The Difficult Second Newsletter
Newsletter #002
Week 2 of running a newsletter and so far nothing has exploded.
Honestly? Expectations exceeded.
No, but in all honesty, thanks to everyone that has signed on to get updates on my work here. It means a lot. To be a human writer is to live in constant, paralyzing fear that this day - today - this is the day when everyone collectively gets tired of your blathering and chooses to move on and do something more productive with their lives.
If you are reading this: I love you for rejecting productivity. Never change.
Now on with the blathering!
TEACH YOU I WILL
So what’s new this week, Gabriel? I’m glad you asked!
First and foremost, I’m teaching a new round of online workshops! I’m bringing back my rambunctious, rollicking, interactive tour of the world of fiction podcast, WRITING STORIES FOR SOUND!
It is ostensibly a class about writing, but really it’s so much more than that. It’s a guided tour of my history with the medium - how I fell in love with it, how I figured out (bit by bit) how it works, how I compared and contrasted it with other mediums as I wrote my first scripts, and how I figured out some (but definitely not all) of the things that make writing stories that live in an audio-only format particularly fun, interesting, and engaging.
It’s got big points, side anecdotes, recommended listening, a massive 250+ slide deck, the works! It’ll be my third time teaching it, so if you missed it the first two times, now is the moment! That’s September 5th and September 10th, both at 7:00 PM Eastern.
But wait, there’s more! A whole other class’s worth of more, actually!
Yes, the writing workshop now has a sister class, DIRECTING STORIES FOR SOUND. For years people have been asking me for a class on the in’s and out’s of directing audio fiction. Well, I’ve finally gotten off my keister and put it together!
This is a brand new class, all about the do’s and don’t-do’s of directing performers in audio fiction podcasts. It’s less grandiose theory of everything, more nitty-gritty in-the-moment stuff. Including some in-class demos and the dramatic revelation of Gabriel’s Super Secret Ancient Technique for Getting Great Performances Out of Actors! (I’m not kidding about that last one! It exists and I’m giving it away to everyone that takes this class! I will teach myself into obsolescence!)
So if you want the praxis to go along with the theory, that’s the Directing class! I’m teaching that twice as well - September 8th at 2:00 PM Eastern and September 12th at 7:00 PM Eastern.
Want more info? Of course you do! That’s what this big red button is for.
THE OLD-TIMEY CORNER
Speaking of the accumulated wisdom of the ages - tomorrow is ten years since the release of the first three episodes of Wolf 359. Ten years! Where does the time go? *spots the half dozen full series he’s made since then* Oh. Right. That’s where it goes.
I have both a lot of fondness and a certain amount of… oh god we were so young disdain for these early episodes. I’ve made no secret of the fact that Wolf 359 had some serious growing pains in that first year - it took us a while to figure out how to make a podcast, and what the podcast we were making wanted to be - and nowhere is that more keenly felt than the pilot.
I relistened to it this morning, reading along with the script. Even the way I write has come a long way since then. (I used to bold sluglines back in 2014? Really? Huh.)
But still, for all the rough edges and unpolished facets, I love it. I love the Hephaestus, I love Alan’s score, I love the way Zach, Emma, and Michaela dove fearlessly into this material from Day One. It’s rough and it’s weird and it’s odd, but it’s also special. And it was the start of something really, really special.
(Plus Episode 2 is a lot of fun. Little Revolución still slaps, and I’m thrilled that for certain corners of the Internet we’re still The Toothpaste Show.)
Anyway - we’ll be doing a few more things to celebrate ten years of Wolf over the next while, but for now… here’s to a happy birthday to the show that changed my life. I have no idea where I’d be without you.
COMING SOON
Meanwhile, let’s talk about some new work! The cat is officially out of the bag, I’m a writer on World Gone Wrong, Audacious Machine Creative’s new show!
If you haven’t heard it yet - why not? It’s absolutely brilliant, a wild combination of cozy, bizarre, and completely anarchic, and its creators, Eleanor Hyde and Jeffrey Gardner of Unwell fame, just don’t mess around when it comes to making awesome fiction shows.
What’s the story? In the podcast’s own words:
Malik and Jamie were roommates when the world ended. Now separated by half the country, literal acid rain, werewolves, aliens, and more, they start a chat podcast to stay in touch and work through the increasing uncertainty of their new apocalyptic reality. Each week, Malik & Jamie will tackle topics like: should I change my office hours to accommodate vampire students? What if the body snatcher that took over my ex is nice? When did the kudzu start humming like that? Malik & Jamie will try to help!
I’ve been brought on board to write not one, not two, not three, but a full block of six episodes of the show. Eleanor and Jeffrey were brave enough to just toss me the keys to their beautiful new car for a whole story arc - I basically got to write a season of this show, you guys.
And let me tell you: what a season it is. It features [REDACTED] and the surprising return of [REDACTED], and I was even able to make [REDACTED] appear in the middle of [REDACTED] and - hmm? Oh, I can’t tell them about that yet? Drat!
Well, the good news is that there’s still a few months before my little six-episode season of World Gone Wrong begins - we’re still tightening up the scripts and doing some table reads, all the good, fun stuff. Which means now is a great time for you to get caught up! The first two arcs of the show are done now, and the finale for the second one - released just yesterday - actually made me gasp out loud as I heard it.
So check it out, and keep an eye out for more news as my episodes draw nearer!
QUICK HITS
What Have I Been Listening To? Arde Bogotá was one of my favorite musical discoveries of last year, and I spent a lot of time over the weekend catching up on their latest stuff. If you need big, soulful, broody Spanish rock in your life, give them a shot!
Questions Questions Questions. Nothing really this week on the craft corner. If you have anything writing-related, or production-related, or just podcast-y you’d like me to talk about, send me a q here, and I’ll answer it in a future installment of the newsletter!
Okay, that is all for now. Check out the courses, get caught up on World Gone Wrong, feel old with Wolf 359. Do all the things.
Gabriel Urbina
08.14.2024