Podcast
My Best Writing Tip
Hosted by Ted Fox · EN
There’s no one “right” way to write. All writers have our go-to moves as well as the things that just don’t work for us the way they do for others. And what works today isn’t guaranteed to work tomorrow. But most of us do have something we carry from project to project. This is a show about those somethings, as novelist Ted Fox (SCHOOLED, DATE WEEK) talks with other writers about the craft of writing through the lens of a specific question: What’s your best writing tip?
*Note: From May 2023 to January 2026, this podcast was called Working Drafts.
15episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Marc S. Perlman on Leaving Things Unresolved (Temporarily)
2d ago00:27:31Tap to summarizeTed is joined by Marc S. Perlman, whose debut novel, The Riddle of the Trees, was published this March, more than a decade after he first conceived of it while biking through the Belavezskaya Forest from Poland to Belarus.Marc gives us an overview of the book, an espionage thriller, and the role that place played in inspiring its writing before offering his best writing tip, which he first heard articulated by the legendary Ken Follett and involves the strategic sprinkling of unresolved details. Marc also shares a pretty great use for some loose-leaf paper and a calendar during the outlining stage.Learn more about Marc and his work at marcsperlman.com. More information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
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Fanning Out: The James Bond Franchise
3w ago00:40:37Tap to summarizeThis is a podcast explicitly about the craft of writing—except when it’s not.For these “Fanning Out” bonus episodes, Ted is joined by his videographer pal Matthew Simmons not to talk about things they’ve made but rather to revel in the work of others and what it can teach us.Like the show’s regular episodes, it’s a celebration of human creativity (or something that sounds 71 percent less corny). Here, they’re just doing it from the perspective of fans, and they’re going beyond books and writing to dive into TV, movies, music, and whatever else they can credibly find an excuse to discuss.There are categories. There are digressions. And today, there is the James Bond movie franchise: the good, the bad, and the ugly—not to mention the unexpected, the uncomfortable, and one all-timer of a video game.More information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
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Marie Ellis on Mapping and Outlining
Apr 1500:32:43Tap to summarizeTed is joined by Marie Ellis, a Sunday Times number 1-bestselling ghostwriter and editor for books as well as the founder of the boutique content agency Muse. When she’s not working with clients on nonfiction projects, she’s applying her 15-plus years of experience to her own novelistic pursuits.After taking us inside the world of a professional ghostwriter, Marie shares her best writing tip, which involves mapping out where she’s going ahead of time, in part because it helps her find some unexpected gems along the way. Learn more about Marie and her work at musecontent.co.uk.More information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
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Fanning Out: Seinfeld’s ‘The Invitations’
Mar 3100:44:29Tap to summarizeThis is a podcast explicitly about the craft of writing—except when it’s not.For these “Fanning Out” bonus episodes, Ted is joined by his videographer pal Matthew Simmons not to talk about things they’ve made but rather to revel in the work of others and what it can teach us.Like the show’s regular episodes, it’s a celebration of human creativity (or something that sounds 57 percent less corny). Here, they’re just doing it from the perspective of fans, and they’re going beyond books and writing to dive into TV, movies, music, and whatever else they can credibly find an excuse to discuss.There are categories. There are digressions. And today, there is the season seven finale of Seinfeld, officially called “The Invitations” but forever remembered as that time where, yes, they really did kill George’s fiancée. Plus: The Oscars!More information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
Transcribe →Shobha Rao on Not Becoming Attached
Mar 1500:29:14Tap to summarizeTed is joined by Shobha Rao, the author of the short story collection An Unrestored Woman and the novels Indian Country and Girls Burn Brighter. Shobha has won the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction and was a Grace Paley Teaching Fellow at The New School. Girls Burn Brighter was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and was a finalist for the California Book Award and the Goodreads Choice Awards.Shobha’s best writing tip? It involves figuring out when to let a piece of writing (or an entire novel) go—and what that actually looks like in practice.Learn more about Shobha and her books at shobharao.com. More information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
Transcribe →My Best Writing Tip Trailer
