The Stories We Tell
by Dōhai
Back in October 2018 the Horrible Writing Writers Support Group on Facebook launched a fun monthly 500 word flash fiction event. The Founder of the group, Paul Sating, was so inspired by the event, he developed the idea into a podcast that features the best of these short stories.
The podcast ‘The Stories We Tell’ launches with a double-shot of the first two episodes next Tuesday (23rd April 2019), so to celebrate I got together with Paul Sating and Natalie Aked, creator of ‘Horrible Writing’ and ‘A Breviloquent Challenge’ respectively.
To tell the story of this podcast we first need to go back to July 2017, when veteran podcaster Paul Sating (Subject: Found, Who Killed Julie, and Diary of a Madman among others) launched Horrible Writing, a podcast with the aim of bringing ‘empowerment through candor’ to authors from all paths across the globe. It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly two years since the show launched, as I have been here listening since inception.
I asked Paul to give us a brief outline of the Horrible Writing show and its premise.
“I love listening to other writer’s take on the craft, but I couldn’t find a podcast featuring the affective side of writing. I need a pep talk from time to time, as many writers do, since this is such a solitary venture. But no one was doing it, that I found. I also believe that too many writers don’t open the closet and show our guests all the mistakes. That’s harmful to newer writers. They see a polished work and think, “I can’t ever do that.” So I did what I always do. If someone isn’t doing it, or willing to do it, I will.
I started the Horrible Writing podcast to document my journey, publicly, from know-nothing to published author. I wanted to serve that dual purpose of showing people the emotional journey alongside the reality that no one knows everything about ‘how’ to get published, and that’s it’s a constant exploration of learning.
Yesterday, I recorded the 83rd episode of the show and I realized there is so much I still have to learn. So, so much. And that’s okay.
By opening up to the public, with full candor, I believe--and the emails and reviews I receive can verify--other writers find it helpful and don’t feel so alone, so we all rise together.”
If you haven’t checked it out yet, and you have even a passing interest in writing, then this show should be on your playlist. You can find it here.
The Horrible Writing Writers Support Group launched on Facebook last August (2018) and has exploded with members from all walks of writing life, all of whom share support and resources to ‘raise all ships’ in the true spirit that this powerhouse was born.
One of the founder members of the team is administrator Natalie Aked, a blogger and short story writer. She has published a few books on Yuan Dynasty Mongolian food. In her own words:
“Mostly, I am a storyteller. I enjoy bringing the world to people in snippets of tales.”
Natalie introduced ‘A Breviloquent Challenge’ the monthly 500 word flash fiction event to the group so that they could have a bit of fun and flex those writing muscles. I asked her about her thoughts about introducing this challenge:
“I suggested the ABC to Paul because many of our newer writers were struggling with common problems. I hoped that flash fiction might help - writing is the only solution to writing problems in my book. I also hoped it would foster a solidarity within the group; and, maybe, start a conversation.
I think that the ABC is a positive force in the group. Not everyone participates, but those who do gain feedback and those who participate regularly are seeing improvements in their writing.” - Nat
Within a month of ABC being launched on the support group Paul and Natalie were in talks about a podcast.
“In late November/early December 2018, Paul broached the idea of the podcast. He admitted that he had been thinking about a podcast of stories and he hoped the ABC would be the venue to find those stories. I loved the idea!” - Nat
From initial idea to release has only taken a few short months. With (at time of writing) three episodes in the can I asked both Natalie and Paul if there had been any major hurdles, or even a few bumps in the road:
“Well, I have the easy job. I am responsible for the written stuff. Which basically means I set the challenges and the writers take it from there. Once the end date comes, I have a team of four judges who are AMAZING. They read and rank the stories. I collect the data and give it to Paul. Really, his job requires the most effort and he’s awesome at what he does. It’s been such an easy process thanks to everyone involved.”
“It’s been very smooth. Natalie is a champ. She was on-board with the idea from the very beginning. In fact, when I pitched it to her, we immediately started ironing out how it would work and what some of the potential tripping points were (things such as how we would keep it manageable for both of us and set the right expectations for everyone else. This was, honestly, one of the easiest joint efforts I’ve ever undertaken, credit to Natalie!” - Paul
One of the things I’ve noticed as a member of the group is the camaraderie: normally social media posts have a ‘look at me’ feel to them, but here they’re all about helping one another, has this bled over into creating the podcast?
“One of the most epic things about this whole process has been the community. Horrible Writing Writers Support Group has always been a nurturing environment, but when we added ABC I was blown away with the immediate response. Not only do the writers who participated read the other stories but they give constructive feedback. It’s also common to see comments from members who didn’t enter a story that month. It’s an awesome resource for the writers.
Now that we have linked the writing challenge to the podcast, we are seeing that community support again. Some of our writers are hesitant to read their stories. They may not have the equipment and time or they may feel that they can’t do the story justice. But the community just keeps giving.
This project has definitely cemented the ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ sentiment in my mind. The group has shown such support to one another.”“This show truly is a community effort. It would be easy for people to post their story and move on, but that’s not what happens. In this wonderfully positive collective, what you see instead is the community reading each other’s work, providing encouragement and constructive criticism; and the narrators echo that.
