Episodes

  • Perceiving the Audience w/Sarah Maria Griffin
    Sep 14 2021

    Author and poet Sarah Griffin joins us to talk about how the awareness of an audience affects our writing.

    Guest: Sarah Maria Griffin, https://twitter.com/griffski

    CONSUME: “AACK Cast!” a podcast about the comic strip Cathy by Jamie Loftus

    CREATE: Write a 200-400 word monologue for a live audience. Interact with your audience in some way.

    Help spread the word about our show by wearing our logo: https://topatoco.com/collections/startwiththis

    Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

    Credits: Jeffrey Cranor (host) & Joseph Fink (host), Jeffrey Cranor (producer), Grant Stewart (editor), Vincent Cacchione (mixer). Rob Wilson (logo).

    Theme written and performed by Joseph Fink. If you'd like your own cover of the theme song featured on this show, email us at startwiththis@nightvalepresents.com or share it in our membership community.

    Produced by Night Vale Presents.

    http://www.startwiththispodcast.comhttp://www.nightvalepresents.com

    Show more Show less
    59 mins
  • The Burnout Cycle w/Janina Matthewson
    Aug 13 2021

    Burnout is real and it comes around on the regular.

    Guest: Janina Matthewson, https://twitter.com/j9andif

    CONSUME: Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! (anime series)

    CREATE: Think of a story or project you’ve let sit idle. Write a letter from the point of view of someone who has just bought, or commissioned, or earned the distribution rights for this work.

    Join the SWT Membership community to share your work, give feedback, and connect with other artists: https://www.patreon.com/startwiththis

    Help spread the word about our show by wearing our logo: https://topatoco.com/collections/startwiththisFollow us on Facebook and Twitter.

    Credits: Jeffrey Cranor (host) & Joseph Fink (host), Jeffrey Cranor (producer), Grant Stewart (editor), Vincent Cacchione (mixer). Rob Wilson (logo).

    Theme written and performed by Joseph Fink. If you'd like your own cover of the theme song featured on this show, email us at startwiththis@nightvalepresents.com or share it in our membership community.

    Produced by Night Vale Presents.

    http://www.startwiththispodcast.comhttp://www.nightvalepresents.com

    Show more Show less
    51 mins
  • Minimal w/Brie Williams
    Jul 9 2021

    Writing more with less.

    Guest: Brie Williams, https://twitter.com/briezillionaire

    CONSUME: Getting on with James Urbaniak (podcast), specifically episode 22 “Status”

    CREATE: Write a 200-400 word short story, It can be a monologue. Or it can be a dialogue. But every sentence must be short. Make them 6 words or fewer.

    Join the SWT Membership community to share your work, give feedback, and connect with other artists: https://www.patreon.com/startwiththis

    Help spread the word about our show by wearing our logo: https://topatoco.com/collections/startwiththisFollow us on Facebook and Twitter.

    Credits: Jeffrey Cranor (host) & Joseph Fink (host), Jeffrey Cranor (producer), Grant Stewart (editor), Vincent Cacchione (mixer). Rob Wilson (logo).

    Theme written and performed by Joseph Fink. If you'd like your own cover of the theme song featured on this show, email us at startwiththis@nightvalepresents.com or share it in our membership community.

    Produced by Night Vale Presents.

    http://www.startwiththispodcast.comhttp://www.nightvalepresents.com

    Show more Show less
    37 mins
  • But How Does It End?
    Jun 11 2021

    How do you land the ending?

    CONSUME: Three options: 1)The last three pages of Inherent Vice, starting where the character gets on the freeway. 2) The last four minutes of Six Feet Under. Easily found on youtube by searching “Six Feet Under ending”. 3) Pick one of your favorite ending. Could be a podcast, movie, tv show, book, whatever. Reexamine it carefully. What kind of ending is it? Is it mirroring the opening? Is it following the characters to the end? Is it a tangent? Or is it doing something else? Does it have a button? Most importantly, what specifically makes it a great ending for you? The more you can pay attention to that, the more you can develop your own tastes of what you like in your own work.

    CREATE: Think of your least favorite film or book or show. Not one you hate or one that is offensive and irredeemable in your mind. Just a story you found lacking. Now write a 200-400 review of that film, book, or show. But make it a rave review. No need for superlatives like masterpiece or perfection. Focus your review on all the things that this story got right.

    Join the SWT Membership community to share your work, give feedback, and connect with other artists: https://www.patreon.com/startwiththis

    Help spread the word about our show by wearing our logo: https://topatoco.com/collections/startwiththisFollow us on Facebook and Twitter.

