writing class radio (andrea askowitz and allison langer)

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Bonnie Shor, who we call Blee. Blee has been a student of Writing Class Radio for two years. We love the shit out of her. Listen to what she told us: I took up knitting, Zumba and writing when I turned 60. Eight years later, there's a ball of yarn in my closet, and four unused Zumba classes on my lost dance card. My writing, though, can be found in several anthologies, most recently, Hellokoo Volume 1 Letter A, Loud Coffee Press Magazine, and now Writing Class Radio. For more Blee, check out her Instagram @Bleeshor. 

Blee’s story is called Am I Turning Into My Mother? A question many people can totally relate to on so many levels. On this episode we talk about how Blee so elegantly described her mother and herself. We discuss what makes something universal, the details that drew us in and told us so much about the narrator, and we discuss why the structure she used is so effective. And finally, we talk about endings. This narrator nailed the ending in a huge way. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s show is part of a series called Home. Writing Class Radio helped produce a documentary to help end homelessness for Chapman Partnership, a homeless center in South Florida. We put out a public call for submissions for stories about home. The call brought so many different and fascinating takes. Thank you to all the people who submitted stories. 

In our series, you’ll hear a story about a woman who is torn between two homes, a man who finds home through love with a woman while he’s dealing with addiction, and a woman who finds home in another country less racially divided. 

Today’s story by Mary Ann Parker is about feeling at home in your skin. Trigger warning: This story contains strong language and images and is not appropriate for children. Sexual violence is discussed. 

Mary’s story shows how to expertly plant seeds, which is a way to drop hints and lead your reader to your conclusion. 

Mary Ann Parker is a war veteran and a student in our class. She is working on a memoir.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Matt Cundill (of the Sound Off Media Company), Evan Surminski, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Mia Pennekamp and Ariel Henley are our media specialists.

Theme music is by Ari Herstand. Additional music by Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

Join us at The Sanibel Island Writers Conference Oct. 24-25, 2020. The conference (this year) is VIRTUAL and FREE Sat. noon-8 ET and Sun. noon-7 ET. Andrea and Allison teach from 12-1 ET on Sat. Sign up now. Description goes here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On today’s episode hosts Andrea and Allison say goodbye to a shit year. They each took the prompt: Bye Bye 2020. Andrea got nothing and explains that the story she kept coming to--about her daughter having a rough time--is a story she’s not yet prepared to tell. Nothing else felt honest. 

Allison writes about her last chemo treatment on January 9, 2020. She was ready to move on from cancer forever, when six months later her dad sat down in her office midday and gave her the news: he had cancer. Her story is about the lessons she needs to learn. Again. 

Allison's essay might be a microcosm of what the world is going through with coronavirus and the quarantine.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora (www.virginialora.com), Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Mia Pennekamp is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Amadians. Additional music by Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to Season 12. Today, we’re starting a 10-part series inspired by the people Allison Langer taught memoir writing, in a men’s prison. We put a call out for stories, so you will hear stories her students have written recently and stories from other incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people around the world.

To help us get this right, we asked Xaire, who is a poet, singer-songwriter, actor, and teacher to co-host with us. Xaire teaches writing and poetry to kids in the foster care system. 

THIS MUST BE SAID: We don’t mean to sensationalize crime or someone who breaks the law. Airing these stories is in no way meant to take anything away from the victims of violent crime. Instead, we want to share stories, because we believe that stories lead to understanding. And if there’s something we need more of these days, it’s understanding. 

The first story in our series was written by our own Allison Langer. It’s a story about change. A change in the way Allison sees the justice system and the way she sees the people caught up in the justice system. 

Our hope (after hearing all the stories in the series) is that you will see in the men and women, what we have come to see: intelligent, motivated, kind human beings who made a mistake--sometimes, very big, huge, awful mistakes. Most of the people who are incarcerated are suffering from trauma, had to make very difficult choices at a young age, and got tangled up in a flawed system. Some have been misjudged and wrongfully convicted. But those men and women are NOT their crimes. They have paid their debts, matured, and are ready to move on with their lives.

Maybe you will fear the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated less or not at all. Maybe you will support laws that provide equal justice and job opportunities to the formerly incarcerated. Maybe you’ll give your family members a break when they disappoint you. Maybe you will have more patience with young people who have messed up. 

Our hope extends to those who are victims of violent crimes. These stories are for you too. We hope hearing some of these stories will bring some relief.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, Xaire, and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Courtney Fox at the Sound Off Media Company. Music by Xaire and Marnino Toussaint.

There’s more writing class on our website, writingclassradio.com: including video classes, essays to study, and editing resources. 

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work every Tuesday 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. So look for us. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

This series is dedicated to Luis Aracena. You are missed and loved. May you rest in peace.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s episode is part of a series called Home. Writing Class Radio helped produce a documentary to help end homelessness for Chapman Partnership, a homeless center in South Florida.

On this episode, you will hear a story by writer Tiffanie Drayton who takes an idea that most Americans hold about our country and turns it on its head. Typically, people come to America to seek asylum. But, Tiffanie left America to seek asylum. She left because she didn’t feel safe here as a Black American. 

Tiffany’s essay was published in the New York Times on June 12, 2020, which led to an agent signing and a 250k book deal. You’ll hear that story plus our conversation with Tiffanie about her experience as a Black person in America. Tiffanie came to America from Trinidad at four years old. She talks about her privilege as a dual citizen and her responsibility as a writer to call herself out for that privilege. 

Tiffanie Drayton (@draytontiffanie) is working on a book about fleeing American racism.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Mia Pennekamp is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Ari Herstand. Additional music by Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Do you know how sometimes when you’re reading a story you feel like the story slows down in a critical moment? Maybe the narrator describes the people in a room or the birds on a tree nearby. Maybe there’s a flashback to a memory. In that moment, the reader becomes hyper aware and hopefully totally drawn in.

Today on our show we’re talking about slowing down and expanding a moment. A moment in a story that says to the reader, “Hey, pay attention. I’m about to give you some details that are important to the story.”

Devan Sandiford, a listener from Brooklyn, NY submitted a story where he slows down in the most important moment, both by explaining what’s happening in detail and by going back to another memory that explains why this moment matters.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni.

Theme music is by Justina Shandler. Additional music is by Adriel Borshansky and Ari Herstand.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/) and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. Through spring 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, please click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, we bring you a story by Terry Barr with a secret he’s kept most of his life. This story highlights the importance of telling the truth and letting go of shame, in this case, about sexual assault. You’ll also hear Terry’s pitch when he submitted his essay to the podcast. AND, we discuss structure. Terry’s structure is exactly what Allison loves. If you want to hear your own stories on Writing Class Radio, this is a great episode to hear. This episode will help you understand what we look for and how to land a story on our show.

Terry Barr writes about music and culture at medium.com/@terrybarr. His most recent essay collection, The American Crisis Playlist was nominated for a 2022 Pushcart Prize. His work can also be found at Tell Your Story, storySouth, and Under the Sun. He lives in Greenville, SC, with his family.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Emia.

There’s more writing class on our website, writing class radio dot com including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $35/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison, Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Zorina Frey Wednesdays 7-8pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, for $145/mth you’ll get First Draft and Second Draft. In Second Draft, each week, three people bring a second draft for feedback. 

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Emma Lathrop, a PhD student at The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Emma’s story is about proving your value and fighting for your position as a woman in STEM. The best part is when we get a glimpse into how the field would look if Emma were the boss.

This story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. Like episode 174, 175, 177, 179, and 180 this was a collaboration with ECOSS, The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, at Northern Arizona University and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true SCIENCE stories.

Writing Class Radio worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and then they hired us to work with their students online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

Emma Lathrop is a PhD student at NAU in the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at Northern Arizona University. Her research focuses on understanding how susceptible carbon in deep soils is to decomposition and emission to the atmosphere as greenhouse gas. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

A transcription of this episode can be found on The Sound Off Media Company Network page.

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Danielle Huggins. Danielle has been featured twice before on WCR. In Episode 105: Teach Us Something We Don’t Know where she shared her experience with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Danielle was also featured in Episode 139: This Is What Mania Looks Like where she takes us through a manic episode. If you haven’t listened to those episodes, definitely check them out.

Today’s story was written for our December 2022 writing retreat in Key Largo, edited by Andrea and Allison, revised by Danielle, then brought to the retreat for edits from the group. Today, we will bring you Danielle’s final version.

This story is a great example of writing in the moment (without distance and perspective) and how to end a story. Danielle also uses song lyrics to reveal emotion and mood.  

Danielle Huggins is a former middle school math teacher. Now she’s a writer, and student of Writing Class Radio. She has written for the Washington Post and Gomag.com and has been featured on the writing class radio podcast twice. She lives with her husband, daughter and mom in northern New Jersey. She can be found on social media @bipolardanielle on TikTok, My Life as a Bipolar Mom on Facebook, and @DanHuggins123 on Twitter. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundilll, Aidan Glassey, Chloe Emond Lane and Evan Surminski at the Sound Off Media Company Theme music is by Emia.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison Langer on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Zorina Frey Wednesdays 7-8pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, or if you are a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is about writing like you speak, which is the best way to tell a true, authentic story. Andrea and Allison discuss why bringing your voice into a written essay makes the story so much better. 

You will hear an essay by Anthea Rowan, a writer and listener from Tanzania, Africa. Anthea’s story is about social anxiety. She uses her brilliant British vernacular and charms the listener. Allison and Andrea discuss the writing after the story, why writing class has fucked them up for cocktail talk, and their own experiences with social anxiety.

Anthea Rowan grew up in Tanzania, Africa. She has three kids and says her writing was born by accident. Crap at most things and feeling empty nestish, a friend suggested she write for a local travel mag. A year later she was published in The Times of London. Rowan says writing saved her life after years of isolation in the African bush. She is working on her first creative non-fiction book. For more Anthea, go to @anthea_rowan on Instagram, visit her website or read her blog.

This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and Matt Cundill of SoundOff Media. 

Theme music by Justina Shandler. Additional music by Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work Tuesdays 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, author and overall cool woman, Allison Landa reads an excerpt from her new memoir coming out October 4, 2022 called Bearded Lady (Woodhall Press). Pre-order today from our favorite Indie, Books & Books, or wherever you get books. Andrea read an advance copy and this story–this book–is one of Andrea’s all time favorites.

This essay, the whole memoir, is a lesson in guts out vulnerability. Andrea believes Allison Landa is the next Joan Didion.

The part we bring you is a perfect example of the use of a container and it’s also an elegant lesson in the importance of being vulnerable. Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild, said, “Don’t lift your skirt just to lift your skirt.” Allison Landa lifts her skirt for all the right reasons. We also talk about how to pull an excerpt from a memoir and make it work as a stand-alone piece.

Allison Landa is a Berkeley, CA-based writer who’s written for Parents Magazine, Business Insider, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and HuffPost Personal. She teaches at The Writing Salon in San Francisco and earned an MFA in fiction from St. Mary's College of California. She is represented by Marisa Zeppieri of Strachan Literary Agency. You can find Allison Landa at the following places:

www.facebook.com/matzohbrei, Twitter: @allisonlanda, Instagram: @adlanda or www.allisonlanda.com. Cover photo by Maya Blum Photography.

Writing Class Radio is hosted and produced by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Guest host is Zorina Frey. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. (Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET). Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. For $125/mth, you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other Wednesday.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We asked you, our listeners, to send in your unfinished essays. We didn’t mean first drafts. We meant those essays you’ve been working on forever that you can’t get to the bottom of. Today on our show, we bring you an unfinished essay by listener Julie Schoelzel, a writer from Keene, New Hampshire. We hope to offer Julie insights into figuring out what she’s come to say and how to finish her essay. 

In every class, of every essay, we ask: What is the story about? After several drafts, we hope the narrator can answer this question because every scene and every detail must lead the reader/listener to that conclusion. 

Thank you Julie Schoelzel for being brave and sharing your story.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Mia Pennekamp is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Amadians. 

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode focuses on how to tell a story out loud. In May 2024, our own Andrea Askowitz made her way to a Moth storytelling competition and for the 15th time (over nine years), dropped her name in the bag. The prompt was snooping. Before she left home, her wife told her to look at this evening, if chosen, as practice instead of assuming this would be her Moth. So, when her name was chosen, Andrea had not memorized a story but instead decided to have fun telling the audience about the time she snooped on her daughter’s Insta account. Did she win at long last? Listen to find out. 

In this episode, you will also hear tips on how to hone your story for both the page and the stage. 

If you want to tell a story out loud or if you want to hone a story you're writing for the page, sign up here to workshop with Andrea. Page to Stage and Back to Page is happening June 27, 2024 7-8:30 p.m. ET on Zoom.

