Listen to bestselling authors share their inspiration, and how they overcame rejections and challenges in their careers
A Writing Podcast Review
Have you ever read a book or seen a movie that you kept wondering “How did the writer come up with this insane idea? Like what the hell were you on? How did you arrive at this dark plot? What shaped your mind to be as twisted to think like a motherfucker? Were you a distant cousin of an alien king to know how aliens think? Are you a reincarnated vampire goddaughter?
I have lots of questions when I see writers write brilliant pieces. But this podcast answered most of them for me. The host starts by asking the writer about where they grew up, how their childhood was, where they were schooled, relationships with family, and other personal questions that might come up.
In the course of their answering these questions, they get to relate how their upbringing or where they grew up shaped their whole writing career. You would see that there is always a part of the writer that makes it into their fictional world — ideas mostly come from what you know. Some of the writers take us on a journey of how they used some of their experiences to create certain characters. And it’s nothing short of divine brilliance to create such beautiful works from experiences that made or broke them.
In other words, don’t discard or shy away from those painful experiences because they might give birth to a whole new beautiful world that gets to be experienced by millions.
I’ve also come to the understanding that there’s a kind of intimate connection you build up with a stranger through their work. But it becomes deeper when you hear them talk about their struggles and how they got over these hurdles to create something spectacular.
You learn a lot from someone who’s walking the talk — people who know their craft to a T. The confidence in their voice, the love for what they do, and the excitement they feel about what they have created are what every creator hopes to feel.
To become successful at what you do, find people who have walked the same path and learn from them. But the reality is we live in a different world from theirs, we don’t have the privilege. That’s where 88 cups of tea come in — to bridge the gap.
88 cups of tea is a podcast hosted by Yin Chang. She invites award-winning writers to her podcast to talk about their writing process and not just their books. She has a community of writers who go through the same pain most of us writers go through. And she took it as a duty to always convey those concerns from her community to the masters in their craft so that the newbies can learn a thing or two. Or have some semblance of peace in the knowledge that even great writers struggle.
But the best part of this podcast is Yin’s hosting skills. Lord, I will give anything to have her interview the writers of Succession or behind her eyes on Netflix because I seriously want a drag of whatever they are smoking. Yin is the kind of host who will interview you and you won’t know when you tell her where all the bodies are buried. She’s the female version of Trevor Noah — she not only reads the books by the invited author but she knows how to ask the right questions and engage their deepest thoughts. Her bubbly and chatty personality naturally helps the authors loosen up and relax as if they are in the company of a trusted friend. Some listeners say they find her fan girly-like attitude annoying but I say it’s her charm.
The average running time for the podcast episodes is 50mins but some gems are almost 2hrs long. I called them gems because once you start, there’s no pausing.
Her introduction to the podcast feels like a Christmas bell hung on a door that jingles whenever someone opens it — first, it’s a disturbance, then it brings the joy of Christmas to your ears.
The opening of the podcast is very chaotic and fun. The beat prepares you for a fun time as you can’t resist tapping your feet. Her voice is very vibrant and her ranty introduction lightens my spirit. I love how she’s aware of her rant and then takes a deep breath to say “WHOA, that was a really long run-on sentence”. She’s a troublemaker for sure.
Yin is very knowledgeable about a lot of things, which makes it easier to have fluid and interesting conversations without ever worrying about time. She knows Reality TV, board games, and books and can laugh down a hurricane. Then pair all this awesomeness with the Holly Black. The way I said the Holly black, you would think I knew her from Adam. This is the first time I’ve ever heard about her but man, she’s a personality. Holly Black is an accomplished writer with over 40 fantasy books for young adults, but her humor and humility drew me in. This episode with Holly is the 107th episode but Yin confirmed that she was the first person to ever ask her about her writing journey. Yin almost broke down at that thoughtful question from Holly coz she’s been so busy with the podcast that her book took a backseat.
What you will learn from this podcast
The things you learn differ from each episode. Since it’s a different author for every episode. They give advice based on what has worked for them. But ultimately, there are similarities.
Some advice is the same even from different authors. For instance:
1. Have a community of like-minded people who can help you brainstorm on the direction your characters should go when you are experiencing a block.
2. Don’t worry about originality. People are still reading about vampires and magic schools. Worry about bringing your perspective.
3. Read about folklore when writing about fantasy novels — that’s how you get your history. Do your research in general.
4. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Some have gotten inspiration from board games like Dungeons and Dragons, history, and reality TV for their novels.
5. Use your experiences to shape your characters
6. Writers’ block is a form of laziness, lack of inspiration, or ideas. Find what works for you to get your writing going. Charles Dickson walked, and some others played games or sat down in front of their computer to write down whatever came to mind.
Some of the authors you will see on this podcast are;
Holly Black, writer of The Cruel Prince
Maggie Shen King. author of An Excess Male
Sara Shepherd, The author of Pretty Little Liars
Nneka Okorafor. The author of Who Fears Death
Arvin Ahmadi, the author of Down and Across from Buzzfeed
Tochi Onyebuchi, the author of Beasts Made Of Night
Important side note: skip the first 3–4 minutes of every episode to avoid smashing your headset. Start listening from the oldest episodes —they are gold.
If you are looking for authors who have walked your path, then, you need to plug yourself into these conversations. To access their most valuable episodes, you have to subscribe to their Patreon page. But there are over 100 free episodes on Spotify to get you pumped with excitement and inspiration.
