Rite Gud
Episodes
John Langan on Cosmic Horror
23 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bram Stoker Award-winning author John Langan joins us to talk about cosmic horror, his novel The Fisherman, upstate New York, how much money writers...
Cinderella Is Not a #Girlboss: The Problem With ‘Feminist’ Fairytale Adaptations
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We have girlboss Cinderella starting her own business, Snow White leading an army into battle. And why not? The post Cinderella Is Not a #Girlboss: Th...
Puppy Play
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we re-examine the saga of the notorious Sad Puppies. What happened? What ripple effects did it have on the sci-fi/fantasy community? ...
How Books Happen, With Gretchen Felker-Martin
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Gretchen Felker-Martin joins us to talk about her gritty post-Apocalyptic trans novel Manhunt (spoiler free) and how an idea becomes ...
The Tragedy of the Creative Commons: On Superheroes and Modern Mythology
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are superheroes a modern mythology, or is this a way to flatten the complexities of traditional art while giving commercial media a spiritual signific...
In Defense of Degenerate Art
09 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jack from Bad Books for Bad People joins us to pay tribute to art that isn’t here to teach right from wrong—what some might call degenerate art. ...
This Is My Hole, It Was Made for Me: On Negative Space and Leaving Room for the Reader
19 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A story is a type of conversation with the reader. If you don’t leave room for the reader to speak, you’re a terrible conversationalist. The post...
Genre Bustin’ Makes Me Feel Good
29 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Genre is safe. Genre is comfortable. But do we rely on genre conventions too much? Can genre hold us back? Is genre busting good? The post Genre Busti...
Why We Can Stop Flogging H.P. Lovecraft’s Dead Bloated Corpse
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In today's sci-fi/ fantasy community, it's fashionable to dig up H.P. Lovecraft and put him on trial as the avatar of everything wrong with speculativ...
Writing for Young Audiences with Celine Kiernan
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, middle grade horror/fantasy author Celine Kiernan joins us to talk about writing fiction for young people. The post Writing for Youn...
Meet the New Gatekeeper, Same as the Old Gatekeeper
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you’ve spent any time talking about geek culture, you’ve probably seen one word come up over and over again: gatekeeper. The post Meet the New...
So You Think You’re a Writer?
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What makes a writer? Is it coffee and cats? Is it a good author photo? Is it having a screenname like @JaneDoeWrites? The post So You Think You’...
Queerness Is Not a Fandom
11 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's normal to look for people who share your interest in pop culture. But what happens when you only know how to be queer through fandom? The post Qu...
Books Are Not Movies: Writing the Invisible
21 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Instead of learning from books, too many fledgling writers learn to write primarily from movies, television and video games, and their writing suffers...
To Be a Great Writer, You Must Defeat a Thousand Babies
31 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the world looks grimmer and grimmer, Millennials and Gen Xers retreat deeper and deeper into childhood nostalgia. The post To Be a Great Writer, Yo...
Finding Beauty In Darkness
10 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we love horror so much? On the surface, it makes no sense. Why would anybody enjoy media that focuses on upsetting, grotesque topics? The post ...
Saving Criticism from the Corporate Marketing Machine
19 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cultural criticism has always been an essential part of our media ecosystem, especially when it comes to geek culture. But is any of this really meani...
Bad Writing Advice
29 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are many writing advice columns that won’t help you write good—that will actually encourage you to write bad, or at best mediocre. The post ...
I’m Not Here to Make Friends: On Unlikable Female Characters
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Filthcore queen Gretchen Felker-Martin returns to talk about unlikable female characters. What makes a woman unlikable? The post I’m Not Here to...
Translation, or Mi Tio Es Infermo, Pero la Carretera Es Verde!
17 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
SFF author and professional translator Mário Seabra Coelho talks to us about the art of translation. Writing translations, even only as an exercise, ...
The Bitter Medicine of Unhappy Endings
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Horror writer G. Emerald, who has a background in the medical system, joins us to talk about the healing power of stories that leave us with a bad tas...
Who Are You Talking To?
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sci-fi/fantasy author Karlo Yeager Rodríguez joins us to talk about the relationship between storyteller and in-universe audience. The post Who Are Y...
Writing About Sex Work
16 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Mistress Snow, PhD joins us to talk about sex work in writing. What do writers get wrong? How do writers promote inaccurate and harmf...