A transcription of this episode can be found on the Network Page.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For the month of August, 2021, we’re bringing back four of our listeners’ favorite episodes. Writing Class Radio brings you personal stories and tips on how to write your own stories. This episode originally aired May 18, 2017 on episode 30.

The format for this episode is a little different. Today we’re bringing you a guest teacher, because we think it’s smart to get different perspectives. 

Joyce Maynard is one of Andrea’s favorite teachers in the world. Joyce has 17 books and has been writing for 50 years. She started when since she was 13. 

Andrea asked Joyce to read and deconstruct her essay, Letting it Fly which was originally published in 1997 in the New York Times Lives Column. 

In the interview, Joyce explains what goes into writing a great story and tells us her secrets to making a good essay great.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

The original episode 30 was produced by Virginia lora, Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Theme music by Daniel Correa. Additional music by Andy G. Cohen and Podington Bear. Episode 108 was put together by Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski of the Sound Off Media Company.

Click to order Joyce’s book, The Best of Us. And register for Joyce Maynard’s Guatemala workshop.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s first draft weekly writers class, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

We’re pinking out and we want you to pink out with us by supporting one of our cancer charities: https://www.writingclassradio.com/camo-elephant-project, The Pink Wig Project, or 305 Pink Pack.

Thank you for listening. If you love this podcast, tell your friends. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we share a story by Heidi Walker called Coming Home. The essay is under 800 words and finely detailed to emphasize only what the narrator would like us to focus on. We love this essay not only for its sentiment but also because the tightness of the essay proves that keeping it simple can often make the story stronger.

We wanted this story on our show for the heart it expresses. The essay is also artfully crafted. But, the heart hit us hard. The story is about coming home. Which both Allison and Andrea did.  

Heidi Walker was born in Seattle, raised in the farmlands close to the city, and still lives in Seattle today. She is a photographer and writer and says her world was filled with reading and writing. Books were gifts for birthdays and holidays. One year, she received three books titled Heidi. She still has a copy on her bookshelf.  

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and by Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Courtney Fox. Additional music by Jamie Lee Wilson and sourced through Megatrax.

There’s more writing class on our website including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers group. (Tuesdays 12-1 ET or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET) Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. For $125/mth, you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other Wednesday.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story.  What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Are you writing like crazy but just can’t seem to push the send button on your submissions? Today on our show, Writing Class Radio student Margery Berger tells us what’s been holding her back.

Margery Berger has told a story on this podcast before. On Episode 46: An Object is Not Just an Object she told a stunner about her obsession with her scale. 

Margery has been in class with us for 3, maybe 4, years. She has every ingredient to be a published writer, except one. 

She is perfectly self-conscious. She knows herself. She’s willing to get vulnerable. She does the work. She gives great feedback. She has endlessly interesting ideas, and a stockpile of really good stories. And she’s frickin’ talented. But, what she doesn’t have is the guts to send her stories out for publication. 

Today she did, not just here on Writing Class Radio, but she submitted the story heard on this episode to Next Tribe and got published the same day. You’ll hear her story: My Boyfriend Said My Hands Are Ugly and I Can’t Get Over It. You’ll also hear a conversation with Margery about what’s holding her back.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Matt Cundill of Sound Off Media, Andrea Askowitz, and Allison Langer. Mia Pennekamp is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Amadians. 

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is about story structure and all things done well in an essay. LiAnne Yu tells a story about watching TV with her Chinese immigrant parents. As a narrator she brings us into her world--dinners in front of the TV with her parents. She uses detail to reveal character--Mork & Mindy, Sex and the City, and Fox News. She follows the five Cs of story structure: context, circumstance, complication, change, consequence.

LiAnne Yu is an anthropologist and writer based in San Francisco and Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Her story was originally published in The New York Times, July 17, 2020.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Mia Pennekamp is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Emia. Additional music by Podington Bear and Ari Herstand.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Christopher Blackwell. Chris is 42 and serving a 45-year prison sentence in Washington. Chris’s story came to us through writer and Chris’s mentor, Jamie Beth Cohen.

This episode is about taking a small moment and bringing big meaning. Through details and emotion, Chris tells us so much about himself and his surroundings. When birds nest on the windowsill of the prison, all the men gather round. Their usual differences melt away. When the birds fly away, our narrator understands their lust for freedom.

Christopher Blackwell co-founded Look 2 Justice, an organization that provides civic education to system-impacted communities and actively works to pass sentence and policy reform legislation. He is currently writing a book about solitary confinement. His writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, and many other outlets. He is a contributing writer at Jewish Currents, a contributing editor at The Appeal, and works closely with the prison writing program Empowerment Avenue. You can follow him on X @chriswblackwell.

Chris’s story was originally published in The Appeal, which is a nonprofit news organization that envisions a world in which systems of support and care, not punishment, create public safety. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we are talking about what we can’t stop talking about, the coronavirus. Every email, text, call starts with, “How are you holding up?” It’s beautiful and exhausting, so we put out a call for coronavirus stories.

We have two stories to share. One is by our own Andrea Askowitz who is still living in Madrid. Madrid is one of the most contagious cities on earth and if you’ve seen her videos of her family dancing on FB, you are aware she’s going a little stir-crazy. Writing has helped calm her. 

And we have a story by Sari Botton, the essays editor of Longreads. In Sari’s essay, she gives us permission to tell our stories even if they feel petty. We always say, stories matter. And now, stories matter as much as ever. But for those of us too freaked out to write, Sari also gives us permission to take the pressure off producing. 

We talk a lot on our show about situation and story. The stories you will hear today are both about this coronavirus situation, but they also bring us something more about the human condition. We hope these stories are both comforting and inspiring.

Sari Botton’s list of writing resources for anyone interested in writing now:

• Vanessa Mártir offers many personal essay prompts that she made available for free in 2019 on her Writing Our Lives site.
• Cookbook author Julia Turshen is offering free food writing workshops via Instagram Live.
• Rachel McKibbens is offering writing prompts for 30 days in a Twitter thread. (Anyone can access them, but she is asking for donations to The Pink Door, the writers’ retreat for women-identified writers of color.)
• Weds., 3/25 The Writing Barn is offering a free webinar called “Writing Through Troubled Times.”
• Nancy Stohlman and Kathy Fish are offering 30 days of free writing prompts.
• Toby Litt has a free 10-session short story writing workshop online.
• The Porch Writers’ Collective in Tennessee is offering daily writing prompts on Twitter. They’ll be moving them to email, so sign up here.
• Barrel House is offering free online write-ins.
• Anna Polonyi has started Quarantine Quill, via the Paris Institute for Critical Thinking, a podcast on which she offers one writing prompt and one writing tip each day, for the duration of the lockdown in Paris.
• Stonewall Writers & Readers is hosting free writers’ groups online.
• Leigh Shulman is offering free online writing workshops next week, and also free writing prompts via email.
• And one more from Sari: I’ve got an into-level essay writing workshop on Skillshare. If you sign up for it, you can get a two-month free trial that lets you access all the courses on their site. Right now, Skillshare is also offering two months free (without having to give credit-card information) for current K-12 and college students, and others who qualify based on need. (I’m pretty dorky in my video, and I wish I’d thought to like, style my hair that day…? But I stand by the content of it.)

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Ariel Henley is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Emia. Additional music is by Ari Herstand, Justina Shandler, and Poddington Bear,

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today our show is going to be a little different because shit just got really real. Three weeks ago, Allison was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer. In this episode, we share the stories we wrote about this situation. We are treating this episode as if we’re in writing class by sharing our own writing and critiquing it, because writing and sharing and then getting and giving feedback is how we deal with whatever's going on in our lives. We thought writing and critiquing would help us process what’s going on. 

We hope that hearing our stories will motivate you to write and stay connected to the people you love while you go through your own shit.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. 

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Christine Corey. 

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. Through summer 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s publishing conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. This takes place via Zoom, so anyone can join from anywhere in the world. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to join.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is about landing an ending. It’s also about raising the bar on what we write about. In this case, storyteller Jennifer Landau writes something new and important about being a mom. She is afraid for what will happen to her son after she dies. This is especially important because like Allison and Andrea, Jennifer chose to have children on her own using anonymous sperm donation. So, Jennifer does not have a co-parent. The story is beautiful and so honest. This essay was previously published in Literary Mama.

Jennifer Landau lives in Westchester County, NY with her son, who does spot-on impressions of both Johnny Cash and Kermit the frog. She’s a children’s book editor, special education teacher and grant writer, and has published more than a dozen books. Her writing has appeared in Autism Parenting Magazine and Literary Mama. She owns three coffee makers, which is as close to a hobby as she gets.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Clare Mansell at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Courtney Fox. Additional music by TJ North and Marnino Toussaint. Sound effects by Jacob Thiessan.

There’s more writing class on our website, writingclassradio.com: including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers group. You have the option to join Tuesdays 12-1 ET or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET. Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, for $125/mth you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode, we bring you a story that the narrator has returned to and will probably return to all her life. Everyone has their themes and it’s okay to return to them at different points in our lives. Trigger warning…

The story you will hear on this episode documents the loss of a child. If this is a sensitive issue for you, please listen to another episode.

Our student and listener Emily Henderson writes a beautiful story about the loss of her son to brain cancer. In this essay, she uses her husband to tell her story from a different angle. Her husband has big enough shoulders to carry the weight of their grief. This story is in honor of all the fathers out there.

Emily Henderson is a stay-at-home mom, volunteer, freelance writer, and student at Writing Class Radio. Her essays have appeared in Scary Mommy, The Santa Barbara Independent, and Love What Matters. She is currently attempting to run every single street in Santa Barbara, CA.

She writes a blog called  www.myjustrightlife.com You can find her on Instagram @myjustrightlife

This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and Virginia Lora

Theme music by Justina Shandler. Additional music by Podington Bear and Ari Herstand.

There’s more writing class on our website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work Tuesdays 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we are talking about hot topic/cold prose and when and why to write in the present tense vs. past. The story we share is written in the present tense, which gives readers the feeling that they're going through the situation with the narrator, in real time. Today’s essay is by Dr. Colleen Arnold who is a physician and freelance writer in Lexington, Virginia. 

Dr. Arnold has written for Insider, Wall Street Journal, Chicken Soup for the Soul among others. She is a mom to three adult daughters and grandmother to a two-year-old. When she’s not with patients or family, she’s hiking with her dog, doing yoga, or camping in her minivan. You can find her on Facebook and on her Website. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

A transcription of this episode is available here.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join me on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jennifer Sizeland, who lives in Manchester, England. Her story, I found connection through a tattoo of a bee is a great example of situation and story.  It’s important to know the difference and we will discuss why.

Jennifer Sizeland is a freelance writer and assistant producer with 14 years of experience in the media industry. She has written for many publications including the BBC, the Independent, Metro, Manchester Mill, Fodor’s Travel, Gastro Obscura, Reader’s Digest, and Stylist. For more Jennifer Sizeland, go to her website Jennifersizeland.com. She lives in Manchester, England and you can follow her on Instagram at @lifeofsize.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode showcases the effectiveness of using the story spine structure. The story spine is a story structure as old as time. It’s the model every fairytale follows. It works really well for all stories because it’s intuitive. It’s in our collective unconscious. 

You will hear three prompt responses from Writing Class Radio’s First Annual Key Largo Writing Retreat. We told our students to think about a time everything changed and then we walked them through the story spine. Kim Costigan, Pamela Lear, and Dr. Jane Marks brought the bag!

You will also hear about the other stories at the retreat that were published after hard core edits. Start planning to attend our next Key Largo Writer’s Retreat in Dec 2023.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Guest host Zorina Frey. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Emia.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison Langer on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Zorina Frey Wednesdays 7-8pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, or if you are a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website: writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

For a transcription of today’s episode click here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the sixth story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4  to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade.  

The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. 

As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned.

Today’s story is by Derick Cook who describes his wife’s near-death experience when doctors sent her home after her water broke at 16 weeks. Derick’s wife should have gotten an abortion right away, but because her fetus still had cardiac activity and she wasn’t yet on the verge of death, her doctor was afraid to offer common-sense care. This story is tragic, but it has a happy ending.  

Derick Cook is a high school football champ, drummer, and guitar player. Because of what Derick’s wife went through, Derick has become an activist. He told us he wants to write a book. I hope he does. Find Derick on Facebook.

This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women’s Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, Women’s Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we bring you another story told live on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in September 2024. This story is by Emma Lathrop and is about her anxiety. This quality she thought was hindering her turned out to be something she now values. 

Two years ago, we were hired by Dr. Jane Marks and Dr. Bruce Hungate, two famous ecologists from ECOSS at Northern Arizona University. They heard our podcast and then started taking our classes which led to the idea that their students would benefit from taking our classes. So we’ve been doing online workshops and in-person workshops to help these scientists personalize their stories. The stories are amazing. I have learned so much about science through their stories in a way that brings me in. 

