A while ago I had a section on my website in which I spoke about podcasts. I talked about a few podcasts already, but there are more I want to talk about. Therefore I want to revive this section. I did this on the Thursday, but I want to change the day. It didn’t fit in the rest on my schedule (on Wednesdays I want to talk about writing and on Friday we have the bookish Friday Five). Also is there Audio Drama Sunday on Twitter. On Audio Drama Sunday people talk a lot about fictional podcasts and writing about podcasts on Sundays therefore would fit in this picture. So let’s dive into this edition of the Podcasting Sunday on my blog. The podcast I want to talk about today is a writing related one: The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt.

The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt is a podcast made by Andrew J. Chamberlain. The name already suggests what it is about: Writing. The podcast started in January 2014, so it started already a few years ago. In the first episodes Andrew mainly talked about important topics on his own. After he explained the topic he would give examples with the help of popular books and stories like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and Pride and Prejudice. This made the topic more understandable and more easy to grasp. He used a lot of different topics, for example he talked about showing not telling.

Later Andrew J. Chamberlain started to get a lot of guests on his podcast. He would interview the guests about very broad topics. About their past, how they got into the writing world and about interesting topics that are important in writing. He talks with writers who write in very different genres. Science fiction, fantasy, children’s books. It is very cool to listen to these interviews and find out the differences and similarities between these people, their stories and their experiences.

The guests are not only writers. Andrew also has guests that are in the rest of the bookish world. Publishers, development editors (people who look into the broad view of the story) and sensitivity readers (people who proofread a story, especially looking into possible problems with diverse characters, like people with disabilities, people with a different sexual orientation or people with a different cultural background). These people give a different, broad and interesting view of the industry.

I really like listening to the podcast. It makes me very excited to write more. The more science fiction related episodes even make ME excited to write science fiction and I have never dived into this genre. The podcast motivates me, which is the main goal of the podcast I think. I can use the ideas of the guests in my own work and it gives me ideas about what to do with my work after I’ve written the project itself.

Andrew J. Chamberlain is always very nice to the interviewees. He has a nice voice and he always keeps me entertained. It is really a great podcast and if you are into writing I certainly would advise listening to this podcast.