A Wretched Episode of Scum and Villainy
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Villains in fiction tend to fit a certain template: erudite, aristocratic, queer-coded, monologuing and vaguely British. There’s nothing wrong with ...
Telling Your Own Stories
04 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, filmmaker Shannon Strucci and critic Leslie Lee of Struggle Session were kind enough to join us to talk about why we need to tell our...
Writing the Body: Avoiding Characters Who Are Brains-In-Jars (Unless That’s Your Whole Thing)
14 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, writer and stuntwoman SL Huang joins us to talk about writing that fully explores the physicality of its characters. The post Writing...
Writing While the World Burns: What Does It Mean to Be a Writer During the Climate Crisis?
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk to writer/editor Sarena Ulibarri about what it means to be a writer during a global climate crisis. Do writers have a respons...
Transgressive Queer Fiction and the Right to Be Messy
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, horror writer Gretchen Felker-Martin joins us to talk about the importance of making space for transgressive fiction by queer writers...
Creepypasta and Other Eerie Starches
19 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this spooktacular episode, we talk to Ash and Jon of the Horror Vanguard podcast about the internet-based form of horror fiction known as creepypas...
Writer Beware! Spotting Shady Agents, Vanity Presses and Other Scams
28 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The road to publishing can be a thorny one, filled with con artists lying in wait to pounce on unwary writers. Fortunately, Victoria Strauss of Writer...
The Dark Side of Fandom Part 2: Friendship Simulator
14 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of our discussion on the dark side of fandom, RS Benedict talks to Tim Heiderich about parasocial relationships, Twitch streamers, Nazis, ...
The Dark Side of Fandom, Part 1: Have You Accepted Spider-Man as Your Lord and Savior?
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fandom can be fun, but it can also turn ugly too, or it can keep us so busy focusing on someone else's work that we fail to develop our own talents. T...
Originality: Feh, Who Needs It?
02 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
RS Benedict talks to Stephen Mazur, Assistant Editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, about originality. How important is it, really...
No More Heroes with JR Dawson
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Much of speculative literature focuses on superheroes and Chosen Ones. But what about ordinary people or flawed people who don't save the world? Do t...
Guns: How to Feature Them in a Realistic Way
25 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tons of stories feature guns, but they're usually portrayed in a wildly unrealistic way. Nate Bethea of "What a Hell of a Way to Die" was kind enough ...
Men Writing Women (Badly)
07 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
R.S. Benedict and guest Meg talk about the creepy, objectifying, or just plain ridiculous way that all too many male authors write female characters. ...
Writing Mary Sues, or What Even IS a Mary Sue?
16 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, special guest Jennifer Albright of Have You Seen This? drops by to talk about Mary Sues, a term used to describe an overly-perfect ...
The White Room, or Paying Attention to Sensory Details
29 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, learn a simple exercise that will help you cultivate your inner witness. It might even help with your anxiety, too. The post The Whit...
Reed Gud, Part 2: Poetry, Literature in a Foreign Language, Nonfiction and Literary Criticism
05 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we look at things other than fiction that a well-rounded writer should read—poetry, literature in a foreign language, nonfiction an...
Reed Gud, Part 1, or Other Books Than ‘Harry Potter’ Exist: Fiction
15 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In order to Rite Gud, you've got to Reed Gud. In this episode, R.S. Benedict is joined by Gareth and Langdon of the Death Sentence Podcast. The post R...
How To Write Dark Humor Without Sounding Like a Total Sociopath
17 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Do you like dark humor? Sure, we all do! But it can be tricky to write without coming off as an edgelord jerk — but R.S. Benedict tells you how! The...
Giving and Receiving Criticism Gracefully, or How Not to Be Anne Rice
22 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Criticism is important, as is learning how to both give and recieve it. Recognize criticism as a good thing, and don't flip out like Anne Rice. The po...
This Garbage Brought to You By the Letters S-E-O: How Google Is Ruining Writing
08 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever noticed how writing on the internet often seems stilted and weird, you've got SEO — or Search Engine Optimization — to thank. The p...
Welcome to Rite Gud, a Podcast Dedicated to Helping You Write Better
26 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This isn’t a podcast for total beginners. We’re going to assume that you know what plot structure is, what a protagonist is, where ideas come from...