Word Docs
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Episode 68: ‘Spam’ (Collaboration)
04 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Three writers walk into a room...and somehow manage to work together. Not these three writers, necessarily. But in theory, that's how collaboration wo...
Episode 67: ‘Protect Your Groin’ (Action & Pacing)
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sean tests Alex and Amy's knowledge of action and pacing this week (ding ding ding!). What are the pitfalls of pacing an action sequence? We've got al...
Episode 66: ‘There Definitely Is Such A Thing As A Stupid Question’ (What People Ask Writers)
21 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hello from the sickbed... Alex is calling in from home, where he's down with COVID; Sean is suffering from post-COVID brain fog; and Amy is infuriatin...
Episode 65: ‘The Substitute Alex’ (Satire with Alex Cothren)
14 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join Sean, Amy and...uh...Alex?...for this week's episode of Word Docs. Our usual Alex is out with COVID so this week we're welcoming a substitute Ale...
Episode 64: ‘Don’t Touch My Dad’ (Instant Stories)
07 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Word Docs have written a masterpiece. No, really...it’s great. It’s alright. Look, it’s not bad. Together, Amy, Sean and Alex have devised t...
Episode 63: ‘The Alex Challenge’ (Dialectic Writing)
31 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He has finally done his homework! Alex has come to the table with trees to shake and pots to stir. Can Sean and Amy handle their sugar addled friend? ...
Episode 62: ‘More Has to be Going On’ (Bad Sex Awards)
24 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
And the golden statue goes to... There are some trophies you don’t mount on your bookshelf (pun intended) but they colour your career nonetheless. T...
Episode 61: ‘Writing Tips, The Sequel’ (More Advice)
17 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Word Docs are perusing expert recommendations and dissecting them at length. Amy is unwell and trying to keep the train moving, Alex is stuck on a...
Episode 60: ‘Inside the Giant Spiders’ (Immortality)
10 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week the Word Docs are responding to a listener question and exploring immortality. Would you want to live forever? Would you want your work to l...
Episode 59: ‘The Ambivalent Casanova’ (Types of Writers, Part Two)
03 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sean and Alex are sickly and disgusting (in that order), but Amy is here to save the day with research and cogent thoughts. This week, the Docs explor...
Episode 58: ‘The Ambivalent Casanova’ (Types of Writers, Part One)
26 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A promise delivered! Bookmark this. The Word Docs are back with the second half of their self-diagnoses, once again working from Betsy Lerner’s exam...
Episode 57: ‘Alex's Manly Clap’ (Playlists and Musical Musings)
19 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The doctors are in the house. Or rather two of the doctors are sick and stuck at home. This week the Word Docs are recording from home and everything'...
Episode 56: ‘Every Human Being Has A Pinch Point’ (Beat Sheets)
12 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week Amy leads us through using beat sheets to plan and/or fix a story. Alex and Sean join in from where they recline eating salty gold Irish cho...
Episode 55: ‘The Secret is...’ (Dead Blokey Gasbags)
05 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There is a secret to writing a bestseller and it is...nah, kidding...nobody knows. But the Word Docs will keep asking people anyway. This week, the dy...
‘It’s Good to be Back’ (All About Us)
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
They’ve emerged from the marking void! Alive and insane, the Word Docs discuss activities, opportunities, Nic Cage, scientology, chaotic planning, N...
‘Shades of Great’ (Interculturalism)
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex is in the Mastermind hot seat! Many years after writing Japanese/Australian rock musical Once Upon a Midnight, Alex is trying to remember what he...
‘Happily Never After’ (Tropes)
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Word Docs are slowly catching up with this mysterious invention called BookTok where all the young people are. Together, the intrepid geriatrics w...
‘Beware the Broccoli’ (Someone Else’s Advice)
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re off the rails again! Amy is trying her best to keep the troops under control, but the troops are idiots. The sage advice of Anne Lamott is pea...
‘All the Feels’ (Popular Romance Studies)
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week it's Amy's turn to sit in the Mastermind hot seat and the topic is Popular Romance Studies. Join us for love, sex, happy endings, trauma por...
‘Of Course It's a Sex Romp’ (Dead Tomes)
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Got any dead books lying around? Manuscripts that didn't work, or didn't sell, or are just dead in the water for reasons you can't quite put your fing...
‘Let's Stress Heat’ (Cli Fi)
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do when the end of the world is nigh? Give into despair? Eat chocolate? Read books? Or, maybe now's a good time to join Alex on a pirate s...
‘Rise of the Word Docs’ (Balancing Commitments)
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Unthawed from the ice, the Word Docs have returned to the airwaves to explain where the hell they've been, what the hell they've been doing, and who t...