This is our second year collaborating with the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University. The scientists are so smart and they are trying to save our planet and we get to help them reach more people by personalizing their message. Today’s storyteller, Emma Lathrop, is a PhD candidate in ECOSS at Northern Arizona University. 

A transcript of this episode is available on our network site.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

Starting in 2025, a new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we share a story by Andrea Askowitz. Andrea’s story was written as speculative memoir during our writing retreat in Guatemala. And if you are like most people, you have never heard of speculative memoir. After you hear this episode, you will be dying to give it a try. But why did she use speculative memoir?

According to author Laraine Herring, who wrote in the Rumpus, speculative memoir explores the truth through the figurative over the literal. She questions why we say “just” before imagination, because isn’t imagination the foundation of everything? Go to the Rumpus to learn more.

On this episode, we have a special guest host: Zorina Frey. Zorina has been taking our classes for years and now she teaches one of our first draft classes on Wednesday night from 6-7pm ET. Click to sign up.

Andrea got the idea for this writing prompt from Beth Kephart, professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of 30 books. If you’d like to write your own speculative memoir (essay), follow the steps Andrea did below:

Think of a scene you’ve tried to write, but couldn’t because of lack of information. You can go back to the day of your birth or even conception. Write for 3 minutes to each of the following prompts (in order):

1. Where was this place?

2. Who was there?

3. When did this occur?

4. Who said what?

5. What happened in the end?

6. Why did this happen?

Zorina mentions Andrea’s use of anaphora, which is a rhetorical device in which a word or expression is repeated. An example of anaphora is Lincoln's "We cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground." 

You can find Andrea on Twitter @andreaaskowitz, FB @andreaaskowitz, and Instagram @andreaaskowitzandreaaskowitz. Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and by Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Courtney Fox.

There’s more writing class on our website including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers group. (Tuesdays 12-1 ET or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET) Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. For $125/mth, you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other Wednesday.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Pamela Druckerman that has voice, laugh out loud humor, and self knowing, which makes for a reliable narrator. The best part is the narrator doesn’t wait until the end to give a status report. We feel like we are on the adventure with her.

There are so many things the narrator does well in this essay including normalizing a threesome. She does this by using language and humor to bring the listener into her adventure with her husband. You do not want to miss this episode. 

Pamela Druckerman is a journalist, an Emmy-winning documentary producer, and the author of five books including Bringing Up Bébé, which has been translated into 31 languages. This essay is adapted from her book There Are No Grown-Ups: A midlife coming-of-age story. Get it here from our favorite Indie, Books & Books. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Emia.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $35/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison, Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Zorina Frey Wednesdays 7-8pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

A Transcript of this episode is Available here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In class, sometimes we ask people to close their eyes and smell sunblock, or freshly baked bread. Sometimes we play a Beatles song or have students squeeze Play-Doh. Sometimes we throw out a word like pussy. Then, we ask students to write about the first thing that comes to mind. All of these prompts inspire stories.

Today on our show we’re talking about how inspiration for stories can come in a word, a song, a scent, or an object like a dress.

You will hear a story by Nancy Brier, a listener from Palm Desert, California. Nancy’s essay starts with a dress, goes to another dress, to cancer and then back to the dress. But it is really a story about seizing the day.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni.

Theme music is by Justina Shandler. Additional music is by Podington Bear. There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/) and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. For the month of April 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, please go to writingclassradio.com and hit the DONATE button.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sarena Neyman. Sarena is in Allison’s 2nd Draft class, which is made up of writers who come together to share a draft of their essay and receive feedback from the group. Sarena’s stories are funny and brimming with voice and perfect landings.

Sarena Neyman has been writing for numerous human rights groups for more than 20 years, working on causes from digital privacy to affordable housing to marriage equality. She writes for cabinlife.com and PeaceVoice.com. Sarena lives in Western Massachusetts.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

A Transcription of this episode is available on our Network Website.

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we share a story by Sally Schwartz called Divorce Shiva. Sally’s story reveals the importance of ritual in helping us go through love and loss. On the day of her divorce, instead of crying at home alone, her friends gathered around and built a giant bonfire. Sally was reluctant to “celebrate” at first, but as she threw her monogrammed stationery into the flames, she realized she needed the ritual.

This story is a perfect example of equal parts heart and art. Sally tells the full truth about divorce. She also artfully weaves her theme throughout, teaches us a lesson in structure, showing and telling, and the importance of specific details.

For more than nine years, Sally Schwartz has worked as a syndicated columnist for The Chicago Tribune, where, until her divorce, she published under the name Sally Schwartz Higginson. Her work has also been published in The Sun, Herstry, The Sunlight Press, Brevity Blog, and Read650. 

We want to thank Nadine Kenney Johnstone for telling her students about Writing Class Radio. Nadine has a podcast called Heart of the Story. For more Sally Schwartz to sallyschwartz.com and on twitter: @heygalsal.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and by Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Courtney Fox. Additional music by Jamie Lee Wilson and sourced through Megatrax. 

There’s more writing class on our website including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join our live First Draft weekly writers group. (Tuesdays 12-1 ET or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET) Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. For $125/mth, you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other Wednesday.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Janet Funk. Janet writes about her experience sharing an essay she wrote with her family prior to submitting for publication to. The essay was about the horrible fourth of July when her brother Robbie drowned and was published in Business Insider on July 3, 2024.

We’ll discuss the age-old-memoir questions: How do we write about and publish stories about the people in our lives? 

Janet’s essay was written from a prompt given in First Draft. The prompt was this: Write about Something Beautiful. Janet’s story is called Something Beautiful Happened When I Shared My Writing with My Family

Janet Funk lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband Johnny, two sons and goldendoodle. In her free time she kayaks, hikes and writes. She also works at the best thrift store in town.You can find her writing on her Substack https://janetfunk.substack.com/

A transcription of this episode is available through our network website.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the fifth story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4  to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade.  

The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. 

As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight how Florida's current 6-week abortion ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on Amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned.

Today’s story is by Dr. Cecilia Grande, an OB-GYN in Miami, Florida. Her story is about how the current abortion laws are prohibiting her and her colleagues from giving standard care to her patients and tragically, women are dying. Dr. Grande lists the exceptions provided by the law, but walks us through why these exceptions are grossly inadequate and why even the exception for rape and incest does not protect rape victims unless they report their rape and can provide a court order. The exceptions, in short, are cruel. 

Dr. Cecilia Grande has been a practicing physician in Miami for 30 years.

The Yes on 4 campaign is taking the full live show, Our Abortion Stories, on the road. Join us in a city near you:

Tour Dates:

Tallahassee, Oct. 24

Jacksonville, Oct. 25

Orlando, Oct. 26

Ft. Lauderdale, Oct. 28

Click on the city for tickets and theater locations.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.

This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women’s Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, Women’s Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking about how to end a story when the situation is ongoing. You’ll hear an essay by the Brazilian born Miami writer, Camile Flosi Araujo. Camile brings us into her world, which changed dramatically for her when she got into a car accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. She made a startling discovery, not that she’s pissed about the accident, although she is, but that she’s pissed at herself for how she lived before the accident. Listen to hear how she expertly ends the story that she’s still living.

A version of Camile’s story was first told at Lip Service, a live storytelling event in Miami. Our co-host Andrea Askowitz produced Lip Service for nine years before leaving it under the leadership of the Miami Book Fair.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. 

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Justina Shandler. Additional music is by Kevin Myles Wilson and Podington Bear. For more Camile Flosi Araujo find her at https://www.facebook.com/camileflosiaraujo/.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/) and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. Through summer 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions support group. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers club (Tuesdays 12-1pm ET), where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Emily Henderson titled After Our Son Died, My Husband Gave Me The Most Meaningful Christmas Gift Of My Life. Emily workshopped this essay in our Final Draft class and then the Huffington Post published it on December 25, 2021. This story is an excellent example of using an object to convey emotion, details, and telling in addition to showing. Emily tells us how she’s feeling the entire story which intensifies her vulnerability. To hear another of Emily’s stories, listen to Episode 103: Writing the Same Story Over and Over. 

Emily Henderson is a runner and writer living in Santa Barbara, California. Her essays have appeared in Scary Mommy, the Santa Barbara Independent, Huffington Post, and Writing Class Radio. Emily is currently writing a memoir about processing the loss of her son while running every street in her city. You can follow her on Instagram at @emilykathleenwrites or visit emilykathleenwrites.com.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler. 

There’s more writing class on our website, writing class radio dot com including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $35/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Zorina Frey Wednesdays 7-8pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, for $145/mth you’ll get First Draft and Second Draft. In Second Draft, each week, three people bring a second draft for feedback. To try First Draft for free, email Andrea@writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the fifth episode in a 10-part series inspired by the people Allison Langer taught memoir writing, in a men’s prison. You will hear new stories by her former students wrote and stories from other incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people around the world.

On this episode, we feature an essay by Rashmi Airan, who reads her story and answers questions on the show. Rashmi is an internationally recognized corporate and motivational speaker and entrepreneur. As a leader in her community and beyond, Rashmi empowers others to overcome adversity and challenges. She is currently working on a memoir. Rashmi’s essay was originally published in The Washington Post on Feb 20, 2020.

Her essay reveals her inaction and culpability in her job as a lawyer when she sensed that her clients were not following the law. Rashmi was operating under some psychological phenomenon she came to discover and explains, called moral humility and overconfidence bias, which enabled her to stay silent. Like so many incarcerated people, she didn't think she'd get caught.

Rashmi candidly answers questions about prison life, working garbage detail, her mindset going in, what she learned, and what life has been like since she was released. 

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, Xaire, and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Courtney Fox at the Sound Off Media Company. Music by Xaire, Koi, Marnino Toussaint, Amadians.

There’s more writing class on our website, writingclassradio.com: including video classes, essays to study, and editing resources. 

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work every Tuesday 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. So look for us. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

This series is dedicated to Luis Aracena. You are missed and loved. May you rest in peace.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode contains content about a suicide attempt.

Today on our show, we’re talking about a container, which is a cool way to structure a story. It’s a method to tell your entire story while you are contained in a place or period of time. For example, on a plane, in a meeting, or an afternoon at a hair appointment. The goal is for the narrator to take the reader or listener along in the moment while stepping out of the container to tell a much bigger story. 

Lorinne Griswold, a listener from San Francisco, submitted her story, Self Care, which details her 20-year-old daughter’s attempted suicide. 

Lorinne’s essay starts right before her hair appointment and ends when she leaves that appointment. The story is told while Lorinne is sitting in the stylists chair. She expertly takes us in and out of that appointment so we feel like we are sitting in the chair with her. We learn so much about her daughter, past struggles with being a mother. We also learn how she has been dealing with the current situation, and what she has learned.

Lorinne Griswold graduated from St. Mary’s College of California with a B.S. in business and has been working for Chevron for almost 30 years. Lorinne told us she has always used journaling as a creative outlet, but when she started struggling with her oldest daughter a few years ago, journaling became one of the only ways to untangle all the messy feelings in her head. She has filled more than 100 journals but has never shared her writing with anyone. That all changed when she found the Writing Class Radio podcast and realized that she wasn’t the only one using writing to work out her SH!T. Listening to others be vulnerable and honest gave Lorinne the courage to write and submit her own story. 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. 

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by Kevin Miles Wilson.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. Through summer 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions support group. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode, you’ll hear two stories about abortion, because we believe abortion stories must be told to keep abortions safe, legal, and accessible. If all women who had abortions told their stories, abortion would not be stigmatized, public perception would change, and laws would change. 

We put a call out for abortion stories. We received several, all from women who did not regret their abortions. According to The Guardian, 95% of all women who have abortions don’t regret them. So this is the story we’re telling on this episode.  

The two stories are told from different perspectives in terms of time. It’s really important to be aware of where you’re standing in time while telling a story. Nicki Post, a past student in our class and a regular on our podcast, tells her story from 10 years out. Holly Bullis, a listener from Boulder, Colorado sets her story on the day she has her abortion. 

If you want more Nicki Post, you can hear her stories on Episode 12: Emotional Hangover, Episode 14: Taboo, Episode 23: I Fart, You Fart, and Episode 35: What Makes You You?. For more Holly Bullis, you can find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HollyBullis or go to her blog The Underside of Leaves. https://theundersideofleaves.wordpress.com/ 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. 

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by EMIA, and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio). 

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. You get three videos for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

Click to Join our camo-elephant hat project. Get an elephant hat for all the elephants (people who support you/people you love) in your life or make a donation to The Pink Wig Project.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode, we’re going to talk about using the letter form (epistolary) and specifically not telegraphing. If you don’t know what telegraphing is, don’t worry. You will after you hear our discussion at the end. The story in this episode is written by one of our favorite students, Danielle Huggins. This is the 4th time Danielle’s been featured on the podcast but the first time she’s joined us in the virtual studio. We are recording for the podcast as usual and you can also watch us on YouTube. Danielle’s essay is titled A Letter to My Sister: I’m Sorry. 