    Credits: Jeffrey Cranor (host) & Joseph Fink (host), Jeffrey Cranor (producer), Grant Stewart (editor), Vincent Cacchione (mixer). Rob Wilson (logo).

    Theme written and performed by Joseph Fink. If you'd like your own cover of the theme song featured on this show, email us at startwiththis@nightvalepresents.com or share it in our membership community.

    Produced by Night Vale Presents.

    http://www.startwiththispodcast.comhttp://www.nightvalepresents.com

    Show more Show less
    49 mins
  • Like This But Better
    Jun 11 2021

    Elevating basic language to something special. (This episode is available exclusively on Patreon. Hear the rest at http://patreon.com/startwiththis)

    Join the SWT Membership community to share your work, give feedback, and connect with other artists: https://www.patreon.com/startwiththis

    Help spread the word about our show by wearing our logo: https://topatoco.com/collections/startwiththisFollow us on Facebook and Twitter.

    Credits: Jeffrey Cranor (host) & Joseph Fink (host), Jeffrey Cranor (producer), Grant Stewart (editor), Vincent Cacchione (mixer). Rob Wilson (logo).

    Theme written and performed by Joseph Fink. If you'd like your own cover of the theme song featured on this show, email us at startwiththis@nightvalepresents.com or share it in our membership community.

    Produced by Night Vale Presents.

    http://www.startwiththispodcast.comhttp://www.nightvalepresents.com

    Show more Show less
    5 mins
  • How to Like
    May 14 2021

    There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure.

    CONSUME: Podcast ¡Uy Que Horror! particularly the episode “2012: Kurse a di Xtabai (Belize)”

    CREATE: Think of your least favorite film or book or show. Not one you hate or one that is offensive and irredeemable in your mind. Just a story you found lacking. Now write a 200-400 review of that film, book, or show. But make it a rave review. No need for superlatives like masterpiece or perfection. Focus your review on all the things that this story got right.

    Join the SWT Membership community to share your work, give feedback, and connect with other artists: https://www.patreon.com/startwiththis

    Help spread the word about our show by wearing our logo: https://topatoco.com/collections/startwiththisFollow us on Facebook and Twitter.

    Credits: Jeffrey Cranor (host) & Joseph Fink (host), Jeffrey Cranor (producer), Grant Stewart (editor), Vincent Cacchione (mixer). Rob Wilson (logo).

    Theme written and performed by Joseph Fink. If you'd like your own cover of the theme song featured on this show, email us at startwiththis@nightvalepresents.com or share it in our membership community.

    Produced by Night Vale Presents.

    http://www.startwiththispodcast.comhttp://www.nightvalepresents.com

    Show more Show less
    49 mins
  • Low Barrier to Entry?
    May 13 2021

    They say that podcasting has a low barrier to entry. Wtf does that even mean? (This episode is available exclusively on Patreon. Hear the rest at http://patreon.com/startwiththis)

    Join the SWT Membership community to share your work, give feedback, and connect with other artists: https://www.patreon.com/startwiththis

    Help spread the word about our show by wearing our logo: https://topatoco.com/collections/startwiththisFollow us on Facebook and Twitter.

    Credits: Jeffrey Cranor (host) & Joseph Fink (host), Jeffrey Cranor (producer), Grant Stewart (editor), Vincent Cacchione (mixer). Rob Wilson (logo).

    Theme written and performed by Joseph Fink. If you'd like your own cover of the theme song featured on this show, email us at startwiththis@nightvalepresents.com or share it in our membership community.

    Produced by Night Vale Presents.

    http://www.startwiththispodcast.comhttp://www.nightvalepresents.com

    Show more Show less
    4 mins
  • The Tease
    Apr 9 2021

    What makes a good tease? Listen and find out.

    CONSUME: “Lupin” French Crime/Adventure Drama on Netflix

    CREATE: Write a 200-600 story that follows the line: “I found them/her/him waiting for me when I got home, but they/she/he had been dead for 10 years.”

    Join the SWT Membership community to share your work, give feedback, and connect with other artists: https://www.patreon.com/startwiththis

    Help spread the word about our show by wearing our logo: https://topatoco.com/collections/startwiththisFollow us on Facebook and Twitter.

    Credits: Jeffrey Cranor (host) & Joseph Fink (host), Jeffrey Cranor (producer), Grant Stewart (editor), Vincent Cacchione (mixer). Rob Wilson (logo).

    Theme written and performed by Joseph Fink. If you'd like your own cover of the theme song featured on this show, email us at startwiththis@nightvalepresents.com or share it in our membership community.

    Produced by Night Vale Presents.

    http://www.startwiththispodcast.comhttp://www.nightvalepresents.com

    Show more Show less
    40 mins