc. Or wait… maybe they just miss their youth. How to wrestle with heavy questions like these? Why...
View ArticleEpisode 64: The Age of Story
The boys wade back into the art/commerce discussion. Jon has grown suspicious of all the storytelling around us, from politics to the business world. Meanwhile, Ben and Brian weigh in on living in the...
View ArticleEpisode 065: Politics & Prose
This episode finds Ben fresh off the campaign trail. But while the election might have left him feeling weary and picked apart, he’s got nothing on the kid in Adam Lefton’s story “Animals.” (P.S....
View ArticleEpisode 66: There Is No Solace
Get ready for some SUPER HOT ACTION! The WITTScasters, in discussing their current work, admit some occasional self-doubt. Searching for solace, they find none. They do, however, find enjoyment in Ron...
View ArticleEpisode 67: Write With the WITTScasters
You know what? Writing is about writing, not talking about writing. In a special holiday episode, the WITTScasters put that mantra to work and take an hour to write on-air (with the requisite...
View ArticleEpisode 68: Getchu a Bowl
It’s the first show of 2015, and the new year brings new writing questions. Ben’s looking to cast off the shackles of traditional fiction, Brian’s wondering how to fit larger-than-life subject matter...
View ArticleEpisode 70: The Spine of Fiction
How do you make stuff up? Where does fiction come from? What’s the secret to it all? The imagination gives us plot and characters, but the boys debate whether fiction writers actually do anything more...
View ArticleEpisode 71: Talent
How much of being a good writer comes from raw talent and how much from hard work? What do you do after you’ve mined all the “low-hanging fruit” of your life for material? What does empathy have to do...
View ArticleEpisode 72: Schlock for Schloozers
In Episode 72, Ben’s been building his students up to a completed short story, Brian gets a pocket notebook to make him observe the world like a writer, and Jon adds the Millenials to his shit list....
View ArticleEpisode 73: Survivalist Wells
Join the boys as they host their very first guest: the construction workers constructing a patio/firepit/well in Jon’s neighbor’s backyard. Beyond the hammering and saws, the boys manage a fine...
View ArticleEpisode 74: Bad Reviews
They say two out of three ain’t bad, and the WITTScasters sure hope so, because one of them didn’t finish reading the story for this episode. But that doesn’t stop all three from weighing in equally on...
View ArticleEpisode 75: Memory and Truth
It’s AWP time again, but instead of joining the dance party in Minnesota, the WITTScasters are at home reliving AWPs past and comparing notes on their aging memories. Then a discussion of R.T. Smith’s...
View ArticleEpisode 76: Transforming Place
In which Jon argues that the “South” (and regionalism at large) doesn’t exist. In which Ben takes him to task and brings out exhibit A, Jon’s “southern” novel. In which Brian says, “It’s not the region...
View ArticleEpisode 77: Things Neglected
In episode 77, the WITTScasters try to build a list of the things most commonly overlooked by fiction writers–including why characters don’t get sick, how some stories seem to be set nowhere, and what...
View ArticleEpisode 78: Summertime
It’s summertime! Time to plan our vacation reading and, in Jon’s case, figure out what books are best to read to a newborn. In Episode 78, the guys talk summer reading, infant language development,...
View ArticleEpisode 79: How to Be a Husband
Get an attic. Buy your wife a loom. Marry a spicy Canadian. Recycle. Communicate about your depression. Leading up to Brian’s wedding, the guys turn to literature to see what fiction has to say about...
View ArticleEpisode 80: Marriage! Kids! Houses! (or, “Bring the Darkness”)
Ben, Brian, and Jon didn’t get to the story they’d planned this week. But it’s fine, it’s fine — instead, they set aside some time to talk about all the big, new milestones in their lives right now,...
View ArticleEpisode 81: Honest Fiction
It’s been a hell of a summer in WITTSville, and the guys are still trying to get their shit together. Brian is now a husband, Ben is now a landowner, and Jon is now a father. Amid all the turmoil, they...
View ArticleEpisode 82: “Joan of Arc With a Skunk” and Other Titles
Pour a glass of fine scotch and sit back while the boys tackle the peaty stench of inspiration, titles, dictionaries, flash fiction, and more. Then they turn to a lively discussion of that writer’s...
View ArticleEpisode 83: Continuing Education
It may be the end of summer, but the WITTScasters aren’t letting the dog days get them down. Brian is writing, Jon is revising, and Ben is submitting. One of them is even going back to school, which...
View Article