Rather than feeling that I’ve snubbed your favorite fancasts, please use the comments below to share them with others. There are many worthy podcasts out there that benefit SF/F writers, far more than I can list here. That forces me to slow down and pay attention. People tend to skim when they read written content, but there’s no equivalent for listening to a podcast. People tend to speak more openly on a podcast than when writing a blog post/article, so I feel like there’s more honest detail. Broadened horizons. I’ve learned a lot about writing, publishing, and even public speaking by listening to podcasts over the years.Listening to a podcast makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile. I hate the idea of wasting time while I do chores or sit in traffic. All you need to listen is an iPod, smartphone, or computer. Most podcasts, including all of the ones I recommend below, are free. Listening to podcasts - whether in the car, on the train, or while doing mundane tasks - offers a lot of benefits to motivated SF/F writers: I thought I’d take a moment to recommend some that have helped me develop as a sci-fi/fantasy author. A quick glance at my iPod tells me that I’ve tried at least 32 podcasts in the past several years, most of them related to writing and/or publishing. I make up for that “lost time” in my weekdays by listening to podcasts. At the time, I smiled to myself and thought, how bad can it really be? Answer: pretty bad, especially when it rains or snows.
Related side note: they warned me about the traffic here. The only reliable downtime that I can count on is my daily commute, which sucks at least an hour out of my weekday like a time-vampire. Yet there are only so many hours in the day, and as a scientist/author/father/bowhunter, most of those are already spoken for. As a new-ish author, I’m always looking for ways to improve and up my game when it comes to writing craft, story telling, or knowledge of the publishing industry.