I sent out a single initial call and was inundated with responses from narrators who want to be involved. We don’t have enough stories for the next five episodes to give to them, there are so many! Their eagerness to help is matched by ‘how’ they invest in someone else’s story. The narrators read other writer’s stories as if they are their own. This is truly a horribly wonderful community!” - Paul
I for one am looking forward to listening to the podcast and I wish it all the success. Being a part of it has not only helped me as a writer with technical aspects, but the community helps alleviate that impostor syndrome. Any final words from you both before I let you go?
“I’m super passionate about this project. I can’t wait to hear what listeners think of the podcast and read what our writers will come up with next. It would be great to see the participation grow. If there are writers out there reading this, come join us, please.”
“I’d really encourage people to give this show a listen. It’s a beautiful project because it is the manifestation of my Horrible Writing ideology, that we all rise together, that each and every one of us have stories to tell and we ‘can’ find an audience for those stories. Already, we have nearly 50 stories from dozens of authors to share with the world, and that’s only going to grow as we move forward. If someone is looking for fresh fiction from a variety of writers around the world, there is no other place to go than The Stories We Tell. It is a show for all voices, and all listeners.” - Nat
The podcast launches next Tuesday (23rd April 2019) and I hope you will join us here at Podern Times in celebrating the world of indie writing with the Horrible Writing Writers Support Group on Facebook and The Stories We Tell.
A Podern Playlist
For week ending 14/4/19
Welcome back Podern Family! We hope you had a wonderful week filled with great and new podcast offerings from our internet overlords. If not, or you’re just looking for recommendations, here’s what some of the crew listened to this week. And as a bonus, we have two special guests adding to our playlist this week! Keep reading to find out what Paul Sating and Natalie Aked of The Stories We Tell are listening to.
Lex Scott
This week I unfortunately wasn’t able to branch out from my standard fare, so my playlist consisted once again of simply Junkfood Cinema, Small Beans, and Write Along.
JFC had the pair practically gooing themselves discussing yet another sci fi future tech helicopter with Blue Thunder, while Cargill discussed how to move forward when you’re stuck in your second act in Write Along episode 24.
Small Beans somehow released three Frame rates this week: covering Bone Tomahawk, The Burbs, and Princess Mononoke. I know at least one of these (Mononoke) was a re-release from behind their patreon paywall, but I’m not sure about the other two...
Alex C. Telander
This week SCP dropped a new creepy episode; Tuned in Dialed Up had an interesting episode about the use of sound in podcasting; and the Veil released a new episode of a vampiric quality. Victoriocity dropped the next episode in their second season. Calling Darkness released their fifth episode and really summoning that demon was a bad idea. Air/Space featured an episode all about Air Force One and it was fascinating! And finally, Middle:Below dropped their thrilling season finale.
Dōhai
So a combination of a lack of headphones (yes I still haven’t found them) and the fact that I’ve been returned to a stay-at-home-dad while it’s half term, I have only managed to listen to the above mentioned ‘The Stories We Tell’ episodes one and two. It’s a wonderful celebration of the writing community, and as special addition to the playlist I asked the creators of The Stories We Tell what podcasts they have been listening to lately.
Paul Sating
TSWT isn't my only new project. I'm currently producing the first two episodes of a new medieval high fantasy audio drama. I mention that because one of the factors in deciding to create it was the utter void of good high fantasy in the public space. I just didn't find anything that was interesting ... until I found Dark Saga: Aethuran, which is my style of fantasy -- nice and dark!
Another one I found, as a result of Phillip's show, is Call of the Flame. It's a much larger fantasy production, but it's well-written, produced, and acted. What they do differently from another large-cast fantasy I won't mention, is that they're insightful enough to address the non-visual aspect of audio drama by featuring a cast of distinct voices, so it's easy to tell one character from another without prompts. There's a nice slice of humor in the story as well, which is always a nice touch. I'm not listening to much in the way of fiction beyond that because I've found the inundation of new shows to be overwhelming, though Hello From the Magic Tavern is still a fave!
Natalie Aked
The first is Horrible Writing, and I’m not saying that just to suck up to Paul. It’s my favourite writing podcast. (I love it too-Ed) It’s the candour and can do spirit that makes me listen within the first 24 hours after a new episode is up. And the advice given is often just the kick on the bum I need.
Lex Wahl started a podcast called Anything Ghost about 15 years ago. I had been made redundant about a month before his first show, and I bought an iPod with my payout (I know, big spender). I found his podcast from that first episode by chance and I’ve been listening ever since; there’s something about an hour of ghost stories that feeds a need in my soul.
Haunted Places by Parcast Network is another ‘oh goodie!’ podcast for me. Where Anything Ghost tells people’s personal paranormal experiences, Haunted Places looks at the dark places and deep shadows of our world. You learn the stories of the place through fact, narrative, and fiction. Greg Polcyn is your host. He and the staff of Haunted Places can send cold fingers down your spine.
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