‘Deadwood Doughnuts’ (The Word Docs Challenge)
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Word Docs are going back to school. Marian Keyes is the guide this week as the dynamic trio attempt, for once, to do what they’re told. Weighing...
‘Scrambled Legs’ (Nerding Out With Sean)
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We know you've been waiting for this. The day Sean is finally allowed to talk matter transmitters to his heart's content. Be transported into speculat...
‘That Sense of Magic’ (Dirty Craft)
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How are writers portrayed in fiction? The Word Docs (or, as they’re inexplicably calling themselves, the Warlock, the Wizard and the Witch) are inve...
‘A Little Sidebar’ (The exegesis)
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re lifting the boot and unpacking our process. This week, Amy leads a discussion on the form and purpose of exegetical writing as Sean snores aud...
‘Amy Didn’t Like It’ (Endings)
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Writers are cruel creatures. This week, the Word Docs discuss all the occasions when they’ve felt let down, horribly surprised, or otherwise manipul...
‘The End is the Beginning’ (A Non-Linear Finale)
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
They're baaaaaaaack! The Word Docs have spent the last couple of years recording random episodes and failing to release them. But today is the dawn of...
EXTRA - Introducing: Fool Me Twice: All About Diamonds
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
‘Fool Me Twice’ is a podcast about diamonds. Jules and Zara were approached by a woman in Hong Kong who owns a diamond business, and had a...
“You Know Alex” (Watchlist) - Word Docs
10 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Word Docs have returned! Out of the classroom and back at the mics, Amy, Alex and Sean are dissecting the fertile minds of director Lisa Harper Ca...
'My Medium Career (Ego)' - Word Docs
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Word Docs bare their bruised egos this week and attempt to find a balming (is that a word?) salve. Alex drags Sean and Amy into the cobwebby corne...
“There Will Be Nudity” (Pilgrimages) - Word Docs
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Before you write your magnum opus – or perhaps during – a visit to a distant shore to get you in the mood and help you find the perfect se...
'Too Much Busyness and Noise' (Downtime) - Word Docs
18 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Word Docs are stirring from their slumber and weaving their magic – both the whimsical technicolour kind and the wicked dystopian kind &ndas...
'Ho Ho Ho: Word Docs find the Sanity Clause'
28 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Well, that's it for the grand old dystopian wonderland of 2020. Bring on the New Year! This week, the Word Docs are reflecting on the year that's been...
'The Avengers Season Finale (interview with Dr Piri Eddy and Dr Peter Beaglehole)'
21 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week we have a full pod of doctors and a bonus Word Dog, as the Word Docs are joined by playwrights Piri Eddy and Peter Beaglehole, and Piri's do...
"Here’s to Brutality" (Editing and Publishing Live!)
14 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From big structural issues to hooks and semicolons, and everything in-between ... the Word Docs are all over it. Together, Amy, Sean&nb...
"Warts and All" (Living with Art and Artist) - Word Docs
30 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week, our intrepid Word Docs dig down into the relationship between writers and their words. Can you separate the fiction on the page from the re...
“What Did the ’80s Bring Us?” (Coping with the Unexpected)
16 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There’s no getting around the fact that we live in strange and difficult times, from a global pandemic to a ‘Leader of the Free World&rsqu...
'Kiss, Date, Marry' (Submitting Your Work) - Word Docs
09 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we compare submitting your work to setting up a profile on Tinder. How far can we take this metaphor? Too far. Much, much too far. As...
‘I’ll Find a Way’ (Research) - Word Docs
02 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week the Word Docs follow Alice down the rabbit hole and take the academy by the tassels to hash out research outcomes, research expectations and...
"Happy Halloween Birthday, Amy" (Outtakes) - Word Docs
26 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It’s that special time of year again, and to celebrate Word Docs lifts the veil on their inability to stick to the subject, keep it clean, or av...
“Settle Down, Tiger” (Juggling) - Word Docs
19 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we're talking about how we juggle multiple projects, completely unaided by clones (lazy bastards). This week the Word Docs cram the mu...
“We Can Do This” (Return of the Heroes) - Word Docs
12 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
They almost succeed. Very, very nearly. This week, Amy, Sean and the other guy do their best to discuss heroes...and end up discussing fairy...
“Welcome to Thunderdome” (Theme)
05 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Another week, another rant. Place your bets as Amy and Alex face off on a range of issues they more or less politely agree on...while Sean towers with...
“Kevin Bacon's Shorts” (Guilty Pleasures) - Word Docs
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week the Docs are exploring some of their guilty reading pleasures, although as usual they don't stick to the topic and other guilts are exposed,...
