Everyone has a story to tell, and if you’re pursuing a college degree in communications, you likely have more than a passing interest in writing. Perhaps you dream of being published. You may have been writing for a while but need a little inspiration. That’s where our collection of podcasts can help. Not only will they help you with ideas, but they can help you with tools and tips to help you become a better writer.
1. Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
Who can’t use a little help with grammar and usage? Mignon Fogarty, the founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network, offers three or four tips a month in short (15-20 minute) podcasts. Grammar Girl has been listed among Writer’s Digest’s list of top podcasts for writers multiple times. Recent titles have included:
- Is Very Unique Wrong?
- Should You Start with ‘There Is’ or ‘There Are’?
- 5 Stupid Grammar Myths (and Why You Should Follow Them at Work)
Grammar Girl is free and available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify.
2. The Creative Penn Podcast
If you’re thinking about making a living with your writing, this is the podcast for you. Joanna Penn offers weekly interviews, inspiration, and information for writers of all experience and skill levels. Recent titles have included:
- Generative AI and the Indie Author Community
- Content for Everyone: Accessibility for Authors
- Book Marketing: How To Get Publicity For Your Book With Halima Khatun
The Creative Penn Podcast is free and available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, YouTube, Amazon Music, Android and Spotify.
3. The Writer Files
This weekly podcast with host Kelton Reid features interviews with successful writers of a variety of genres about their path to success, how they write and what inspires them. Recent interviews have included:
- How Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Hernan Diaz Writes
- How #1 NY Times Best-Selling Author Ruth Sepetys Writes
- How NY Times Best-Selling Author Chanel Cleeton Writes
The Writer Files is free and available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Rainmaker, Audible, Amazon Music, Podbean, Stitcher, Pandora and Spotify.
4. 88 Cups of Tea
88 Cups of Tea is part of the 88 Cups community of writers inspiring other writers. This writing podcast highlights a different, successful author each week. Recent contributors have included:
- Victoria ‘V.E.’ Schwab On Cultivating Stubborn Hope
- Tochi Onyebuchi on Finding Joy in Your Writing Process
- Molly O’Neill on the Roles of a Literary Agent
88 Cups of Tea is free and available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music and Spotify.
5. Writer’s Routine
Establishing a routine that works for you is essential to being a productive writer and not falling victim to the plethora of distractions that working alone presents. The host of Writer’s Routine, Dan Simpson, addresses this issue in a series of interviews with successful writers about their daily routines. Recent titles have included:
- Tim Weaver, author of ‘The Blackbird,’ talks about learning from your second book, welcoming the worry, and making people disappear
- Eva Rice, author of ‘This Could Be Everything,’ discusses why noise helps, how characters decide when to appear, and how energy ebbs and flows
Writer’s Routine is free and available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
6. Write Now
Write Now with Sarah Rhea Werner addresses common situations for writers as well as topics about improving your writing. Recent episodes of this weekly podcast include:
- Why Do I Write by Hand?
- Reclaiming Your Voice
- My Top 10 Tools for Writing
Write Now is free and available on Sarah Werner’s website or via Apple Podcasts.
7. SPA Girls Podcast
SPA stands for self-publishing authors, so this podcast is dedicated to female authors who are or are looking to be self-published. New episodes are dropped weekly and feature ‘tips, resources and honest advice from four indie authors and their special guests.” Recent episodes have included:
- Career Sustainability with Brenna Aubrey
- Thrifty Tips for Authors with Vanessa Vale
- How to Write a Compelling Hero
SPA Girls Podcast is free and available via iTunes and Stitcher.
8. Longform
Although this ground-breaking writer’s podcast is no longer producing new material, there is a wonderful trove of past episodes still available. Longform podcasts feature hour-long interviews with non-fiction writers. Episodes have included interviews with:
- Hua Hsu, the 2023 Pulitzer Prize winner for memoir
- Kevin Kelly, a founding editor of Wired and the author of ‘Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I’d Known Earlier’
- Liz Hoffman, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and the author of ‘Crash Landing: The Inside Story of How the World’s Biggest Companies Survived an Economy on the Brink’
Longform archived podcasts are available via the Longform website.
9. The Self Publishing Show
The Self Publishing Show is another podcast dedicated to indie authors. The hosts are best-selling eBook author Mark Dawson, who has more than two million downloaded eBooks to date, and James Blatch, an aspiring eBook author. Content includes both inspiration and tips for new and neophyte self-published authors. Recent topics for the hour-long podcast have included:
- AI Artwork for Authors
- Training with a Book Coach
- Kickstarters & Collaborations
The Self Publishing Show is free and available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, iTunes and YouTube.
10. Writing Excuses
These podcasts are short–just 15 minutes each–but mighty. The five hosts have a diverse array of experience in writing, editing, agenting, publishing and illustrating. There’s something for everyone in the writing world here. Recent topics have included:
- Seriously, Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
- What Is Publishing For, Anyway?
- Building a Mystery, Now With More Tools
Writing Excuses is free and via the Writing Excuses website.
11. Minorities in Publishing
Minorities have unique voices and unique challenges when it comes to navigating the traditional white, upper-class publishing world. This bi-monthly interview-style podcast features guests’ ‘personal experiences in their respective fields as well as provides information about what to expect as an emerging writer/professional in this business.” Recent episodes have included interviews with:
Bengali American Joy Mizan, an assistant marketing manager of humanities titles with an academic press
East Harlem bookstore owner and manager Aurora Anaya Cerda
Anjali Enjeti, a journalist and author and winner of the 2022 Georgia Author of the Year Award for First Novel
Minorities in Publishing is free and available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio and Spotify.
12. Beautiful Writers Podcast
Beautiful Writers Podcast is the brainchild of author Linda Sivertsen, creator of the Book Mama blog. She describes the focus of her podcast series as ‘the magic and mayhem of authoring and publishing books.” Most episodes are interviews with other authors. Recent titles have included:
- How to Write a Book (and Actually Finish It!)
- Mark Manson, the Subtle Art of Movie Making & Selling Millions of Books
- Lee Child and Tom Bergeron: Writing and Righting Wrongs
Beautiful Writers Podcast is free and available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Audacity, iHeartRadio, Spotify… and on American Airlines flights.
13. DIY MFA Radio
DIY MFA Radio, inspired and hosted by self-described instigator Gabriela Pereira, features a variety of author interviews, writer tips and tools. Recent episodes have included:
- Start With a Setting: Creating a Rich World for Your Story
- Take the Leap: Chase Your Passion, Quit Your Job and Write a Memoir
DIY MFA Radio is free and available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and Spotify.
LEARN MORE
Johnson & Wales College of Professional Studies offers a 100% online Undergraduate Micro-Certificate: Technical Writing & Editing.
For more information about completing your degree online complete the Request Info form, call 855-JWU-1881, or email [email protected].