Novelist/humorist/coffee enthusiast Ted Fox talks with other writers about their work—not so much the books they’ve published (although those definitely come up...
Ted is joined by Katherine J. Igoe, a writer and editor who’s been freelancing since 2011. At the moment, she is also a contributing syndications editor at Marie Claire. She has written for The New York Times, The Cut, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, Parents, and The Boston Globe, among others. Katherine and Ted have known each other for a number of years and have bonded over their shared love of the written word—along with the challenges said love presents. One of these is how to make a living from writing, which, as her bylines indicate, she’s done by contributing pieces to some of the country’s most recognizable media outlets. But as successful as she’s been in this nonfiction space, Katherine has wanted to write fiction since she was a kid. She and Ted have often talked about how to go from one type of writing to the other, and in this episode, she takes us inside the strategies she’s using to overcome the nagging self-censor of impostor syndrome and pursue her book aspirations. That journey has started with a book coach, something called The Artist’s Way, and short-story writing, where she has found an interest in speculative fiction that she didn’t know she had.Episode LinksKatherine’s InstagramThe Artist’s WayWorking Drafts episodes and info for requesting transcripts as well as more details about Ted and his books are available on his website, thetedfox.com.
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34:06
We Aren’t Alone
A short post-election break from our regularly scheduled programming.Website Mentioned in This Episode:Postcards to Voters: postcardstovoters.orgWorking Drafts episodes and info for requesting transcripts as well as more details about Ted and his books are available on his website, thetedfox.com.
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3:58
Easter Eggs for Ourselves
Ted is joined by Kirthana Ramisetti, author of the novels Advika and the Hollywood Wives and Dava Shastri’s Last Day, a Good Morning America Book Club selection optioned by Max. Her books have been praised by TIME, Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, Buzzfeed, The Associated Press, and others. Beyond her novels, Kirthana’s writing has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Elle, and Salon. She just finished the copyediting stage for her next novel, a case of mistaken identity titled The Other Lata. It comes out in April of next year, and it was a great time to talk with her about what her process looked like for this book in particular. In addition to humoring a question from Ted about Oxford commas and punctuation in general, she discusses the challenge of avoiding dangling plot lines that leave the reader hanging as well as the music-fueled writing sessions that allowed her to complete a first draft in one month. They then move onto what will be Kirthana’s fourth book, one she is just in the early stages of writing right now and for which she is pushing herself to go in a direction she hasn’t tried in her first three. She compares drafting to going on a hike, with her synopsis acting as the path to help her plot her way—even as she and Ted agree that synopsis writing is not among their favorite tasks—and highlights the importance of the little ways writers can make the process fun for themselves.Finally, as has become tradition these several last months, Kirthana hits Ted with a rom-com recommendation to wrap things up. Find Kirthana Online:Kirthana’s website: kirthanaramisetti.comWorking Drafts episodes and info for requesting transcripts as well as more details about Ted and his books are available on his website, thetedfox.com.
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32:46
Five-Star Advice
Ted is joined by Laura Hankin, an author, screenwriter, and performer. Her books include The Daydreams, one of the “Best Beach Reads of 2023” (Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and more); Happy & You Know It, a Book of the Month and Library Reads selection; and A Special Place for Women, as seen on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Laura and Ted’s conversation begins with her most recent book (and second Book of the Month pick) One-Star Romance, which The Washington Post calls “real, refreshing and romantic.” It’s about a struggling writer who has to walk down the aisle at her best friend’s wedding with a man who gave her book one star on Goodreads and the ways the two keep being brought into each other’s lives over the subsequent decade. This prompts Laura and Ted to have a very real conversation about the highs and lows of reading Goodreads reviews of their own books and why Laura has put in place some self-imposed boundaries that, by his own admission, Ted could stand to learn from. He also picks her brain about the way she managed flashbacks in One-Star Romance and the real-life backstory that inspired the novel. Then it’s onto Laura’s work in progress, a book she just recently finished outlining that she plans will be a romantic comedy that will explore the theme of female friendship, as well. She and Ted talk about “clicking” with a new manuscript, the line between editing and overediting as you go, and learning to love editorial notes.Last but not least, Laura shares some rom-com recommendations and her thoughts on the applicability of screenwriting to the process of writing a novel. Find Laura Online:Laura’s website: laurahankin.comWorking Drafts episodes and info for requesting transcripts as well as more details about Ted and his books are available on his website, thetedfox.com.
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33:30
When the Laugh Has the Say
Ted is joined by Alyssa Neece, his real-life coworker who shares his passion for making funny stuff outside of the office. For Alyssa, though, it’s not about writing books but coming up with and performing comedy for audiences.Alyssa’s comedy journey started in college but didn’t really take off until some years later when they received a simple piece of advice: Focus less on what they should do and more on how they wanted to feel—and Alyssa realized they wanted to laugh more.That led them to start taking classes at The Second City in Chicago, where they progressed from a series of improv offerings open to anyone to auditioning for and being accepted into the 13-month conservatory program, which they finished earlier this year.Alyssa and Ted talk about the full-length Grad Revue Showcase sketch comedy show Alyssa and their classmates produced as the culmination of the program, the similarities and differences between improv and sketch as well as how that compares to Ted’s experience crafting jokes for books, the dynamics of working as a team versus writing on your own, and how Alyssa is now applying their Second City experience on a comedy podcast. Then, in honor of Ted’s newly released romantic comedy, Date Week, Alyssa shares some thoughts on their favorite rom-coms.More From Alyssa:Second City Grad Revue Showcase: Customer Service SketchPodcast: The Weekly Quarterly ReportWorking Drafts episodes and info for requesting transcripts as well as more details about Ted and his books are available on his website, thetedfox.com.
Novelist/humorist/coffee enthusiast Ted Fox talks with other writers about their work—not so much the books they’ve published (although those definitely come up) but more what they’re writing right now, aka their works in progress, their working drafts, their open Word documents making them want to throw their computers out a window. Covering the good, the bad, and the daunting word counts, these are conversations about the craft of writing meant to be both fun and helpful. New episodes released each month on the 15th.
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