Danielle Huggins is a writer from Northern New Jersey. She has been published in the Washington Post, Mutha Magazine, and GoMAG.com. She is a frequent contributor to Writing Class Radio. Danielle has taken First Draft, Second Draft, Final Draft, and Memoir. She is currently working on a memoir and attends First Draft Class as often as she can. She is on TikTok under @bipolardanielle and lives with her husband, daughter, mother, a wire fox terrier, and Sadie Cat. 

If you loved this story and want more, you can listen to Episode 105: Teach us Something We Don’t Know. Episode 139: This is What Mania Looks Like. And Episode 152: How Music Inspires Storytelling. 

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

A transcript of this episode is available on our Network website.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Nick Link, a PhD student in the Mack Lab and part of the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University. His story was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with ECOSS, Northern Arizona University, and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories.

We worked with Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, ecologists and professors at NAU. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and hired us to work with their students. We did that online and in person and all of it culminated in a show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

Nick’s story takes a personal experience that has been burned into his memory. As an undergraduate student, he and his housemates almost burned down the neighborhood when they got rid of their Christmas trees. This experience led him to his work today, building natural fire breaks in the forest of Alaska. 

A Transcription of this episode can be found here.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s episode is the last in a series called Home. Writing Class Radio helped produce a documentary with Chapman Partnership, a homeless center in South Florida, exploring the meaning of home. Our documentary will air on PBS, date (tba).

On this episode, you will hear a story by Marvin Jenkins, a past student, poet, Boeing employee, and dad. Marvin lost his home after he wrote an explicit text message to his girlfriend’s best friend and she kicked him out. Marvin has always been in love with Serena, but drugs got the best of him. 

Marvin’s essay is a great example of how taking responsibility for your actions in a story creates a reliable narrator. The voice in this essay also exemplifies how you can say ugly things, if you own that they are ugly. 

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Matt Cundill of Sound Off Media Company, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Mia Pennekamp is our media specialist.

Theme music by Ari Herstand. Additional music by Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

Thank you for listening! Everyone has a story. What's yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the seventh episode in a 10-part series inspired by the people Allison Langer taught memoir writing, in a men’s prison. You will hear new stories her former students wrote after taking her class and stories from other incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people around the world.

Today on the show, we have Dewain Williams. Dewain responded to our call for stories. His story reveals something really ugly at the top. We think he reveals this deliberately to show how much he's changed. We want to hear from you. Should he have have left out this detail? You'll know it when you hear it. Please weigh in on our FB page by clicking Writing Class Radio FB.

Dewain was born in Flint, Michigan and raised in Marietta, Georgia. He started writing in 2015 and self published his first eBook in May 2020. Dewain wants to see the world in a better place and he believes through writing it can be done. In 1997, Dewain made a terrible mistake but he knows that mistake doesn't define him. 

The hosts refer to an October 23, 2021 article in the Opinion section of the New York Times about aging out of crime and about the ridiculously long sentences Americans are given when they break the law. 

Please join our GoFundMe campaign to raise money for 2-Tall (Clifton Jones), whose story and voice you heard on episode 116. He needs our help to hire an appellate lawyer to get the justice he was promised and deserves.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, Xaire, and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Courtney Fox at the Sound Off Media Company. Music by Xaire and Marnino Toussaint.

There’s more writing class on our website, writingclassradio.com: including video classes, essays to study, and editing resources. 

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work every Tuesday 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. So look for us. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

This series is dedicated to Luis Aracena. You are missed and loved. May you rest in peace.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we’re talking about the writing process and how getting rejected is just part of the fun. After our own Andrea Askowitz takes a class on rejection taught by Elissa Bassist, she develops a new way of thinking about failure. If you are not getting rejected, you’re not in the game. You will hear the story Andrea wrote after her 643rd rejection. Andrea’s story is called, “I’ve Been Rejected 643 Times. Here’s Why I Resolve to Fail More."

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

A transcription of this episode can be found here.

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison Langer on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we’re talking about language. Listener Jamshid Samareh came to the United States from Tehran in 1978. He shares his story, which is about how learning the English language has helped him connect with Americans. Jamshid quotes Nelson Mandela who said, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

Jamshid lives in Norfolk, VA holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics and is a senior research engineer at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.  

Hosts Andrea and Allison discuss details in Jamshid’s story that could have been slightly embellished to improve the story. We’d love to hear what you think (listener). If you have a strong opinion about rounding up on the truth in personal essays, please send us an email at info@writingclassradio.com.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Courtney Fox at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Courtney Fox of Amadians.

There’s more writing class on our website, writing class radio dot com: including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers group. You have the option to join Tuesdays 12-1 ET or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET. Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, for $125/mth you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. So look for us. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by student Emily Henderson. The story is called Cliches Saved My Life. The whole story is 354 words. It’s a lesson in going huge by going small. It’s also inspires a discussion about when and when not to use cliches in your writing.

Emily Henderson has been featured before on Writing Class Radio: Ep 144: When Is a Gift More than a Gift? That story is about living through Xmas after the death of a child. It’s a beautiful and sad story and one of our best stories ever. Emily can write!

Emily Henderson is a runner and writer living in Santa Barbara CA. She’s written for Scary Mommy, HuffPost, The Santa Barbara Independent, and Writing Class Radio. She is currently writing a memoir about processing the loss of her son while running every street in her city. For more from Emily, you can read her Substack, I'm Really Very Literary.

You can follow her on Instagram @emilykathleenwrites or visit emilykathleenwrites.com.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

A transcript of the show is available here.

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join me on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is about using a character to express the voice of reason. So often in a story, the narrator is in a bind and can’t see clearly. In the story we bring you today, the narrator’s wife says something that opens the narrator’s mind to a different point of view. The narrator went years believing something that might not be true. In this story, he artfully showed us the moment the story he told himself was called into question. 

Today’s story is by listener Nicholas Garnett, an adjunct professor of creative writing at Florida International University and Miami Book Fair International. He’s editor of the journal Sliver of Stone. His writing has appeared in Salon.com, The Florida Book Review, and other places including Best Sex Writing of 2013. Most importantly, he’s the co-producer of Lip Service, which is a Knight Foundation award winning live storytelling show in Miami. Andrea produced Lip Service for nine years and Nick was her co-producer for a few years. He’s a super nice guy and a great writer and editor. 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Ariel Henley is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Emia. Additional music by Podington Bear and Ari Herstand.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Do you have a story you just can’t get right? If you’re brave enough, we’ll edit it on the air. Send a Word doc (1,500 words max) to info@writingclassradio.com. Write HARD EDITS in the subject line.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Farida Taha. Farida writes about losing her daughter to cancer and how she’s moving forward. We talk a lot about loss on our podcast, because writing is how so many people process grief. We believe writing opens the heart, clears the mind, and helps us understand and process. In this essay, Farida throws out some incredibly poignant lines that reveal intense pain and so much hope for the future.

Farida Taha is a writer and mother of three. She is originally from New York City and resides in Miami, FL. She is an avid listener and former writing class radio student. You can find her on Instagram @faridae.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

A transcription of this episode is available on the network webpage.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we share a New York Times Modern Love essay we love by Jessica Strawser, editor-at-large at Writer’s Digest. Her essay caught the attention of literary agent Barbara Poelle, an agent with the Irene Goodman Literary Agency and the author of Funny You Should Ask: Mostly Serious Answers to Mostly Serious Questions About the Publishing Industry. Her book is based on her Writer's Digest column of the same name. On today’s show, we share our conversation with Barbara about how to get an agent.

We asked Barbara all kinds of questions: Is now a good time to query? How do I find an agent? Is there such a thing as a dream agent? Do authors even need an agent? What should I do before signing an agent? We also ask the big question: Can we write about certain experiences that aren’t our own? Barbara gives us the insider info. 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Ariel Henley is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Emia. Additional music is by Justina Shandler and Poddington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by one of Allison’s 7th grade students. She spent two months teaching English to 7th and 8th graders at a private school in Miami, and because she’s her, she assigned personal essay after personal essay. She learned about their parents, what they eat for dinner, their nannies, grandparents, and favorite sport. They resisted getting personal, the same way Allison did when she started writing.

Most people seem to struggle with writing about themselves, getting vulnerable, telling a story that might get them made fun of. But, not Webber. Webber is a kid who draws in class to stay focused. He pays attention and asks questions. When he speaks, his words matter. By the end of the first week of school, Allison had an inkling Webber was brilliant and unique. 

The Hispanic Heritage Month’s Essay Contest was optional for the school but a graded class assignment for Allison’s class. The students worked on the 500-word essay in class and those who weren’t Hispanic were stumped. Allison told them to write about being stumped. On the day the essay was due, Webber handed in an incredibly mature and well-written essay. A week later, at the culmination of the week’s Hispanic heritage celebration, Webber won the competition. 

Today, we bring you Webber’s essay, completely written on his own. Allison did no editing. What’s cool about this essay and many essays that are created from a writing prompt, is that Webber played the piano and let his mind wander. On this episode we talk about ways to relax our minds so we can write--either through being quiet, playing a sport, or using another art form.

Webber is a 12-year-old student at Ransom Everglades Middle School in Coconut Grove, Florida. His story is called The Bossa Nova.

Writing Class Radio is hosted and produced by Allison Langer,  Andrea Askowitz, and Zorina Frey. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website www.writingclassradio.com including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community.

Follow us on Patreon to join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join me on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and Zorina Wednesdays 6-7pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. 

If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, we have two Second Draft writing groups. Each week, three people bring a finished draft for feedback. 

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or email andrea@writingclassradio.com for a Zoom link. First session is FREE.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Jennifer Byrne, who conjures the courage to leave her husband after she's faced with removing a bird that flew into her house. Her story is an excellent example of using a book-end structure.

Jennifer has been published in the New York Times (Tiny Love Stories), The Cut, Psychology Today, Good Housekeeping, Atlas Obscura, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The New Yorker Daily Shouts and The Guardian. She lives in New Jersey. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

A transcription of this episode can be found here.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For the month of August, 2021, we’re bringing back four of our listeners’ favorite episodes. Writing Class Radio brings you personal stories and tips on how to write your own stories. This episode originally aired March 3, 2020 on episode 79.

Today on our show, we take a look at bringing an obsession into a story. It’s possible to go deep into an obsession that has almost nothing to do with the story you are trying to tell without being distracting. That obsession can deepen the meaning of the story by giving us a peek into you, the narrator. 

Editors get a lot of stories about cancer, dead dogs, aging parents, etc. We’re not saying, stay away from these topics. We’re saying, writing about an obsession is a way to write about death (or any of these topics) in a new and interesting way. 

The story you’ll hear is from listener Jackie Ashton. This story was previously published in the March 2019 issue of Real Simple.

We also talk about why it’s important to write and read stories about death, because hiding from feelings is never good. This story illustrates what someone who is going through a difficult time might need the most: friends who remind them of joy by experiencing it with them.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). The original episode 79 was produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by EMIA, Blue Jay, and Podington Bear. Episode 109 was put together by Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski of the Sound Off Media Company.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s first draft weekly writers class, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

We’re pinking out and we want you to pinkout with us by supporting one of our cancer charities: https://www.writingclassradio.com/camo-elephant-project, The Pink Wig Project, or 305 Pink Pack.

Thank you for listening. If you love this podcast, tell your friends. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Maxine Poupko. Maxine’s story is a great example of character development, showing the tiny details in a complex relationship, and bringing the reader into a different world. Maxine wrote this story for the Writing Class Radio retreat in February 2023. The story was workshopped and refined with feedback and encouragement from the group. If you have a strained relationship with a member of your family, this episode is for you!

Maxine Poupko is a writer, a registered nurse, and a health advocate. She teaches writing workshops at the International Women’s Writing Guild summer conferences. Her stories have been published in The Sun and the book, A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind, by Jan Phillips. Maxine is a student of Writing Class Radio, which she says is her favorite thing to do.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Marnino Toussaint.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon.

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join me on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft and receive a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

A Transcript of this episode is available here.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Kimberly Elkins. Kimberly is the author of the novel, WHAT IS VISIBLE, which was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and named to several Best of 2014 lists. She’s written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Iowa Review, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Glamour, Slice, The Cincinnati Review, and Best New American Voices. She was a Finalist for the National Magazine Award, and has also won a New York Moth StorySlam. You can find her on X @GoodWordGirl. 

Kimberly’s story was originally published in The Cincinnati Review and is the most unique essay I think we’ve ever gotten. It uses second person point of view and still, it’s vulnerable. It’s short. It’s mighty. It’s amazing.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

A transcript of this episode is available here.

