I’m a big fan of podcasts, listening to them whenever I’m in my car, in the morning as I get dressed, and whenever I have time to kill and nothing to read. I especially like podcasts about writing, freelancing, and being creative, not just because they’re big interests of mine (as reflected in this site) but because it’s inspiring to hear other writers and freelancers offer their advice and detail some of the same struggles I’m going through as a writer.

It can be hard, though, to find good ones on writing. To help you out, here’s 10 podcasts about writing I think are pretty good. Where possible I’ve provided links for both your RSS reader and for iTunes; if you use a separate podcatcher, you might have to right-click on the “RSS” link to “Copy link location” and paste it into your podcatcher manually.

  1. I Should be Writing: Mur Lafferty is a self-described “would-be writer” who actually has quite a few credits to her name, now. ISBW covers the ins-and-outs of writing, from coming up with ideas to self-publishing to writing queries. (RSS | iTunes)
  2. Lifehack Live: Pardon me for plugging my own show, but I have lots of great writers on — as well as productivity experts, life coaches, and entrepreneurs, all of which have something to say to writers, I think. Lifehack Live is on hiatus at the moment, but there’s plenty of good stuff in the archives. (RSS | iTunes)
  3. Freelance Radio: FreelanceSwich’s podcast features John Brogher, Cyan Ta’eed (co-author of the awesome book How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer), Kristen Fischer, and Dickie Adams discussing the insand outs of freelancing, with a focus on practical business-related questions like “how do freelancers get insurance” and “how do you say ‘no’ to a client?” (RSS | iTunes)
  4. The Writing Show: Author Paula Berinstein tackles everything from where writers find inspiration to where writers can get published, with probing interviews of writers, publishers, editors, agents, and otehrs. There are several “threads”, including ongoing “reality show” series tracking beginning writers through the process of submitting and revising their work for publication, and more traditional “one-off” shows featuring guests talking about whatever topic they’re particularly knowledgable about.  (RSS | iTunes)
  5. PerfCast: The official podcast of Performancing, covering all aspects of blogging including the business aspects, generating revenue, and promotion. Some of this might be off-topic for most writer’s blogs, but there’s a lot of good advice for turning your own writer’s blog into a blog powerhouse — and if your preferred form of writing happens to be blogging, this is required listening. (RSS)
  6. Litopia: Litopia consists of two podcasts. The first, “Litopia Daily”, is a short daily round-up of news of interest to writers. The second, “Litopia After Dark”, is a longer weekly round-table dscussion of issues in the writing and publishing worlds. (RSS | iTunes)
  7. The Creative Writing Podcast: Tom Occhipinti offers tons of advice for fiction writers, from tips on characterization or setting to overviews of genres. (RSS | iTunes)
  8. Grammar Girl: Mignon Fogarty offers “quick and dirty tips for better writing” in this twice-weekly show on the ins and outs of English grammar. More fun than your Third Grade English teacher, by a long shot! (RSS)
  9. Writing Excuses: A recent discovery for me, this podcast features three writers (Brandon Sanderson , Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells) talkinga bout various writing challenges, either amongst themselves or with guest interviewees. Short — because, they say, “you’re in a hurry and we’re not that smart”) — fun, and surprisingly helpful considering their self-professed lack of brain power… (RSS | iTunes)
  10. HotForWords: I debated whether or not to add this one — it’s video instead of audio, it’s risqué, and it’s quite simply weird. A young, attractive, and often sexily-clad woman with a rich accent discusses the origin of odd words and phrases in the English language. It would be deeply offensive (and maybe it still is) if it weren’t so fascinating! (RSS | iTunes)

Hopefully you’ll find at least one or two on the list that really get you going. Go ahead and load up your mp3 player and start listening! And let me know your favorite podcasts for writers in the comments.