Writing About Sex Work
In this episode, Mistress Snow, PhD joins us to talk about sex work in writing. What do writers get wrong? How do writers promote inaccurate and harmful stereotypes about sex workers? How can writers...
View ArticleWho Are You Talking To?
When you write a story, do you ever stop to consider who you’re telling the story to? We’re not talking about the real-life author and the real-life audience demographics. We’re talking about what’s...
View ArticleThe Bitter Medicine of Unhappy Endings
Horror writer G. Emerald, who has a background in the medical system, joins us to talk about the healing power of stories that leave us with a bad taste in our mouths. Audiences like happy endings,...
View ArticleTranslation, or Mi Tio Es Infermo, Pero la Carretera Es Verde!
SFF author and professional translator Mário Seabra Coelho talks to us about the art of translation. Writing translations, even only as an exercise, can open a writer’s eye to new perspectives, new...
View ArticleI’m Not Here to Make Friends: On Unlikable Female Characters
Filthcore queen Gretchen Felker-Martin returns to talk about unlikable female characters. What makes a woman unlikable? Why are we so quick to condemn female characters for minor flaws? Why does art...
View ArticleBad Writing Advice
We here at Rite Gud work very hard to create thoughtful dialogues designed to help our listeners write good. But, there are many writing advice columns that won’t help you write good—that will...
View ArticleSaving Criticism from the Corporate Marketing Machine
Cultural criticism has always been an essential part of our media ecosystem, especially when it comes to geek culture. And on the surface, it’s thriving. Every blog, every YouTube video essay channel,...
View ArticleFinding Beauty In Darkness
Why do we love horror so much? On the surface, it makes no sense. Why would anybody enjoy media that focuses on upsetting, grotesque topics? Why would anybody want to be afraid? In this episode,...
View ArticleTo Be a Great Writer, You Must Defeat a Thousand Babies
As the world looks grimmer and grimmer, Millennials and Gen Xers retreat deeper and deeper into childhood nostalgia. Adults dominate fandoms meant for children, like Steven Universe, Young Adult...
View ArticleBooks Are Not Movies: Writing the Invisible
In previous episodes, our podcast has said over and over again that one of the best ways to improve your writing is to read a lot: read more books. But instead of learning from books, too many...
View ArticleQueerness Is Not a Fandom
It’s normal to look for people who share your interest in pop culture. But what happens when devotion to corporate-owned IP becomes an integral part of your identity? What happens when you only know...
View ArticleSo You Think You’re a Writer?
What makes a writer? Is it coffee and cats? Is it a good author photo? Is it having a screenname like @JaneDoeWrites? Is it in your soul, in your bones, in your DNA? Is it collecting photos of books...
View ArticleMeet the New Gatekeeper, Same as the Old Gatekeeper
If you’ve spent any time talking about geek culture, you’ve probably seen one word come up over and over again: gatekeeper. To be a gatekeeper is bad. To be a gatekeeper is exclusionary and harmful and...
View ArticleWriting for Young Audiences with Celine Kiernan
“If someone is mad enough to publish my weird shit, I am going to do my utmost to be a little bit more complex.” In this episode, middle grade horror/fantasy author Celine Kiernan joins us to talk...
View ArticleWhy We Can Stop Flogging H.P. Lovecraft’s Dead Bloated Corpse
In today’s sci-fi/ fantasy community, it’s fashionable to dig up H.P. Lovecraft and put him on trial as the avatar of everything wrong with speculative fiction. While we won’t defend Lovecraft’s...
View ArticleGenre Bustin’ Makes Me Feel Good
Genre is safe. Genre is comfortable. Genre tells us, as readers, what to expect. As writers, genre gives us guidelines to follow, which can make it a lot easier to plan a story: put the villain...
View ArticleThis Is My Hole, It Was Made for Me: On Negative Space and Leaving Room for...
A story is a type of conversation with the reader. If you don’t leave room for the reader to speak, you’re a terrible conversationalist. This room, this essential emptiness, is called negative space....
View ArticleIn Defense of Degenerate Art
Artists have always been under pressure to create work that embodies proper morals. In the old days, if art didn’t honor the Church and glorify the state, the artist could be imprisoned, tortured and...
View ArticleThe Tragedy of the Creative Commons: On Superheroes and Modern Mythology
Whenever a critic complains about the ubiquity or the creative emptiness of superhero narratives in contemporary pop culture, fans argue back that mass entertainment is just the modern incarnation of...
View ArticleHow Books Happen, With Gretchen Felker-Martin
In this episode, Gretchen Felker-Martin joins us to talk about her gritty post-Apocalyptic trans novel Manhunt (spoiler free) and how an idea becomes a traditionally published book. We talk about the...
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