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join me on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. You can also sign up for Second Draft, which meets Thursdays 12-1 ET. This group is for writers looking for feedback on a more polished draft for publication. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the sixth episode in a 10-part series inspired by the memoir students Allison Langer taught in a men’s prison. You will hear new stories her former students wrote after taking her class and stories from other incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people around the world.

On this episode, Corey Devon Arthur, a journalist inside Fishkill Correctional Facility in New York State, tells his story about wishing he could always be the person he is in writing. Corey submitted his essay through an angel named Sarah Holtz from Empowerment Avenue, a collective of writers on the inside. 

Corey Devon Arthur was born in Brooklyn in 1977 and has been incarcerated since 1997. He has earned a legal research certification and studied through Rising Hope and Nyack College. Arthur is a former chairman of the Inmate Liaison Committee at Fishkill Correctional Facility. He's a member of Empowerment Avenue, a collective of incarcerated writers. Arthur is also passionate about drawing and is currently working on a trilogy of short stories.

To read more stories by Corey Devon Arthur, visit The Marshall Project. The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. Through journalism, The Marshall Project seeks to render the criminal justice system more fair, effective, transparent, and humane.

Please join our GoFundMe campaign to raise money for 2-Tall (Clifton Jones), whose story and voice you heard on episode 116. He needs our help to hire an appellate lawyer to get the justice he was promised and deserves.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, Xaire, and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Courtney Fox at the Sound Off Media Company. Music by Xaire and Marnino Toussaint.

There’s more writing class on our website, writingclassradio.com: including video classes, essays to study, and editing resources. 

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work every Tuesday 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. So look for us. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

This series is dedicated to honoring the memory of Luis Aracena and other good men who have died in prison. May we all rest in peace.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On June 24, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Today we bring you a personal essay that includes an abortion story, in hopes that it will prompt men to tell their abortion stories. The story was co-written by Andrea Askowitz and Ida Dupont. 

Ida and Andrea have been in the abortion fight for thirty years. They realize reproductive justice advocates (them included) made a mistake in couching abortion as solely a women’s issue. Men benefit from abortions just as much as women. Men need to tell their stories because stories change minds and laws. Writing Class Radio wants #mensabortionstories. If you agree, please share this episode with #mensabortionstories.

Also on this episode co-hosts Allison Langer, Zorina Frey, and Andrea Askowitz talk about how writing about an experience and a unique take on a subject at the top of the news, is a way to get published.  

Ida Dupont is an Associate Professor at Pace University in the Sociology Department. She researches and teaches about sexuality, social movements, criminology, and reproductive justice. The original story appeared in NBCNews under Andrea’s byline with Ida Dupont contributing. 

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and by Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Courtney Fox.

There’s more writing class on our website including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers group. (Tuesdays 12-1 ET or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET) Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. For $125/mth, you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other Wednesday.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. Men, what’s yours?

#mensabortionstories, #abortion, #writingpodcast, #roevwade

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking to Susan Shapiro about literary citizenship. 

A literary citizen is someone who does good things for other literary people like re-tweet their published essays, share insider dos and don’ts, and hook people up with editors. Being a good literary citizen will help you get published because it shows that you know what’s going on in the literary world, helps build your platform, and it probably brings you some good karma. Susan Shapiro has made a career out of doing all these things and more. She’s written 12 books and thousands of essays. She teaches at NYU and The New School.

We also share an essay by Susan Shapiro that was published in 2016 in The Cut, which is in New York Magazine. We love this essay and it’s about literary citizenship in a weird way.

Susan is the author of Byline Bible, which is literary citizenship in book form. Byline Bible teaches you how to write a query letter, what publications want what kinds of stories, how to attract an agent, and gives lots of great examples of essays published by her students. Every author who wants to get published must read Byline Bible. 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by EMIA, and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

Click to Join our camo-elephant hat project. Get an elephant hat for all the elephants (people who support you/people you love) in your life and support the The Pink Wig Project.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the second episode in a 10-part series inspired by the people Allison Langer taught memoir writing, in a men’s prison. You will hear stories her former students wrote after taking her class and stories from other incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people around the world.

To help us get this right, Xaire has agreed to co-host the series with us. Xaire is a poet, singer-songwriter, actor, and teacher who teaches writing and poetry to kids in the foster care system and kids caught up in a detention center. 

THIS MUST BE SAID: We don’t mean to sensationalize crime or someone who breaks the law. Airing these stories is in no way meant to take anything away from the victims of violent crime. Instead, we want to share stories, because we believe that stories lead to understanding. And if there’s something we need more of these days, it’s understanding. 

On this episode, you will hear one of our favorite stories by one of Allison’s favorite people: Clifton Jones AKA 2-Tall. 2-Tall’s story is about legacy and more specifically, about the promise he made to his mom and to himself. (If you’d like to follow along, see entire story at the bottom of the show notes.)

You will also meet Chris Wilson who spent 16 years in prison. Chris is an entrepreneur, activist, and author of The Master Plan. Allison sent 2-Tall The Master Plan, so he could read his powerful words. For more Chris, listen to his Stoop Story. Chris talks about how his traumatic childhood and a life sentence led him to turn his life around and ultimately, help others.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, Xaire, and by Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski of the Sound Off Media Company. Music by Xaire, Koi, Marnino Toussaint, Amadians.

There’s more writing class on our website, writingclassradio.com: including video classes, essays to study, and editing resources. 

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work every Tuesday 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. So look for us. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

This series is dedicated to Luis Aracena. You are missed and loved. May you rest in peace.

The Making of My Unbreakable Promise

By Clifton K. Jones (AKA 2-Tall)

Down on one knee, everything around me that hadn’t disappeared was muffled and seemed to be moving in slow motion. I felt like a block of ice drifting on a frozen lake. I was stunned.   

I didn’t know how long I had been kneeling in the middle of my cell, but it felt like hours. I forced myself to sand and realized that I had been holding my breath. I composed myself enough to stop my hands from shaking. Looking down, I could see the words glowing mockingly from my tablet on the floor. I roared into the darkness.

        It was after 11pm, so the cell lights were off. Guys were either sleeping or bundled up in sweaters or jackets in the day room playing dominos, talking shit, or watching a late night movie on Bounce.

My roommate was among the TV watchers, so I had the cell door pulled closed with a towel over the cell door window to block inquisitive eyes and signal to my roommate that I was busy.

        The one thing I feared the most had materialized. I had lost my QUEEN (mother). She was gone. I thought about the last phone conversation I had with her, only days before. My mother had cried, and that was rare. I can count the times I’d seen Mrs. Francis cry. Standing at a towering six feet, Mrs. Francis was a true amazon and she wore it well. Both beauty and amazon, my mother was understanding and caring, but she didn’t play games.

        On countless occasions, I can remember walking into our apartment in Bradenton’s page projects to find some unkempt stranger, an old friend who had fallen on bad times or was strung out on drugs. They would be at our smoke grey glass dinner table eating a healthy plate of yellow rice and turkey necks, buttered cornbread and sweet peas or leftover over baked macaroni and cheese, BBQ chicken and Hungry Jack biscuits. Everyone would be laughing and drinking and listening to Otis Redding or Barry White.

        Like clockwork, one of my three uncles would pop in to rile my mother calling out her childhood nickname, “Hey Tocka Head,” and then head straight for the kitchen. As soon as my mother heard the lid on a pot being removed, she’d scream, “If you don’t get out of my damn pot without washing your dirty ass hands, boy I know something.”

        Mrs. Frances always said whatever was on her mind, so there was never much back talk. It was well known that my mother could curse the clouds out of the sky when she was pissed off. She’d lay down the law on man, woman and child if something didn’t sit well with her. Especially if it was in regards to me or those she cared for.

        When I was eight years old, my mother, uncles, and some family friends were having a small get together. Kool and the Gang was booming on the speakers on the porch. All of us kids were playing Pac-man on the Atari, eating apple Now and Laters, Funyuns rings and drinking blue cream Nehi sodas. I don’t remember exactly what jumped it off, only that it was in regard to my baby cousin, Jessica who my mom adored. Jessica’s mom was good and drunk and my mother was not having it. She threw her sister Sharon through the screen door like a scene out of a western bar fight.

        How could she be gone? If my young mind could have registered the real consequences of stepping through that back door of the KFC with a snub nose 38 jammed into the small of my friend’s back as he pretended to take out the trash, I would’ve run back to high school, basketball practice, or the recording studio with a new attitude and a respect for what life was really about.

        I would have made a different decision if I could have foreseen that one night I would be kneeling in a cold, dark cell trying to process a message that said my mother was dead. Gone before I could give her the keys to the house I promised to buy her when I was eleven years old.

Instead, the prospect of what I thought would be a few thousand dollars to party with on my birthday lead me to squander the experience of sharing the gift of life with the woman who had given me so much of herself. She never got to see me be the person she knew I could be. So far, I had failed her and myself. There was no way I would allow the story of my life to end like this. Wherever great mothers go, I was going to make sure she would be able to say, ‘I told you he would do it.’ and rest proudly.

        In our last conversation, my mother got on the topic of how she wouldn’t be here forever and what to do if something should happen to her. I brushed it off and tried to change the subject like always. “Woman, you’re not going anywhere.”

        This time, she stayed serious and on topic. “If I leave here boy, don’t you start acting crazy.”

        “Ma.”

        “No, listen to me,” her voice thickened by emotions. “You do what you need to get your behind out of there. Promise me that if I leave here you’re gonna get out of that place and live your life. And don’t worry about me. I’ll be with your sister, your grandfather, your aunty Cat, Angelo and my mother.”

        “I got you, Ma, I promise.” And I meant it.

Looking around the dark cell, it felt strange thinking that my mom really wasn’t here anymore. It didn’t feel real. With mixed emotions, I left the cell to call my mother’s husband. Rod had been a part of our lives for over 20 years. We were cool, but it hadn’t always been good. As a family, we shared a history littered with frayed love and struggles. I witnessed him stand against anybody deemed a threat to my mother. Yet, I remember going into the kitchen one night and grabbing a butcher knife, because I heard him hit my mother. I was eleven and I never forgot this.

        I could hear the tears in his voice when he picked up the phone. I understood his hurt, his loss, and everything else I can’t formulate into words. Calming himself, he recounted the details that lead up to him riding in the back of the ambulance with my mother before she passed, and her leaving a message telling me not to start acting up. Even in her final moments, she was more concerned about my wellbeing than her own. 

        In a zone, I walked laps around the dorm listening to Tupac—Hold Your Head—on my MP3 player. I had to stay focused and away from people. I knew I was one wrong word away from doing who knows what. But I also knew that if I made good decisions, my time would come. 

        In 1996, I was convicted of robbery with a firearm and three counts of kidnapping that I committed with three childhood friends when I was eighteen. I was given four life sentences on my first criminal offense, while my three co-defendants were allowed to go free without serving a day. That left a sour taste in my mouth, and in crucial moments such as this, I get frustrated because I feel alone and betrayed. I just want to say “Fuck it.” Then I remind myself that it’s on me not to give up on my life, my dreams. To one day cross the stage at the Grammys, amongst the greats, and pay homage to the woman who rooted for me, no matter what. Only now, circumstances had transformed my dream into an unbreakable promise.

        I stopped at Bop’s cell and put my face to the glass. He waved his hand in the darkness to let me know that he was awake. Stepping outside, he immediately asked what was wrong. Maybe it was the look on my face. I explained without going into detail what I was going through and to stop me from doing anything I would regret.

        With time standing still, I continued to pace and think. I knew without a doubt I would fulfill my promise to my mom, Mrs. Frances Andrew McNair.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode of Writing Class Radio is dedicated to George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and all those who have lost their lives in a senseless murder.

The story we share with you on this episode is by student and poet Zorina Frey. Last Saturday, May 30, 2020, Andrea gave students a writing prompt and 14 minutes to write about whatever came to mind. Zorina’s response is helping us sit with the sadness, anger, and grief. It is a story that’s helping us reflect and process everything that’s going on. 

The prompt was Religion. 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Ariel Henley is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Emia. 

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sarena Neyman. Sarena is in Allison’s 2nd Draft class, which contains writers who come together to share a draft of their essay and receive feedback from the group. Sarena was previously published on Writing Class Radio. Episode 187: The Bigger Table: How I Lost My Husband But Gained a Bigger Family. In that episode, we discussed Sarena’s brilliant landings. 

In this episode we will discuss landings again, because like last time, they are perfect. We will also talk about humor and details. This narrator is hilarious and so good at the highlighting little things.