“Stimulating and Unnerving” (Teaching Online) - The Word Docs
21 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
COVID-19 threw us headlong into online teaching at a moment's notice, requiring flexibility, agility and the fleet-footedness of a moscato-soaked gaze...
“I Am Norman Bates!” (What Are We Doing?) - The Word Docs
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What have we been doing this year? Other than teaching through lockdown, eating too much chocolate, drinking moscato, and yapping away on this podcast...
“The Book of Sean” (The 10.5 Commandments) - The Word Docs
07 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In which Sean comes down from the mount, stomps out the burning bush and hands down the ten (and a half - don't forget the half) commandments of writi...
“The Punk Rock of Literature” (Interview with Dr Jonny Zweck)
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the man who ruined Alex's milk and cookies by writing a story so abjectly disgusting that it laid waste to bedtime. This week we're kicking off o...
“Could Do Better” (Savaging Notting Hill)
10 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's a Showdown! Amy and Sean are going head to head over to Richard Curtis's film Notting Hill, with Alex caught in the middle. Except Alex is too ob...
“I Want the Buns!” (Genre)
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week Amy kicks off with a rant about people who want to 'break the mould' of genre fiction, instead of just doing it bloody well, which leads us ...
“It's the Science Fiction Writers' Fault” (Interview with Garth Nix)
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're probing (with consent) Sean's sometime-collaborator Garth Nix. A man who has penned many bestsellers, Garth gives us the lowdown on wr...
“Masters of Procrastination” (Procrastination)
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sean, Alex and Amy take almost a third of the episode to get to the point. Which is kind of the point. This week they're discussing the fine art of pr...
“Strange Magic” (Lisa L Hannett Interview)
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week Alex, Amy and Sean interview their colleague Dr Lisa Bennett/Lisa L Hannett about her eerily beautiful dark fantasy fiction, her first draft...
“Bring It On” (Criticism)
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Will Sean ever achieve his life's ambition of getting his work on the banned book list? Will Amy give in and write a book without rude bits? Will Alex...
“A Bit Like Stalin” (Killing Characters)
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
They always say you should kill your darlings...but have Amy, Alex and Sean taken this too literally? Tune in as the Word Docs discuss all the (fictio...
“Before They Were Infamous” (Odd Jobs)
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Amy, Alex and Sean confess to all the jobs they had before becoming writers. From the eternal happy hour of a Sydney call centre, long nights at ...
"When Technology Meets Hubris" (Failures)
01 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone fails. No one fails forever. There are many ways to negotiate the gap between, in the arts and in academia. The Word Docs have risen through ...
“The Secret, Part One” (Publishing)
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the secret to getting published? Alex, Amy and Sean tell all, or at least as much as they can in thirty minutes. Episode 10 - tags...
"Welcome to the FOMO Food Court" (Acclaim vs Popularity)
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Would you rather win all the awards or make all the money? “Both” is a valid answer, but few writers are so lucky. Sometimes peers and pub...
“Space Kittens, Attack!” (Heroes & Villains)
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alex, Amy and Sean take a closer look (see Episode 6) at two of our favourite character types and explore ways to write thrilling new ones. It’s...
“Meet the Gremlins” (ABC Interview)
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Who are Amy, Alex and Sean? What have they written? How do they juggle teaching and writing? Is it even possible to teach people to write? Why does th...
Bonus Book Launch Episode
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“Two out of three Word Docs have books out this month, and so does special guest Lisa Hannett (aka Dr Lisa Bennett). How do you launch a book du...
Where’s Harry? (Characters)
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
People read stories about people, so learning how to write people is an important step on your journey. Whether you steal from real life or create out...
Being Medium (How do you know when you’re a writer?)
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
New writers beware: saying that you are one invites interrogation on the nature of your work, where it has been published, and how much you’re b...
On Your Bike (Networking)
12 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Your book is done. What comes next? Finding the right editor is just one of the many challenges that the Word Docs have faced with aplomb – or i...
Hell is Other People (The Writing Environment)
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you’re a reclusive garret scribe or a gregarious cafe scribbler, you’ve put serious thought into the space you write. Alex, Amy an...
That’s Weird (Creativity)
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Where do ideas come from? Are there any new ones left? Does taking a long shower count as work? Is chocolate tax-deductible? The Word Docs share techn...
Special COVID Episode
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alex, Amy and Sean check in from their underground bunkers, where their research, writing and teaching continue unchecked. How are they coping with ph...
Happy Writing (Deadlines)
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alex, Amy and Sean tackle a topic close to the heart of many writers and students: getting work in on time. When stopping is sometimes just as hard as...
Podvertise - What is it?
17 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Over 5 million Australian's listen to podcasts every month, make sure your brand is in the mix. At Podvertise, we are partnered with a global leader i...