This week, Spud leads The Crü down the winding rabbit hole of Roland Barthes' famous essay, The Death of the Author. We delve into a healthy debate over whether or not authorial intent actually matters, and how that answer changes if it's a reader asking it vs. a literary critic. Who decides what a story means, and can that meaning change over time?

Then, of course, we share our own stories based around the week's prompt, and promptly (no pun intended) discuss the author's intent, leading to a weird Hegelian dialectic on the topic. From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Spondulicks. A slang term for money, dating from the mid-19th century. Its origins are uncertain: one suggestion is Greek spondulikos, the name of a type of shell used as an early form of money.

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What makes Anthony Bourdain's writing style so magnetic? That's what the Crü aims to discover this week by shamelessly adopting his style as our own. Our author spotlight covers everything from Kitchen Confidential to gonzo journalism. Along the way we discuss how to take nonfiction memoirs and write them to be immersive narratives by figuring out your own, authentic writing voice.

And of course, we share our own works focused around a prompt that definitely has so much to do with Anthony Bourdain, and nothing to do with an strange strange piece of history. From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Jenkins's Ear. The name given to an incident that helped largely to bring about the war between England and Spain in 1739 that eventually developed into the War of the Austrian Succession. Captain Robert Jenkins, skipper of the brig Rebecca, was homeward bound from the West Indies when he was attacked by a Spanish guarda costa off Havana on 9th April, 1731. The Spaniards plundered his ship and ended by cutting off one of Jenkins's ears. On reaching London Jenkins carried his complaint (and his severed ear in a leather case!!! [emphasis added]) to the king and demanded reparation. At the time little notice was taken of the incident, but some years later, in 1738, the matter was brought up again, Jenkins and his ear were examined by a committee of the House of Commons and his case became an added grievance to the many others that culminated in war.

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Should writers use profanity in fiction? Does it weaken the story, or add a li'l spice of realism to character dialogue? That's what the Crü explores in this week's workshop on creative writing.

Like anything in the toolbox, profanity can wind up being used as a crutch or a shortcut. We discuss how to avoid it if you'd prefer not to use it; sprinkle it in like smoked sea salt on a good chocolate chip cookie; or invent in-universe swears to snag the best of both worlds (think the holy mother-forking shirtballs of The Good Place or fraking in Firefly).

And, of course, we share our own stories based around our prompt from Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Limehouse. In Britain in the early part of the 20th century, a verb meaning 'to use coarse abusive language, especially in a political speech'. The usage arose from a notably acerbic speech which the LIBERAL Politician David Lloyd George made in Limehouse (then a particularly rough part of East London) on 30 July 1909, in which he attacked the aristocracy, financial magnates, etc.

And, as promised, here's Wanda Sykes as Harriet Tubman (nsfw dialogue).

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It's Part 2 of our little microseries on the Four Horsemen. Last episode featured listener-submitted stories to our writing prompt; now, you get to hear from the Cru! We discuss draft revision an writing experiments, particularly Murph's challenge (to himself) of writing the same scene five times from different perspectives. There's a difference between rewriting and editing, and we tease out the benefits of each. There's also benefits to writing by hand, but...writing to read it on the air may not be one of them. XD

Sit back and enjoy!

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This episode is all about community submissions! We’re showcasing the creative work of emerging writers, first-time authors, and grizzled veterans of the trade, all responding to the same epic prompt: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Featuring stories and poems from Alec Billings, J.W. Surface, KN Fitzwater, Maggie Lardie, Nick Smith, YYC Typewriter, and the mysterious Mrs. Greenleaf. From biblical terror to modern collapse, these writers interpret conquest, war, famine, and death in wildly different ways, all stemming from the same prompt.

If you love creative writing, indie fiction, writing prompts, and discovering emerging voices, this is the episode for you.

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In this episode of Radio FreeWrite, The Cru explores how writing fiction can reveal something real. From writing through family conflict to channeling rage, grief, and even imagined fears, this conversation dives into how fiction can incorporate lived experience.

We also tackle where the line sits between therapy and craft. When does a story become art? When should it stay personal? And, how much truth do you actually need to keep?

There's a difference between journaling and storytelling. We'll help you turn personal experiences into something that resonates with readers.

And, of course, we share some of our own real fiction to show how the process works in practice.

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Oxymoron. A rhetorical figure in which effect is produced by the juxtaposition of contradictory terms, such as "Make haste slowly," "Faith unfaithfully kept him falsely true." The word is Greek for 'pointedly foolish.'

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This week, the Cru dives into a strange and powerful prompt pulled from Norse mythology: Ginnungagap, the vast, primordial void of fog (that's fog, not frogs, WebEater!) that exists between worlds.

From that idea, the conversation spirals into something every writer knows too well: the "creative" void. What do you do when nothing is flowing? When every sentence feels forced? When the story just won’t come together?

We dig into:

• Writing through creative blocks and burnout
• The difference between natural flow and “forcing it”
• Channeling frustration and anger writing into something useful
• Using constraints and prompts to unlock unexpected breakthroughs

As always, we take the prompt and turn it into original flash fiction, written fast, read aloud, and shared in its raw, unpolished form. Tune in around the 13 minute mark for those.

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In this episode of Radio FreeWrite, The Cru explores the absurd, satirical style of Gilbert and Sullivan and explores how far you can push an idea once you follow it to its most ridiculous logical conclusion.

But it goes deeper than just playful storytelling. We dive into the power of creative partnerships, from legendary collaborations to our own experiences trying (and sometimes failing) to find the right artistic partner. What makes a collaboration work? Can another writer strengthen your voice without overpowering it? And is great creative chemistry something you build… or just get lucky enough to find?

Of course, we dish out some Gilbertian stories of our own. Tune in around the 11:45 mark for those.

Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!

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Episodes of Radio FreeWrite are protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. All Stories remain the property of their respective authors.