Sarena Neyman has been writing for numerous human rights groups for more than 20 years, working on causes from digital privacy to affordable housing to marriage equality. She writes for cabinlife.com and PeaceVoice.com. Sarena lives in Western Massachusetts.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is about commitment. Not commitment to love, exactly, but commitment to a concept. Listener Lucie Frost writes a satirical essay where sleep is her lover. She never slips from the concept. Humor writing requires committing to an idea and pushing that idea as far as you can go.

Lucie Frost is a humor and satire writer in San Antonio, Texas. She recently retired from a lifetime as a human resources/employment lawyer. This story was originally published in Slackjaw. Her work has also been published in Next Tribe, Little Old Lady Comedy, The Haven, Lady Pieces, Points in Case, The Belladonna, and Robot Butt.

You can find her on all social media platforms @lucieHfrost

This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and Virginia Lora

Theme music by Justina Shandler. Additional music by Amadians, TJ North, Justina Shandler, and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work Tuesdays 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking about how to create a scene and why scenes matter. We often bring up the writing tip show AND tell. The scene is the show. It’s the action. It’s where we put dialogue and show character. Scenes are the moments we remember.

For more on show and tell, listen to Episode 47: Show and Tell. You’ll hear one of Andrea Askowitz’s stories, where she fights with her son about homework. And you’ll hear stories by Allison Langer and Misha Mehrel where they show and tell effectively.

Listener Michael Howell submitted the essay in this episode, How Are You Really? In his story, Mike creates the most well-described and horrifying scene while in combat in Afghanistan. He slows down, so the reader/listener knows something huge is about to happen. He gives telling details and transitions out of the scene to slow down the moment. Today, we share his story with you.

Mike Howell is a 29-year-old Veteran who fought in Afghanistan. Mike Joined the Marines out of high school and is currently working as an auto service advisor. He’s also in school for business and writing. Mike hopes to eventually become a full time author. 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. 

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by Adriel Borshansky. 

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. Through summer 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions support group. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Laurie Eynon. This story is a behind-the-scenes Jeopardy! audition revealed and a good lesson in how every word matters. And the voice of the narrator is amazing. So good!!! Laurie takes us through her one chance at becoming a Jeopardy! champion and what happened.

Laurie Eynon is a hospital and hospice chaplain in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was a regular contributor to the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Sunday section, wrote a play that was produced off-off Broadway, and has been published in the HuffPost and Christian Science Monitor. Laurie Eynon watches Jeopardy! every night.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Marnino Toussaint.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. 

A transcript of the episode is available here.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we share a story by Pamela McBride, a student in our First Draft and Second Draft writing group about her near fatal experience being dismissed by her doctor. This story is far too common for Black women and Pamela wants to re-write that story. She is tired of worrying about being the “angry Black woman” and gives women a prescription for how to take care of themselves.

We talk about writing as activism and writing as service. This story does both. 

Pamela McBride is an Atlanta-based senior advisor to the director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in a federal agency and a 31-year military spouse. She is the co-author of two books. Pamela can be reached at www.PamelaMcBrideOnline.com or @PamelaMMcBride on Twitter.

You can find Pamela's stories here: https://www.sistersletter.com/health/medicalgaslighting-the-health-threat-black-women-cant-ignore?login=true and here: https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/new-ama-policy-recognizes-racism-public-health-threat ?

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Courtney Fox. 

There’s more writing class on our website including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. (Tuesdays 12-1 ET and Wednesdays 6-7pm ET). Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. For $125/month, you’ll get 1st Draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other Wednesday.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Today on our show, we bring you a story that was originally performed on stage at the Flagstaff Festival of Science in October 2023. This was a Collaboration with The Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Story Collider, a podcast that airs true science stories.

We worked with our narrator of today’s story Dr. Bruce Hungate and Dr. Jane Marks, a conservation ecologist and professor at NAU, who happens to be married to Bruce. They have been taking classes with us for about three years. Last year, they were like, Hey, we gotta get our students to personalize their science stories and hired us to work with their students. We did that online and in person and all of it culminated in a live show, which got a standing ovation. Jane and Bruce know that connecting on a personal level will help scientists convey their messages to a broader public and hopefully save the world. 

Bruce Hungate’s story is a love story. It’s about his love for his wife, Jane, as well as his love for science and nature. His story is a great lesson on how to sneak science into a story.

Bruce Hungate is a professor and director of ECOSS at Northern Arizona University. Bruce conducts research on ecosystems and how they respond to and shape environmental change. He trains future scientists and communicates the relevance of science to people around the world.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the fourth story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4  to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade.  

The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. 

As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned.

Today’s story is by Nilsa Ada Rivera. Nilsa’s story shows what someone living on the street goes through when she learns she’s pregnant and wants to have a baby. In Nilsa’s case, the fetus had severe health problems and Nilsa had to make the hard decision to terminate the pregnancy. Nilsa is Catholic and until recently struggled with her decision. Ultimately she believes God is the only entity that can judge her. She’s been on the podcast before when she wrote about hearing loss. For more Nilsa, here’s Episode 29 and Episode 107. 

Nilsa Ada Rivera is a housing analyst and writer. Nilsa and I have been in writing groups together for about 15 years. She is coming out with her first book in 2025 about affordable housing. You can find Nilsa Rivera on Instagram @nilsawrites and Facebook.

This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women’s Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, Women’s Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Rachel Kramer Bussel. Her story was so relatable, that we realized sometimes we choose stories so we can just talk about ourselves. And that’s just what we do in this episode. We also talk about the narrator’s brilliance in drawing us in with just the right details. Rachel’s story is titled, The Craving That Killed My Veganism

Rachel Kramer Bussel (rachelkramerbussel.com) is an essayist and freelance writer specializing in books, culture, relationships, mental health, and feminism. She is the editor of Open Secrets Magazine (opensecretsmag.substack.com) and over 70 anthologies, and is the author of How to Write Erotica and Lap Dance Lust. Rachel's writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Salon, The Village Voice, and other publications. She teaches essay writing classes online and is currently editing an anthology about our attachments to your belongings.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s show is about transformation. How does the narrator change? How does the narrator grow? You’ll hear a story by Autumn Hudson, an elite body tattoo artist, who went from dropping out of school, to drug addiction, to fulfilling her dream of becoming a tattoo artist. Autumn’s story exemplifies a narrator’s transformation.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Matt Cundill of Sound Off Media, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Mia Pennekamp is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Amadians. Additional music by Scott Gratton. For more Autumn Hudson and to see her work, find her on Instagram @autumnhudson.tattoos

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking about how every word in a story matters. We have a story to share that illustrates this point so well. Essayist, teacher, and Writing Class Radio listener Amy Paturel submitted her story called “The Other Love of His Life,” which was originally published in Newsweek, April 2009. 

Amy’s story is a great example of how every word must lead to the final conclusion. Every scene, detail, and description should move the story forward. If not...cut. 

This got us thinking about how our words matter, not just to move a story along, but also because what we say or don’t say impacts other people. In Episode 81, we spoke to agent Barbara Poelle about getting a literary agent. We left out a crucial part of the conversation about bringing out stories by and about people of color. Listener Taiwo Adesina wrote to us to let us know. We are grateful and sorry.  

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Ariel Henley is our media specialist.

Theme music is by Emia. Additional music by Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is about teaching the reader/listener something they don’t know anything about. Teaching can be done in two ways. One, by taking the reader into a world foreign to most people and two, by relaying information that’s rarely discussed and possibly unknown to the average person. In the story we bring you today, listener and student Danielle Huggins does both. Danielle has Bipolar Disorder and takes us inside her mind while she’s depressed. She also teaches us about Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT). She gives us history and explains the medical process and implications. This is not a reported essay, instead, Danielle relays what she learns from her doctor and her experience. 

Danielle Huggins is a former middle school math teacher with a Masters Degree in Literacy. She is currently a stay-at-home mom, a student of Writing Class Radio and an avid kickboxer. Danielle has a Facebook page called My Life As a Bipolar Mom. She lives in New Jersey with her husband of 15 years, 14 year old daughter and 20 year old stepson. 

This essay will also be published in the Washington Post, July 20, 2021. Congratulations, Danielle! 

This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski from the Sound Off Media Company.

Theme music by Justina Shandler. Additional music by Megatrax.com.

There’s more writing class on our website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work Tuesdays 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re sharing another story by Corey Devon Arthur. Corey’s stories have been aired on Episode 120: My Pen Uncovers the Real Me and Episode 128: My New Manifesto.

Corey Devon Arthur has served 25 years on a life sentence for robbery and murder and is currently housed at Otisville Correctional Institution in New York. Corey is an artist and writer who has been published on Writing Class Radio and The Marshall Project. 

The story Corey wrote for this episode was in response to our callout for men’s abortion stories and it came in at 3,000 words. Allison loved the entire story, because she pretty much loves everything Corey writes. She made a few edits, asked Corey a bunch of questions, and the story got longer. She sent it to Andrea, sure she would love it. Only, Andrea was like, What is all this? Andrea whittled it down to 1,113 words. So today we’re talking about omitting needless words and why that is important.

We have a guest host. Xaire Vii co-hosted the prison series to help us get things right. Xaire is a poet, singer-songwriter, actor, and educator who teaches writing and poetry to kids in the foster care system and kids caught up in a detention center.

This episode of Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and Xaire Vii. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website www.writingclassradio.com including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community.

Follow us on Patreon to join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join me on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and Zorina Wednesdays 7-8 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. 

If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, we have two Second Draft writing groups. Each week, three people bring a finished draft for feedback. 

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or email andrea@writingclassradio.com for a Zoom link. First session is FREE.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On episode 106, host Allison Langer tells a story about her post cancer hair. Allison’s story was rejected by The Washington Post. Should Allison give up and write something new? Or should she continue to send her story to other publications? Most often, even expertly-written stories get rejected because they’re just not a perfect fit for a particular publication at a particular time. But, how do you know if your story just sucks?

Had Allison listened to Andrea’s edits, would she have gotten published? Or is it the topic of cancer that did her in?

You’ll hear why a new twist on an overly-written-about subject (like cancer) may help you get published. You’ll also hear one of author Sue Shapiro’s secrets to getting published. 

This episode of Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, and Virgina Lora.

Theme music by Justina Shandler. Additional music by The Amadians and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work Tuesdays 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we take a look at bringing an obsession into a story. It’s possible to go deep into an obsession that has almost nothing to do with the story you are trying to tell without being distracting. That obsession can deepen the meaning of the story by giving us a peek into you, the narrator. 

Editors get a lot of stories about cancer, dead dogs, aging parents, etc. We’re not saying, stay away from these topics. We’re saying, writing about an obsession is a way to write about death (or any of these topics) in a new and interesting way. 

The story you’ll hear is from listener Jackie Ashton. This story was previously published in the March 2019 issue of Real Simple.

We also talk about why it’s important to write and read stories about death, because hiding from feelings is never good. This story illustrates what someone who is going through a difficult time might need the most: friends who remind them of joy by experiencing it with them.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni.

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by EMIA, Blue Jay, and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

We’re pinking out and we want you to pinkout with us by supporting one of our cancer charities: https://www.writingclassradio.com/camo-elephant-projectThe Pink Wig Project or 305 Pink Pack.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking about structure, voice, commitment, and especially happy endings. The story you’ll hear was written, read, and sung by Amber Petty. What makes this story so much fun? You know it when you hear it.

Amber Petty used to be an actor but now she writes and helps other writers get into freelance writing. In her acting days, she performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and did over 500 shows of the Off-Broadway 50 Shades! The Musical. She's written for The New York Times, Thrillist, Greatist, Bustle, MTV, IFC, and Snooki's blog. Now, she teaches Freelance Writing for Creatives and works on very important projects like her book of short stories inspired by the musical Cats.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

WCR is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Courtney Fox at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s first draft weekly writers class, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

If you love this podcast, please tell your friends. There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is about how to write a near perfect essay. The story was written by Banning Lyon who writes about a harrowing childhood experience in a psychiatric ward. His essay was previously published in The Washington Post. After we discuss Banning’s story, you’ll hear an interview with the author on what his process was like, the difficult emotions writing the memoir brought up, and the cold call he made to find his agent.

Banning Lyon is the author of The Chair and The Valley, which will be available June 2024. His writing has been featured in The New York Times and The Washington Post. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and works as a backpacking guide in Yosemite National Park.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

A Transcription can be found here.

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join me on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. You can also sign up for Second Draft, which meets Thursdays 12-1 ET. This group is for writers looking for feedback on a more polished draft for publication. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we bring you a story by Morgan Sutton that embodies everything a story should embody. The story uses no extra words; the narrator looks inside herself; and the story matters to the broader world.

The story is so important because it explains a very dangerous and ugly assumption that is often made about women who’ve been raped. Morgan does it by examining her own situation and her own assumptions. There’s no preaching. And there’s nothing dogmatic. This is what writing and storytelling is all about. Getting to the truth. 

