Street Writers

Time to make a fistful of words and fight to write. This episode's “Take A Swing At This”  is a chance for Dan to admit his weakness for distraction. He puts the spotlight on a great lil' tech tool called Waste No Time (https://www.bumblebeesystems.com/wastenotime/), a gem that can lock out the noise of the interwebs and keep your focus on the words in front of you. "They Beat Us To The Punch"  is Dan's green with jealousy love letter to an old fave, 1972's The Night Stalker (https://www.amazon.com/Night-Stalker-Strangler-Double-Feature/dp/B00026L7OU), and the street wise supernatural noir its narrator brings to life. And when it comes to "Hit Us With Your Best Shot,” Mark is out there — really out there — with more musings on his gravitational wave and superstring theory inspiration and how that's creating the best kind of challenges for the multi-character story that's inspiring him to explore. Enjoy the Street Writer spectacle with friends! Help us get some new listeners by sharing out this link:

The fight for the right write continues. In this round of Street Writers…for this “Take A Swing At This”, Dan extols the technique of "Type It Out" — the power of kinetic motion to get yourself in the groove of a genre to inspire your forward momentum when it comes to writing. (Mark applies some curse words to the same idea!). Then it's inner city noir for "They Beat Us To The Punch" as Mark champions a novel he's jealous of, Bill Beverly's latest, Dodgers. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101903759/) And when it comes to "Hit Us With Your Best Shot,” Dan's learned some lessons creating copy for an e-bike company in San Fran, combining wordplay with relationship building.  Enjoying your ringside seat? Bring some new listeners to the inner circle by sharing out this link: https://anchor.fm/streetwriters Let's not travel the Street alone. Tell us your ideas for “Take A Swing At This” — and let's feature your WIP on “Hit Us With Your Best Shot”! Let's connect and get you on the mic: streetwriters.podcast@gmail.c

Now that we’re sharing our hard earned tips and tricks on writing, you’d think we’d be immune to the typical writing road blocks, like procrastination. You’d be wrong. Mark admits he’s a procrastaholic, and describes how he fights it every day. Dan takes an inside look at the final two Avengers movies, and also discusses how he stopped procrastinating by taking a different point of view on an article he wrote.

Just what you need: the 80 bazillionth critique of Game of Thrones. In ours, Dan nearly throw some Dracarys fire on Mark in their “heated” discussion. Also, Dan goes through the “Once Upon a Time” format that can help you craft your story. And Mark addresses how directing his upcoming film may affect his writing of it. Enjoy the Street Writer spectacle with friends! Help us get some new listeners by sharing out this link: https://anchor.fm/streetwriters Writing's a little less lonely when we fight together. Got ideas for “Take A Swing At This”? Ready to make some noise about your words in “Hit Us With Your Best Shot"? Send word, and we'll find space for you on the mic: streetwriters.podcast@gmail.com #amwriting #writing #creativity #productivity #gameofthrones #pixar #storyspine #gravitaionalwaves

In this episode, we talk about starting your next writing project any damn place you want, be it the middle, the end or the beginning. Also, Dan gives his impression of Jordan Peterson’s, The 12 Rules for Life, one of which is petting any cat you run into on the street—meow. And Mark enters the black hole (pun intended) of writing a story about gravitational waves and parallel universes. Gulp.

(GREAT NEWS FOR YOUR EARS: WE’RE NOW IN A PRO STUDIO—NO MORE ECHOES!) Think about your favorite characters in stories. You know them inside and out, you relish their quirks, you know what direction they’re going to take before they do. That’s why you need to bring out the details—and quirks—in your characters to bring your writing to life. Hear an excerpt from a book that personifies quirkiness, and hear how we’re bringing out the quirks in our own characters.

We’ve made it to all four corners of the ring with #4 of Street Writers. “Take A Swing At This” declares the Storymatic (https://www.storymatic.com) a contender: it’s a cool set of cards that helps accelerate your writing with character and situation springboards. Dan has a glass jaw when it comes to Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series of books, a high-energy mix of wit, demonology, and action. (https://www.richardkadrey.com) And in this "Hit Us With Your Best Shot,” Mark bobs and weaves with what he’s discovered writing his new "behind the scenes" Video Tips series. (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/take-voodoo-out-video-part-1-mark-bellusci/) How about getting in our corner and sending us some new listeners to https://anchor.fm/streetwriters And let’s make this about you, too. What are your ideas for “Take A Swing At This”? And let’s feature you and your WIP on “Hit Us With Your Best Shot”? Send the word: streetwriters.podcast@gmail.com #amwriting #writing #creativity #productivity

Episode Three of Street Writers defends the #fight2write ethos, with hard-hitting "Take A Swing At This" ideas for capturing your words on the go. (Including a mention of Dan's fave Field Notes, https://fieldnotesbrand.com) "They Beat Us To The Punch" reveals Mark’s inner romcom, with a revisit to the writing delights of the James L. Brooks’ movie “As Good As It Gets.” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I8HIO0) Then we turn from laughs-to-screams for Dan’s "Hit Us With Your Best Shot,” a behind-the-scenes look (talk?) at a scary interactive fiction project called “The Virulence Protocol.” (https://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/m3qpupepzkce7y2x30rjkg/the-virulence-protocol) Help us promote the show by pointing new listeners to https://anchor.fm/streetwriters And get in the ring with us! Got some great ideas for “Take A Swing At This”? Or want to show your moves with a “Hit Us With Your Best Shot” interview? Send the word: streetwriters.podcast@gmail.com #amwriting #writing #creativity #productivity

An alarm clock can not only get you out of bed, it can also get you out of the writing doldrums. In “Take a Swing At This,” we explore writing in blocks of time, capped off with an alarm clock that allows you a short break. Yes, it’s now a popular time management system called the Pomodoro Method, but we we’ve been using for years to write—it works. "They Beat Us To The Punch" features the highlights of a hysterical eight-month-old life coach. (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/opinion/sunday/humor-baby-daily-routine.html) And "Hit Us With Your Best Shot” we touch on Dan’s project to bring to life the world’s most interesting dead man. Send new listeners to https://anchor.fm/streetwriters And it’s only a real fight if we’re both in it! Send us your tips, and let us know if you’d be up for talking up your writing: streetwriters.podcast@gmail.com #amwriting #writing #creativity

In this intro episode, "Take A Swing At This," we knock writing off its high horse and hit at the power of discipline. With "They Beat Us To The Punch," Mark gives a blow-by-blow of a great column in Esquire. And for this version of "Hit Us With Your Best Shot," Dan punches out the storytelling details behind a new toy project. Get in on the action, say "Yo Adrian!" and tell us what words are filling your screen: streetwriters.podcast@gmail.com