Feb 1500:01:54Tap to summarizeA separate description for a trailer episode feels a little silly, so here’s the transcript instead.--Hi, my name is Ted Fox, and I’m the author of the novels Schooled and Date Week. And for close to three years, I’ve been the host of this podcast, which up ‘til now has been called Working Drafts.I’ll be honest with you: It’s been fun. I’ve gotten to talk with a lot of fellow writers about their work, with a focus not so much on their finished products but more the process they go through to get there.If you’ve listened to all or most or even one of those episodes—thank you.Maybe the biggest takeaway has been that there’s no one “right” way to write. We all have our go-to moves as well as the things that just don’t work for us the way they do for others. And sometimes what works for one project doesn’t work for the next.But. As I’ve had these conversations, I realized there is one part of my process that I carry from book to book. It might not be for everyone. But it is my best writing tip.So in January 2026, I did a solo podcast about it. And that got me thinking: What if I kept talking to other writers about the craft of writing, but specifically through the lens of asking them to share their best writing tip?I liked the idea so much I’ve changed the name of the show. Working Drafts is now My Best Writing Tip. It’s the same feed, and new episodes will continue to published each month on the 15th.All episodes, both of the new and previous iterations of the show, are available on my website, thetedfox.com, and most places you get your podcasts.I’d say “wherever you get your podcasts,” but that’s probably still not true. More information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
Transcribe →My Best Writing Tip
Jan 1500:12:15Tap to summarizeIn this solo pod, Ted offers up his absolutely, positively, one-and-only best writing tip (how’s that for some attempted SEO optimization?).Plus an update about the next couple months of the show.More information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
Transcribe →Plotting Through Multiple POVs
Nov 1500:41:45Tap to summarizeTed is joined by Alice Florence Orr of Podcast Review, who also just so happens to be a novelist. Her work has been featured in publications including Extra Teeth, The Independent, Scottish Review, Barley Magazine, and The Dillydoun Review. She was awarded The Sloan Prize in 2021 and was shortlisted for the Scottish Book Trust’s New Writers Award in 2023.And while Ted can attest Alice is a great person to talk with about podcasting, this conversation centers on the two works of fiction she has in progress, in particular a novel called The Nobody. What started as a thought experiment exploring the headspace of a young woman choosing to defend a disgraced actor has become a multi-POV story wrestling with the alluring, the confusing, and the toxic aspects of Hollywood.Alice and Ted talk about overheard conversations as a writing device, the challenge of sustaining compelling plots, and balancing market realities with staying true to your voice and vision. They also discuss how the act of writing itself is the only thing a writer can truly control and the wisdom of attaching your identity to the title of “artist” or “writer” to begin with. Learn more about Alice and her work at aliceflorenceorr.com. More information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
Transcribe →Writing, One Music Podcast at a Time
Oct 1500:32:34Tap to summarizeTed is joined by Rob Harvilla, the host of the podcast 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s and a senior staff writer at The Ringer. A professional rock critic for 20-plus years, Rob has had stops at the Village Voice, SPIN, Deadspin, and various other alt-weeklies.His podcast, which has now moved beyond the 1990s to consider the music of the 2000s, was the basis for his 2023 book 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s. And as a regular listener of the show, Ted knows that in making it, Rob pens scripts that see him produce the same number of words as a novel roughly every eight to 10 episodes. It’s a writing feat that is equal parts distinctive and impressive—which of course meant Ted wanted to talk with him about it.Together, they discuss the premise and evolution of the podcast, how Rob approaches picking songs and artists to feature, and his surprise at how pieces of his personal life have found their way into his scripts. Using Miranda Lambert’s “The House That Built Me” as an example, he also gives us a look inside the shaping of an episode.He and Ted then dive into the relationship between lyrics and the vague legal requirements Rob has to meet to include clips of songs on the show as well as the challenge of not repeating himself across such a large body of written work. But they save perhaps the most important question for last:What does the term “classic rock” actually mean in 2025?Episode Links:Rob’s WebsiteRob’s PodcastMore information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
Transcribe →Finding the Next Write Thing
Sep 1500:34:28Tap to summarizeTed is joined by Dave Cohen, a writer, comedian, founding member of the Comedy Store Players, and one of the most respected teachers of comedy writing in the UK. A former standup comedian, he has written for radio and TV shows and is an eight-time BAFTA winner for his songs for the BBC hit Horrible Histories.Dave is also the author of the Barry Goldman novels, a series set in the world of the 1970s and ’80s British alternative comedy scene. The third and final book comes out in January, which means that the writing challenges of finishing the series are fresh in his mind even as he thinks about what he’d like to do next.That’s an interesting time to talk with any writer. Yet for Dave, who’s spent 40 years in comedy but always had an interest in being a novelist, it represents a particularly notable inflection point.He talks with Ted about the evolution of his fiction over the course of the three Barry Goldman books, the difference between writing comedy and pretty much everything else, and not knowing whether he wants to write more novels. That leads to a frank conversation between the two of them about navigating self-doubt and staying open to the new things that might fulfill us creatively.Episode Links:Stand Up, Barry Goldman (Book 1)Barry Goldman: The Wilderness Years (Book 2)Dave’s WebsiteMore information about Ted and his books is available on his website, thetedfox.com.
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