Episodes

  • How Poetry Can Help Our Fiction

    How Poetry Can Help Our Fiction
    Sep 15 2026
    Many writers who feel comfortable writing fiction feel intimidated by experimenting with poetry. But the truth is, poetry can teach us so much about what works in our fiction. In this episode of "Writer's Digest Presents," senior editor and poet Robert Lee Brewer joins senior editor Michael Woodson to discuss the diversity within poetry, how writing poetry can help inform our fiction, and more.
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    34 mins
  • What Is Literary Criticism? (featuring Grace Byron)

    What Is Literary Criticism? (featuring Grace Byron)
    Aug 18 2026
    When you hear "literary critic," what comes to mind? Book reviews? Literary deep dives? Discourse? Hot takes? Literary criticism has evolved over our long history of storytelling, and the role of the literary critic is both more broad and more nuanced than ever before. In this episode of "Writer's Digest Presents," senior editor Michael Woodson chats with author and literary critic Grace Byron about defining literary criticism, if authors should pay attention to critics, how to break into literary criticism, and more.
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    35 mins
  • Writing Fiction About Real People: What You Need To Know

    Writing Fiction About Real People: What You Need To Know
    Jul 21 2026
    When a real-life person inspires you to write a story, how do you balance truth with fiction? It's a difficult challenge, especially if you have a personal relationship with your subject. But it's not impossible. New York Times-bestselling author John Searles spent two decades as a top editor for Cosmopolitan magazine, first hired by Helen Gurley Brown—the editor-in-chief credited with revitalizing the dying title in the 1960s. In his time at the magazine, John would joke to Helen that he would one day write a book about her. Now he has with his new bestselling novel, Single Girls. In this episode, John discusses the challenges of writing about real people, navigating switching genre lanes, honoring real people with fiction they would've loved, and more.
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    50 mins
  • What a Book Coach Can Do for You (featuring Adrienne Westenfeld)

    What a Book Coach Can Do for You (featuring Adrienne Westenfeld)
    Jun 16 2026
    Book coaches offer a wide range of services that are catered to your personal needs as a writer. Maybe you need help brainstorming plot problems, or you need help with your query letter. Maybe you simply need someone to hold you accountable to get the words onto the page. Whatever the need is, book coaches are there to help you get the writing done and build you writing community. In this episode of "Writer's Digest Presents," senior editor Michael Woodson is in conversation with author and editor Adrienne Westenfeld who shares all the behind-the-scenes information on what goes on in book coaching, how a writer knows if they should hire a book coach, and more.
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    39 mins
  • The Dogs That Shaped Us With Isabel Klee

    The Dogs That Shaped Us With Isabel Klee
    May 19 2026
    Isabel Klee is best known for her work in fostering and rehabilitating dogs in New York City. As "Simon Sits" on social media, Klee chronicles the experience of caring for heartbroken animals and giving them a second chance at life. Now, with her #1 New York Times bestselling memoir, "Dogs, Boys, And Other Things I've Cried About," Klee is inviting readers into her personal orbit with stories of heartbreak and betrayal, of personal loss and times of growth, and the dogs that were there through it all.
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    40 mins
  • Reading Like a Writer with Amy Jones

    Reading Like a Writer with Amy Jones
    Apr 21 2026
    In February, "Writer's Digest Presents" managing editor Moriah Richard and senior editor Michael Woodson discussed performing reading audits and what they can do for your reading life. In this episode of "Writer's Digest Presents", editor-in-chief Amy Jones is talking about the importance of reading like a writer to benefit your writing life. But what does that mean—to read like a writer? For Amy and Michael, it means doing a deep dive into reading the kinds of books they'd like to be writing, what they can learn from them, how to incorporate a writing process that encourages failure, why writers should completely reject AI, and more.
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • The Fight Against Amazon with Bookshop.org

    The Fight Against Amazon with Bookshop.org
    Mar 17 2026
    Amazon's rise in dominion over the publishing industry is largely connected to the idea that convenience outweighs community—and independent bookstores across the country were shuttering in their wake. With the prevalence and rise of online shopping, there seemed to be no way to fight Amazon's power. But publisher and writer Andy Hunter had a different take. What if you could fight the rise of Amazon while also helping support indie bookstores? That thought led to Bookshop.org, an online retailer that directly supports indie bookstores across the country. In this episode of "Writer's Digest Presents," editor Michael Woodson sits down with Bookshop.org's CEO to discuss the importance of indie bookstores in culture, how COVID-19 changed the game for Bookshop, and more.
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    48 mins
  • How (and Why) To Do a Reading Audit

    How (and Why) To Do a Reading Audit
    Feb 17 2026
    If you were to do a reading audit of the last year or two of reading, what would it look like? Do you spread your reading across various genres, or do you stick to just one or two? Conducting a reading audit can help notify which genres are missing from your TBR and which genres are surprise favorites for you—all of which helps with your writing. In this episode of the Writer's Digest Presents podcast, managing editor Moriah Richard is in conversation with editor Michael Woodson about what conducting a reading audit did for her—how it revealed to her a new favorite sub-genre, how it has helped her writing, and more.
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    55 mins