Jessica Steiner (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jessicasteiner) wrote2011-03-21 08:00 pm
jessicasteiner) wrote2011-03-21 08:00 pm
Review: The Secrets Podcast
Another oldie that I dug up out of the depths of the iTunes Store, The Secrets is a podcast by Michael A. Stackpole, whom some may know as an author of a bunch of Star Wars universe novels. The general topic was writing, and in particular giving writing advice to new writers who likely hadn't been published yet, or were early in their careers.
It ran from 2005 to 2008 and went through several incarnations over the course of those years. Unfortunately, some of the early episodes seem to be lost, and I had to skip a few more right at the beginning, because he insisted that you needed a copy of one of his original novels (I think it was "A Secret Atlas") to follow along or the episodes wouldn't be of much value.
I have to say, shameless as it might seem, I understand why people try to do this sometimes. Considering the podcast itself is a marketing tool, I'm not going to put someone down by using it as a means to promote other products. But of course there are two practical problems with this strategy.
First, there's really no guarantee that I'll even be able to access the book. Since I came along years later it could be - and probably is - out of print. Furthermore, the book might not have ever been available in this market if the listener is from a foreign country.
Secondly, if I'm listening to the podcast as I'm walking across campus, I'm not going to be sitting there with a book in my hands, prepared to take notes. Though I might be able to manage it while sitting on the bus, it limits the places and circumstances where I might be able to listen to his podcast, thus raising the chances that I won't listen at all.
In any case, despite this bumpy start, Mr. Stackpole does give some good advice on a number of topics for a couple of episodes, then the podcast really comes into its own around episode 17. At this point, he begins to develop a system called a Novel in 21 Days, which from what I understand he eventually turned into a book which is available for sale on his website, and which he still uses as a teaching tool.
Novel in 21 Days takes you through a brainstorming process from developing a single character with a few characteristics into having a pretty complete outline for a draft in 21 simple exercises. I haven't actually sat down to try this yet, but I thought it sounded like a great supplement to some of the processes I already use, and I will definitely be incorporating some of these exercises into my novel planning process. It seems particularly good for developing well-rounded and interesting characters in just a couple of steps, and that's something that I've found lacking in other outlining processes I've learned from other writers.
After the Novel in 21 Days episodes, Mr. Stackpole tries a few other different formats, and then there is a rather long hiatus. When he comes back from the hiatus, it seems that his perspective has changed. It's now 2008, and he had lost several of his writing contracts due to difficulties in the publishing market. I think he became quite disillusioned with New York publishing, and starts to talk about alternative means of making money with writing, without relying on the big publishers. He gives some really mind-blowing suggestions, which I actually want to talk about separately in another blog post, probably the next one after this one.
Overall, though Mr. Stackpole tries a lot of different things and not all of his experiments are complete successes, I would recommend this podcast as one to listen to if you are a new writer. He gives some really solid advice not only about various topics useful to people who have never been published before, but delves into areas that most new writers have probably never thought about before.
The main example is how much time he devotes to advice about how to sustain and plan a career, and deal with the hits and career choices that may come not just after the first novel is sold, but after the sixth and beyond. He is a career author who has to carefully plan and use creativity and business sense to sustain his career or else find himself without money to pay his bills. He talks about diversification, about the market, and about alternative means of making income without relying exclusively on the classic model - a model which is becoming increasingly obsolete.
For an aspiring author like myself, some of his discussions were a bit disheartening. And yet, the advice he gives is valuable, and reminds me that even if the New York publishers fall and big box book stores close, people will still write stories, and people will still want to read them, and a new model that allows one to still have a career can be developed.
I definitely recommend his Novel in 21 Days (episodes 17-24) to new authors, and his last 4 podcast episodes for anyone who wants to make a career in writing. There's solid advice in the others as well, and if you've got the time to plough through them all, I would recommend it.
It ran from 2005 to 2008 and went through several incarnations over the course of those years. Unfortunately, some of the early episodes seem to be lost, and I had to skip a few more right at the beginning, because he insisted that you needed a copy of one of his original novels (I think it was "A Secret Atlas") to follow along or the episodes wouldn't be of much value.
I have to say, shameless as it might seem, I understand why people try to do this sometimes. Considering the podcast itself is a marketing tool, I'm not going to put someone down by using it as a means to promote other products. But of course there are two practical problems with this strategy.
First, there's really no guarantee that I'll even be able to access the book. Since I came along years later it could be - and probably is - out of print. Furthermore, the book might not have ever been available in this market if the listener is from a foreign country.
Secondly, if I'm listening to the podcast as I'm walking across campus, I'm not going to be sitting there with a book in my hands, prepared to take notes. Though I might be able to manage it while sitting on the bus, it limits the places and circumstances where I might be able to listen to his podcast, thus raising the chances that I won't listen at all.
In any case, despite this bumpy start, Mr. Stackpole does give some good advice on a number of topics for a couple of episodes, then the podcast really comes into its own around episode 17. At this point, he begins to develop a system called a Novel in 21 Days, which from what I understand he eventually turned into a book which is available for sale on his website, and which he still uses as a teaching tool.
Novel in 21 Days takes you through a brainstorming process from developing a single character with a few characteristics into having a pretty complete outline for a draft in 21 simple exercises. I haven't actually sat down to try this yet, but I thought it sounded like a great supplement to some of the processes I already use, and I will definitely be incorporating some of these exercises into my novel planning process. It seems particularly good for developing well-rounded and interesting characters in just a couple of steps, and that's something that I've found lacking in other outlining processes I've learned from other writers.
After the Novel in 21 Days episodes, Mr. Stackpole tries a few other different formats, and then there is a rather long hiatus. When he comes back from the hiatus, it seems that his perspective has changed. It's now 2008, and he had lost several of his writing contracts due to difficulties in the publishing market. I think he became quite disillusioned with New York publishing, and starts to talk about alternative means of making money with writing, without relying on the big publishers. He gives some really mind-blowing suggestions, which I actually want to talk about separately in another blog post, probably the next one after this one.
Overall, though Mr. Stackpole tries a lot of different things and not all of his experiments are complete successes, I would recommend this podcast as one to listen to if you are a new writer. He gives some really solid advice not only about various topics useful to people who have never been published before, but delves into areas that most new writers have probably never thought about before.
The main example is how much time he devotes to advice about how to sustain and plan a career, and deal with the hits and career choices that may come not just after the first novel is sold, but after the sixth and beyond. He is a career author who has to carefully plan and use creativity and business sense to sustain his career or else find himself without money to pay his bills. He talks about diversification, about the market, and about alternative means of making income without relying exclusively on the classic model - a model which is becoming increasingly obsolete.
For an aspiring author like myself, some of his discussions were a bit disheartening. And yet, the advice he gives is valuable, and reminds me that even if the New York publishers fall and big box book stores close, people will still write stories, and people will still want to read them, and a new model that allows one to still have a career can be developed.
I definitely recommend his Novel in 21 Days (episodes 17-24) to new authors, and his last 4 podcast episodes for anyone who wants to make a career in writing. There's solid advice in the others as well, and if you've got the time to plough through them all, I would recommend it.
If you've got a podcast about writing that you think I should listen to and review, please drop a comment here or send me an email at jessicabronstein@gmail.com