Morgan workshopped this story at Writing Class Radio’s annual writing boot camp in Key Largo. She did the work to make the story great. Morgan Sutton is a hospice nurse who lives in Austin, Texas with her husband.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking about how writing helps you figure out how you think. And helps you see yourself, specifically your failures more clearly because it’s hard to ignore a pattern when you see it in writing.

We share an essay by listener, Karen Debonis who’s story, “Even the Weak Can Weather the Storm” is about what it ultimately took to make her change from being overly agreeable to a fierce badass defender of her child. It wasn’t his illness that was the catalyst, but reading back on what she’d written about herself years ago when her son was going through his illness and not liking herself.

Karen Debonis began writing twenty years ago after her eleven-year-old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Then she put the writing aside to care for her kid. A few years ago, Karen revisited her manuscript. Karen lives and writes in upstate New York. You can find her writing at www.KarenDeBonis.com.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/KDeBoniswriter/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenDeBonis

Instagram: www.instagram.com/karendeboniswriter/

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by Ari Herstand and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sari Botton. Sari’s story is a great example of how to tell a story that encompasses your whole life. It is also a great example of how to end a story while you are still living with a situation.

Sari has been featured before on WCR. Check out Episode 80: You Have Permission to Write or Not Write. Sari Botton (sounds like Larry Cotton) is the author of the memoir in essays, And You May Find Yourself…Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo. A different version of the story you’re about to hear appears in that book. Sari publishes Oldster Magazine, Memoir Monday (now Memoir Land), and Adventures in Journalism. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Marnino Toussaint.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join me on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Thursdays with Eduardo Winck 8-9pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

A Transcript of the episode is available here.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. 

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On today’s episode, we’re bringing you an old episode that’s still relevant and awesome, in case you missed it back in season one.

You’ll meet a bunch of students from season 1: Frenchie, Tobi Ash, Cynthia Castillo, Bo, and Nicki Post. You’ll also hear a brief interview with each and the epic talent of Patricia Carlin, aka Frenchie, singing, playing piano, and whistling the tune of Auld Lang Syne. 

For the in-class prompt, Andrea played Auld Lang Syne. Listen to this episode to see what our students came up with and how important writing and sharing is to the psyche. This is also a fascinating look at the development of our podcast. We’ve been at this seven years and 145 episodes. We’re about to hit 1 million downloads!

Stay tuned to find out what Auld Lang Syne actually means and to get a list of the best of Writing Class Radio 2022. Happy New Year!

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler. 

There’s more writing class on our website, writing class radio dot com including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $35/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison, Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Zorina Frey Wednesdays 7-8pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, for $145/mth you’ll get First Draft and Second Draft. In Second Draft, each week, three people bring a second draft for feedback. 

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking about how to write about the unbelievable. Things like UFOs, mediums, and talking to the dead. In the story you’ll hear, our narrator hears a voice from beyond.

In this episode, like many past episodes, we also get into the concept of likeable narrator. If you want more on likeable narrator, listen to these episodes: Likeable Narrator--Be the Biggest Asshole in the Story; A Time I Fucked Up part 1 and part 2.

We bring up likeable narrator, because we feel like the most effective way to write about the unbelievable is to be an extra-reliable narrator--someone the reader or listener can trust. The narrator has to express doubt, or else risk sounding like a crazy person. You also have to give details and reasons why you believe (a real situation or scene). Don’t try to over-convince the reader or listener, just tell your story with vulnerability.

Pat Martin, a listener from Atlanta, Georgia, submitted the story in this episode. Her story was previously published in Guideposts Magazine. Pat Martin is a nurse, pastor, speaker and author of the book, You Can Get There From Here. She’s also the founder and executive director of the non-profit KIDDS Dance Project. Her philosophy for life is, "Character is better than talent any day.” 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. 

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by Adriel Borshansky and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. Through summer 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions support group. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we’re talking about pitching to publications, what to include in a query letter and all the homework you need to do before you pitch to an editor. Writer Baylea Jones shares her pitch and her story.

We speak with Ravishly editor Erin Khar about what it was like to receive Baylea’s pitch, as well as why she chose Baylea’s story. Erin will also discuss the basic how-to’s for submitting stories for Ravishly and elsewhere.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni.

This episode is also sponsored by Matt Cundill of the Sound off podcast. Matt can help you get your podcast started, help with audio production and voiceovers. He knows everything there is to know about radio and podcasting.

And by Allison Langer, an editor who can help take your essay from page to publication.

Theme music is by Justina Shandler. Additional music is by Podington Bear. There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/) and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. For the month of April 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, please go to writingclassradio.com and hit the DONATE button.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the third episode in a 10-part series inspired by the people Allison Langer taught memoir writing, in a men’s prison. You will hear new stories by her former students and stories from other incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people around the world.

Today’s show shares a story by Roderick Richardson, an inmate in a Florida prison. Rod is a master storyteller who grew up in Liberty City, which is a very rough area in Miami. Rod took care of his six brothers and sisters when his mom was incarcerated. At 12 years old, Rod sold drugs to keep food on the table. His story is not unique, unfortunately. Rod is serving a life sentence for robbery.

We also share an interview with former prison doctor, Karen Gedney. Dr. Gedney is an internal medicine specialist who spent almost 30 years as a prison physician. She was designated as one of the best in the business by the American Correctional Association and won a Heroes for Humanity Award for her work in HIV in the correctional system. Dr. Gedney ran the only regional prison medical facility in the state of Nevada. She was a naive young physician who survived a world she was ill-prepared for and turned it into a calling. You can read Dr. Gedney’s story in her book, 30 Years Behind Bars. Trials of a Prison Doctor. 

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, Xaire, and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Courtney Fox at the Sound Off Media Company. Music by Xaire, Koi, Marnino Toussaint, Amadians.

There’s more writing class on our website, writingclassradio.com, including video classes, essays to study, and editing resources. 

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work every Tuesday 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. So look for us. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

THIS MUST BE SAID: We don’t mean to sensationalize crime or someone who breaks the law. Airing these stories is in no way meant to take anything away from the victims of violent crime. Instead, we want to share stories, because we believe that stories lead to understanding.

This series is dedicated to Luis Aracena. You are missed and loved. May you rest in peace.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We recorded this show from Miami and Madrid. If you are new to Writing Class Radio, welcome. 

Today on our show, we have the brilliant and generous Dani Shapiro, author of five novels and five memoirs, plus thousands of essays and a podcast called Family Secrets. A few years ago, Andrea sat down with Dani and talked about thinking like a writer, repeating themes in writing, figuring out what a story is about, and the conflicts all writers face, especially mothers, in revealing other people’s stories. 

Dani Shapiro also reads a story published in the New York Times Book Review in 2013 that we adore. It’s called The Me My Child Mustn’t Know.

Dani Shapiro’s newest memoir, Inheritance is one of our favorite memoirs. In her early 50s, Dani found out her father was not her biological father. Inheritance is a thrilling page-turner. Click here to buy it. 

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. 

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni. 

Theme music is by Christine Corey. Additional music is by Emia and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/), Instagram and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. You can buy one for $20 or all three videos for $50. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. For $10/month you can join Andrea’s submissions support conversation. We’ll support each other as we try to get our stories published. For $25/month you can join Allison’s weekly writers lunch, where you can write and share your work. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we’re talking about perseverance, a quality important if you want to be a writer, a runner, or someone successful at crafting the dreaded college essay. What makes your essay stand out to publishers and to college admissions directors is the situation and the story. They want to see the loss or the win, because that’s what allows others to connect with your story. They also want to know what you learned from the experience and how that experience informed your character.

Allison Langer has been working with high school students all over the country on their college admissions essays. This is the second episode in a two-part series where we bring you common app essays.

Ransom Everglades High School graduate Wesley Cusack wrote the following essay about the challenges he faced in track and cross country and what he learned from not quitting.

If you or your high schooler needs help getting started or editing along the way, Allison Langer can help. Click here for more information.

Common app essay prompts:

1. Background

2. Obstacle or challenge that you faced.

3. When you changed your belief.

4. A problem you’d like to solve.

5. Accomplishment that sparked personal growth.

6. A topic (obsession) that you find so engaging that it makes you lose track of time.

7. Any topic (YAY!)

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni.

Theme music is by Justina Shandler. Additional music is by Ari Herstand.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/) and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. Through spring 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Dana Shavin, who submitted her essay to the podcast. When it came in, we were blown away. The writing is so smart and well-crafted. In this episode, we talk about the difference between situation and story and we also discuss why callbacks are effective.

Dana Shavin is an award-winning humor columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and the author of a memoir, The Body Tourist and the collection of essays, Finding the World: Thoughts on Life, Love, Home and Dogs.

Dana’s essays and articles have appeared in The Sun, Oxford American, Garden and Gun, Travel + Leisure, Alaska Quarterly Review, Fourth Genre, Today.com, Appalachian Review, Psychology Today, Bark, The Writer, and others. You can find more at Danashavin.com, and follow her on Facebook at Dana Shavin Writes. 

A Transcript of this episode can be found on our network page.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we’re talking about bragging, specifically on the dreaded college essay. How do you brag yourself up without sounding like a total $#&%$#? (We’re PG for the high schoolers...as if). The answer is, you have to be willing to get vulnerable and reveal your ugly side, then you can brag all you want.

Allison has been working with high school students all over the country on their college admissions essays. This is the first episode in a two-part series where we bring you common app essays.

Palmer Trinity high school senior Julia Irvin wrote this essay from the point of view of her sister, which is a clever and effective way to reveal good and bad details about the narrator.

If you or your high schooler needs help getting started or editing along the way, Allison Langer can help. Click here for more information.

Common app essay prompts:

1. Background

2. Obstacle or challenge that you faced.

3. When you changed your belief.

4. A problem you’d like to solve.

5. Accomplishment that sparked personal growth.

6. A topic (obsession) that you find so engaging that it makes you lose track of time.

7. Any topic (YAY!)

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni.

Theme music is by Justina Shandler. Additional music is by Emia

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/) and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. Through spring 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Rachel Perse, who had severe anxiety after giving birth to her first child, but pretended she was having the time of her life. She tells her important story and then talks to us about how she used writing to get to the truth. And to work out her shit around becoming a new mother.

Rachel is here in the studio with us, so we are recording for the podcast as usual but now, you can also watch us on YouTube. Rachel Perse will be reading her story called The Lies I Told About Motherhood.

Rachel Perse is a stay-at-home mom to her 8-month-old son and two dogs. She is a proud older sister, alumna of Emory University, former assistant dean of students at the University of Miami, public health educator, and now, writer.

A Transcription of this episode is available on our network website.

We also made available our raw recording process on YouTube.

If you're looking for a writing coach to help your student with college application essays, contact Allison Langer.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com. Check out our website for our Tips Clinic, every second Saturday.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop the first WEDNESDAY of the month.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking about beginnings and endings. What is an effective way to begin a story and a satisfying way to end? The story we bring you on this episode is an amazing example of how to start with appropriate grounding and how to land/end the essay like a gymnast. The narrator isn’t just a beginning and ending genius, she also uses lingo associated with her theme. This style is effective, because the reader feels more drawn in. Another example of that same type of inclusive linguistic style was discussed on Episode 110: How to Write About Death: Use an Obsession. Jackie Ashton told the story of her best friend’s cancer by using the situation of a Golden State Warriors obsession and basketball lingo throughout. 

Shawna Kenney submitted the essay you will hear today and we were blown away. Her story is called Words with Mom.

Shawna Kenney is the author of four books, the latest being Live at the Safari Club: A History of HarDCore Punk in the Nation’s Capital 1988-1998. Kenney is a Contributing Editor with Narratively and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Playboy, Creative Nonfiction, Vice, Bust, Rock the Bells and more. She teaches memoir writing with the UCLA Extension Writers Program. 

Writing Class Radio is hosted and produced by Allison Langer, and Andrea Askowitz. With frequent guest host, Zorina Frey. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website www.writingclassradio.com including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community.

Follow us on Patreon to join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and Zorina Wednesdays 6-7pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. 

If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, we have two Second Draft writing groups. Each week, three people bring a finished draft for feedback. 

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or email andrea@writingclassradio.com for a Zoom link. First session is FREE.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the eighth episode in a 10-part series inspired by the people Allison Langer taught memoir writing, in a men’s prison. You will hear new stories her former students wrote after taking her class and stories from other incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people around the world.

In this episode, you will hear a story written by Robert Fell, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife. Robert has been in prison for 44 years. 

Robert Fell earned a Bachelors of Agricultural Science from Cornell. He’s certified as a specialist vegetable grower in intensive growing methods and has over 5000 hours in facilitating other inmates and DOC staff in intensive farming methods. Xaire will read Robert’s story Damaged Goods.

