My Voice AKA Adventures in Podcasting
A few months ago, I went on the Creative Conversations podcast. I didn’t really listen to podcasts before this, and I certainly never thought I’d do an interview, but then a good friend told me about one an indie author was starting that focused on writing and the creative process. I replied that I didn’t think I could talk about writing for a full hour and was assured it didn’t need to be that long. I then spoke with host Marissa Lete for 52 minutes (you can check the tape).
1) I guess that makes me a liar and 2) I had a lot more to say than I thought. Indeed, writing since the late 2000s has given me a robust perspective and many opinions, which have also evolved as my prose matured and I studied the technical aspects of the craft in college. Reading lots of writing advice books throughout this time also helped.
My Thoughts
**If you don’t care about my thoughts (and I can’t say I fully blame you), you can skip to the end for the link to the Creative Conversations podcast**
There’s a stereotype that the writer is someone who prefers to stay behind a screen. We don’t like talking to other people, we don’t like going out: we want to be in complete control of our surroundings, and we prefer those surroundings be secluded. Writing is the one thing that defines us, and as such, it consumes us. In short, we are the cookie cutter introvert.
To be sure, there are writers out there just like this. I myself first started this hobby turned passion because I felt like I had no real voice in school. But my point is that this assumption would lead many to believe that a podcast is the least likely format for writers to shine in. Ditching the Word doc for a real-time conversation that you can’t completely rewrite later? Who would ever think this was a good idea?
So, I must credit Marissa, because this podcast is the antithesis of that notion. Most of the guests to date are emerging writers and indie authors, certainly not folks who have been coached on giving professional interviews, and yet the conversations are fun, informative, and real. Many of the episodes border on an hour, like mine, so clearly writers can not only talk, but we have something to say. After all, who doesn’t love discussing their passion with others who understand their struggles and their successes?
On a personal note, I think a lot of artists are judged against another preconceived notion: the eccentric/suffering artist. Both images are different, of course, but they share one common thread: they have decided to define themselves solely by their talent and force the rest of the world to acknowledge it. I will clarify that I do not have an issue with someone truly passionate about their craft, but I do have an issue with someone I think is presenting an image simply because that is what is expected.
We’ve all experienced this (or so I imagine). We’ve all had one friend that is overly dramatic — to the point that you don’t trust their actual displays of emotion. They are presenting an image so often that you can’t be sure they are experiencing these feelings or are merely acting. In short, they are not authentic.
Thus, I appreciate this podcast all the more for presenting writers as their authentic selves. We all love to write. We all struggle with it from time to time. We’re also human and spend time watching TV, hiking, going to bars: whatever entertains us. We are not all hermits living behind a screen and a keyboard, and we are not all bathrobe-clad eccentrics living in ivory towers (though I cannot lie and say I wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to smoke from a cigarette holder).
The Podcast
If this discussion has piqued your interest, feel free to listen to my interview on Creative Conversations — or any of the episodes:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6i8u2Lsqvu1ftNQo8V5kyn?si=0844bf9aed214a3e
Follow the show to enjoy new interviews each Friday from fellow writers. If you like the show and want to help out intrepid host Marissa Lete, check out her novel Echoes on Amazon. Finally, if you are a writer (and I imagine many of you are since we’re bloggers and that comes with the territory) and would like to be on a future episode of Creative Conversations, reach out to Marissa at https://form.jotform.com/212354859345159.
Originally published on The Future Writers of America on August 24, 2021.
