Are you curious about writing a memoir? Are you having trouble finding and refining your writing voice? How important are writing classes and workshops to your professional writing career? We get into all of that and more with today’s guests, hosts and producers of Writing Class Radio, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer.
In today’s episode, we dive right into the importance of focusing on one genre at a time instead of jumping genres, developing your writing voice by practicing and being authentic in telling the truth, and refining your voice by modeling your writing after “the greats”. We learn how their podcast came to fruition and get a close look at their partnership and the things they’ve had to learn together to get to where they are today. We discuss even more so be sure to listen in on this episode!
Books and resources mentioned in Writing Class Radio’s episode:
50 Essays in 50 Weeks a project by Andrea Askowitz to celebrate her 50th birthday!
“How to Write Your Story” Andrea and Allison’s 3-part video series
Daily Writing Prompts by Writing Class Radio
The End of the Affair essay by David Sedaris
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
A Home in the World by Joyce Maynard
The Best of Us by Joyce Maynard
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Check out these highlights:
- Why it’s important to focus on one genre at a time instead of jumping genres
- How to obtain your writing voice through practice and being authentic in telling the truth
- All about Writing Class Radio, how it came to fruition, a glimpse at Andrea and Allison’s partnership
- How parenting less can help carve out writing time
- The impact writing workshops have had on their professional writing career
- How to refine your writing voice by modeling after “the greats”
“You learn your writing voice by practice, over and over again, and being authentic. Being really, really true in telling the truth. That’s how you get to your voice.”
-Andrea Askowitz
“Sometimes I lose my voice and to get it back I just write the truth.”
-Andrea Askowitz
“Writing tips are life tips.”
-Andrea Askowitz
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Learn More About “Writing Class Radio”
Writing Class Radio is a podcast of a writing class. If you love stories and get inspired by hearing other people tell their stories and want to learn a little bit about how to write your own stories, then this podcast is for you. There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other than by writing and telling our stories. We invite you into our writing class. We couldn’t live without it!
Learn More About Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer
Andrea Askowitz is a storytelling missionary and believes stories will heal the world. She’s the author of the memoir My Miserable, Lonely, Lesbian Pregnancy and the editor of Badass: True Stories, the Double Album. Her stories have appeared in publications including The New York Times, Salon, The Rumpus, xoJane, Brain, Child, FourTwoNine, Mutha, and AEON, and have aired on NPR and PBS. Andrea co-produces and co-hosts the podcastWriting Class Radio, which airs true stories and a little bit about how to write them.
Allison Langer is a Miami native. She graduated from the University of Georgia and has an MBA from the University of Miami. Allison traveled the States taking pictures for fun before landing in Telluride where she worked for the brilliant ski photographer TR Youngstrom. Allison moved back to Miami in 2000 to launch her own photography business, which she still actively runs today. She is a single mom to three children, ages 8, 11 and 13. She is a private writing coach, teaches memoir writing in prison and has been published in The Washington Post, Mutha Magazine, Scary Mommy, Ravishly, Modern Loss, She‘Said’ and 50GS Magazine. Allison’s stories and her voice can be heard on Writing Class Radio, a podcast she co-produces.