Please join our GoFundMe campaign to raise money for 2-Tall (Clifton Jones), whose story and voice you heard on episode 116. He needs our help to hire an appellate lawyer to get the justice he was promised and deserves.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz, Xaire, and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Courtney Fox at the Sound Off Media Company. Music by Xaire, Marnino Toussaint, and Amadians

There’s more writing class on our website, writingclassradio.com: including video classes, essays to study, and editing resources. 

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work every Tuesday 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. So look for us. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

This series is dedicated to Luis Aracena. You are missed and loved. May you rest in peace.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode features an extreme mother story by Diana Kupershmit who is honest and vulnerable. Diana tells the truth about a very tough decision she and her husband made when their daughter Emma was born with a severe disability. Diana reads her story and then Andrea and Allison discuss the brilliant writing and why is it important to be gut wrenchingly honest.

Diana’s essay was previously published in Still Standing Magazine, June 9, 2020.

On this episode, we mention Krista Tippett’s On Being podcast episode with Bryan Doerries. Specifically his public health project, Theater of War, and how it relates to all storytelling. Doerries says, “Ancient stories, and texts that have stood the test of time, can be portals to honest and dignified grappling with present wounds and longings and callings that we aren’t able to muster in our official places now. It’s an embodiment of the good Greek word catharsis — releasing both insight and emotions that have had no place to go, and creating an energizing relief. 

Diana Kupershmit holds a Master of Social Work degree and works for the Department of Health in the Early Intervention Program, a federal entitlement program servicing children from birth to three years with developmental delays and disabilities. She has published online in the Manifest Station, Power of Moms, Motherwell Magazine, Her View from Home, Still Standing Magazine and Huffington Post. On the weekends, she indulges her creative passion working as a photographer specializing in newborn, family, maternity, and event photography.

Diana’s book Emma's Laugh: The Gift of Second Chances is being released June 15, 2021. It is available for pre-order on Amazon and wherever books are sold. Please follow her on Instagram at @picsbydk https://www.instagram.com/picsbydk  or visit her website http://www.dianakupershmit.com.

This episode of Writing Class Radio is hosted and produced by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. The episode is also produced by Virginia Lora. Theme music by Justina Shandler. Additional music by Podington Bear and Emia. 

There’s more writing class on our website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work Tuesdays 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking about metaphors and how they work in a story. We share a story by Elizabeth Newdom whose story is shaped around a metaphor. Elizabeth’s essay first appeared in Motherwell, an online magazine that tells all sides of the parenting story.  

We called the editors of Motherwell, Randi Olin and Lauren Apfel, a badass editing duo and talked to them about their tag team approach to editing, what grabbed them about Elizabeth’s story, and the use of metaphors.

We’ll take you behind the scenes, so you can learn how to submit to Motherwell.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.

There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer and sponsored by The Launchpad at The University of Miami, which aims to make the practice of entrepreneurship available to all students and alumni.

Theme music is by Justina Shandler. Additional music is by Ari Herstand and Podington Bear.

There’s more writing class on our website (www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/) and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. Through summer 2019, you get three videos for the price of two. That’s $40 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, we’ve made it easy for you to get involved. We are now on Patreon. Go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio or click here to support us.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we’re talking about how to write about a situation that is ongoing. Typically, at the end of an essay, the narrator writes about what they learned or how they changed. But what if transition IS the change? What happens if there is no happy (or sad) ending…yet?

On this episode, Ariane Malfait writes about her transition–-one that is still in progress and may always be. Ariane tells the story of shedding the masculine body she felt never fit. At 19, after bottom surgery, she expects to finally feel like herself, but when she wakes up from surgery, she is plunged into darkness. Her story is called The Creation of Flesh.

Ariane Malfait is a Belgian journalism student with a passion for writing. She writes mainly nonfiction and poetry but loves to experiment with other genres. You can find Ariane on Instagram and Medium.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Emia. 

For a transcription of today’s episode click here.

There’s more writing class on our website, including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. 

For $35/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Zorina Frey Wednesdays 7-8pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re looking to take your writing to the next level, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode will drop every other WEDNESDAY. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we share a story by Cheryl E. Klein, author of the soon to be released memoir Crybaby. Cheryl takes an unusual subject, complaining, and makes a case for it. She even goes so far as to say complaining is noble. Her wit and humor make this episode another must listen!!

We discuss her voice and commitment to what some people, most people, probably think is an obnoxious quality. Cheryl also uses dialogue really well.

You can find Cheryl on Twitter @CherylEKleinLA and Instagram @CherylEKleinStories. Her story, In Praise of Complaining, was previously published in Mutha Magazine.

If you like this episode, please share it with one person. That’s how love is shared.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers group. (Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET) Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. For $125/mth, you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other Wednesday.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For the month of August, 2021, we’re bringing back four of our listeners’ favorite episodes. Writing Class Radio brings you personal stories and tips on how to write your own stories. This episode originally aired July 31, 2018 on episode 47.

In this episode, we examine the popular writing tenet, show DON’T tell. We believe just showing is not only impossible, but detrimental to your story. Telling gives insight into what the narrator is thinking and feeling.

To test this theory, we asked our students to just SHOW. We gave the prompt: A fight and instructed them to go directly to scene without explaining. We wanted to see if show without tell would work. After ten minutes, the students were asked to continue where they left off but to move from the scene into exposition, to just TELL. They were instructed to explain what was going on in the story, give background, and tell what the narrator was thinking and feeling. What we found: It’s impossible to show without telling.

You will hear short prompt responses from student Misha Mehrel, who has read many stories on this podcast, Allison Langer, and Andrea Askowitz. Andrea’s piece called Spoiled Mom was developed out of this exercise and published in June 2018 in Mutha Magazine.  

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories from the students in our class and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class. And we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). 

The original episode 47 was produced by Virginia Lora, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Theme music by Ari Herstand. Additional music by TJ North, Kevin Miles Wilson, Ari Herstand and Podington Bear. You can find all our music on our website. Episode 108 was put together by Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski of the Sound Off Media Company.

Thank you for listening. If you love this podcast, tell your friends. 

There’s more writing class on our website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series--for $50. Click Video Classes on our website.

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, follow us on Patreon. For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join Allison’s First Draft weekly writers group, where you can write and share your work Tuesdays 12-1 (ET). www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show we share a story by Kelly Eden who lives in New Zealand. Kelly brought this essay to 2nd Draft, a class we offer on Zoom. (To sign up click here.) Kelly took the feedback she received from the class then posted on Medium and got lots of traction. Her story shows her struggle with Crohn’s disease while asking herself a question very familiar to our hosts, “Am I doing enough?”

Kelly's essays and short fiction have won several awards. She has been writing for magazines and online for over 13 years and now coaches other writers to do the same. When she's not writing, she loves to watch musicals with her kids and spend time with her sexy-musician husband. You can find Kelly on twitter @eden_writer.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Allison Langer, Andrea Askowitz and by Matt Cundill and Evan Surminski at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Courtney Fox.

There’s more writing class on our website including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

For $10/month Andrea will answer all your publishing questions. For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers group. (Tuesdays 12-1 ET or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET) Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. For $125/mth, you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback and brainstorming. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio.

A new episode will drop every other Wednesday.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is the second story in a 7-part series in support of reproductive rights. On election day, Floridians will have the opportunity to vote Yes on 4  to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade.  

The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. 

As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned. 

Today’s story is by Nicole Crooks and is titled The Shade of Our Grandmothers’ Trees. Nicole tells the story of sexual molestation and rape. Neither the abuse nor the rape were described, but there is mention of both. If this is a difficult subject for you to hear about, please skip this episode. In Nicole’s story she grapples with reporting her rape and ultimately doesn’t, just as the women she counseled ultimately didn’t report theirs.

Nicole Crooks is a coach and consultant who is committed to black women’s well-being and building community. You can find Nicole on Instagram at @Iamnicolecrooks

This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women’s Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, Women’s Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s episode showcases a story by student Danielle Huggins. Danielle’s story shows what happened when she got off her medication for bipolar disorder. This story is the best example of show and tell EVER! We ask you, why do you read and listen to stories: to be taken into another world or to find yourself in the story?

Danielle told a story on Episode 105: Teach Us Something We Don’t Know. That episode was about her experience with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). If you haven’t listened to that episode, definitely check it out.

Danielle Huggins is a former middle school math teacher with a masters degree in literacy. She is currently a stay-at-home mom, a student of Writing Class Radio, and an avid kickboxer. Danielle has a Facebook page called My Life As a Bipolar Mom. You can also find her on Instagram @bipolardanielle. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.

Writing Class Radio is hosted and produced by Allison Langer,  Andrea Askowitz, and Zorina Frey. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aidan Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website www.writingclassradio.com including essays to study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community.

For $25/month you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. (Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Wednesdays 6-7pm ET). Write to a prompt and share what you wrote. For $125/mth, you’ll get 1st draft and 2nd Draft. Each week three people bring a second draft for feedback. Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and most importantly, the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or email andrea@writingclassradio.com for Zoom link. First session is FREE.

A new episode will drop every other Wednesday.

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

This is sponsored by Amber Petty. Her new podcast is called Don't Wait to Write.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, we are starting a new series in support of reproductive rights–specifically Yes on 4 here in Florida to get rid of a near-total abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v. Wade.  

The stories in the series were told live on stage in front of 400 people at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. 

As the country gears up for the election on November 5, 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only important but will also save lives. We know this sounds counter intuitive, but abortion saves lives. Click here to support Yes on 4 and please stay tuned. 

Our first story in the series is by Liz Chifari. We asked Liz why she wrote this story and she said, “.... because it was time.”

Liz had two abortions. In 1970, before abortion was legal, Liz had to proclaim she was mentally ill to get an abortion. In 1997, when she thought she was in perimenopause and already had a family, she went to an abortion clinic. Her story is about how radically different her experiences were. 

This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women’s Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, Women’s Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle, and All Angels Episcopal Church.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On September 18, 2024, we are launching a new series in support of a family’s reproductive rights--specifically Yes on 4 here in Florida to get rid of a near abortion ban and reinstate the liberties under Roe v Wade.  

The stories in the series were told live on stage at Temple Beth Am in Miami, Florida on September 5th 2024. Each storyteller stood in front of an audience of 400 people and read their story.

As the country gears up for the election on November 5th 2024, we will be sharing all seven stories one week at a time. These stories highlight what the current ban limits and excludes, and how this ban negatively impacts all women and families. We hope these stories will help you understand why keeping abortion legal (which means voting yes on amendment 4) is not only ultra important but will also save lives. I know that is counter intuitive, so stay tuned. 

This event was produced and created by Writing Class Radio, Rabbi Greengrass at Temple Beth Am, and 19 collaborative partners: The Women’s Fund, Equal Justice Society, Cuban American Women Supporting Democracy, Men for Choice, Books and Books, Planned Parenthood, Temple Judea, Coral Gables United Church of Christ, Tikkun Olam at Temple Beth Am, Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, Women’s Emergency Network, Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am, Catholics for Choice, Temple Israel, Women of Reform Judaism, All Angels Episcopal Church, RAC Florida, National Council of Jewish Women, The Workers Circle.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Kenny Korade.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

If you want to write with us every week, you can join our First Draft weekly writers groups. You have the option to join Allison on Tuesdays 12-1 ET and/or Mondays with Eduardo Winck 8-9 pm ET. You’ll write to a prompt and share what you wrote. If you’re a business owner, community activist, group that needs healing, entrepreneur, or scientist and you want to help your team write better, check out all the classes we offer on our website, writingclassradio.com.

Join the community that comes together for instruction, an excuse to write, and the support from other writers. To learn more, go to www.Patreon.com/writingclassradio. Or sign up HERE for First Draft for a FREE Zoom link.

A new episode in this series will drop every WEDNESDAY until the election on Nov 5 2024. 

There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show, we bring you a story by Sally Quon called Finding Home.

Sally’s story is an exercise in restraint. Andrea tried a little experiment with Sally’s submission in order to make the story more powerful. She asked Sally to cut all seven mentions of the word, abuse. Andrea learned of this technique while taking a course with Dan Wakefield who assigned the book Name All the Animals by Alison Smith. The book is about grief and yet, the word grief is mentioned only once. Listen and learn why this method is so effective.

Sally Quon lives in the Okanagan. She has been shortlisted for Vallum Magazine’s Chapbook Prize and is an associate member of the League of Canadian Poets. Her personal blog, https://featherstone-creative.com is where she posts her back-country adventures and photos. She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Big-Stories About Life in a Plus Size Body, and Writing For Life. Her first collection of poetry, Beauty Born of Pain, is due to be released in 2023. You can find her at the following places: FaceBook: Sally Quon, Instagram: @sallyquon, Twitter: @QuonSally

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Emia.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon. 

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