The Dale Hurst Writing Show

We're in serious territory again as we learn about writing another more potentially challenging subject. This time around, it's eating disorders, and to shed light on this, we invited playwright, actor and theatre maker Alfie James, the mind behind the play "What's Eating Gilbert?" that ran earlier this year, starring Luke Garner-Greene and Ryan Ebbrell. What research informed the writing process, the direction and the performances? And how was the story received? TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussions of themes that some listeners might find distressing.

In time for spooky season, we're back on the horror genre. We've covered the horror novel and the horror play... but what about the horror movie? Director, screenwriter and producer Andrea M Catinella joins to discuss the filmmaking techniques that go into making something scary on the screen. Featuring talk of One Piece, Schindler's List, Jeffrey Dahmer, 1408 and more... Follow Andrea on Instagram: @i.am_amc

Fantasy fans know where to find Mordor, Rivendell, Casterly Rock and Winterfell in their heads, but where do they fall on maps of their respective realms? How does a fantasy author go about plotting the locations of their cities, rivers, mountains and more? And how are these locations crucial to plot and character development? Just some of the questions that Lee Dawson, creator of "The Brightstone Saga" helps us answer!

Combining two favourite themes for this week's episode, we apply experiences of independent publishing to poetry specifically. And who better to lend their insights to two recently published poets? Karishma Natu, whose second book "Under Orange Blossom" will be released imminently, while Ben Whittall's "Man is an Ocean" dropped earlier this year.

It seems like absolutely forever since we did an episode on the science fiction genre, so here we are, pontificating fresh spins on a saturated area of creative writing. Author D.C. Eastman joins us for a discussion that includes some psychological musings, thoughts on lucid dreams, and the curse of instant gratification...

Ever wondered how writers construct series like Black Mirror and American Horror Story? Screenwriter Asad Moghal brings along insights from his own comedy series, Patterns (available on Amazon Prime), to discuss writing the anthology format for screen.

We're kicking our Season 4 proceedings off by taking you on an adventure. Or at least delving into the ins and outs of writing adventure stories. The author of Vipers and Red Rocks and Retaliation Mountain, as well as the pulp series The Noah Redford Adventures, L.S. Goozdich is the one steering this season's first episode.

We can't stop podcasting this year. A brand-new season – our fourth, to be precise – is on its way to your ears in just a few days. Here's a taste of what's to come in The Dale Hurst Writing Show in Season 4.

Some more mini-interviews with the varied and talented creatives that visited The Dale Hurst Writing Show at Bournemouth Writing Festival 2024. They speak to our special guest presenters Prajvi and Amber about what they write, why the writer, their favourite characters and scenes, and their inspirations as writers.

To round off our mini series taking place at Bournemouth Writing Festival 2024, we bring you two bonus episodes featuring special guest presenters Amber Collins and Prajvi Mandhani. They put The Dale Hurst Writing Show's Q&A questions to some of the varied and talented creatives that they met during the festival weekend. In this episode, Amber and Prajvi spoke to T.H. Carrington, Lorna Child, Steve Couch, Briony Hartley and Timo Peach.

In a first for The Dale Hurst Writing Show, we welcomed Beverley Glick, author of "In Your Own Words", just after her talk at Bournemouth Writing Festival 2024 to discuss writing memoirs. What is the distinction between memoir and autobiography? And what, if anything, is off-limits for life writing? ********** Presenter: Dale Hurst Production Assistants: Amber Collins, Prajvi Mandhani

Poet and my fellow Bournemouth University alum Emilie Fiirgaard Rasmussen joined The Dale Hurst Writing Show to talk about the considerations that go into defining one's poetic voice. ********** Presenter: Dale Hurst Production Assistants: Amber Collins, Prajvi Mandhani

Author and scent expert Liam R Findlay dropped by our digs at Bournemouth Writing Festival 2024 to discuss the oft-forgotten smell sense and its role in descriptive writing. Featuring a tiny snippet of his book "The Doomtown Dummies". ********** Presenter: Dale Hurst Production Assistants: Amber Collins, Prajvi Mandhani

Novelist and founder of Bang2Write Lucy V Hay popped along to The Dale Hurst Writing Show at Bournemouth Writing Festival 2024 for a little chat about what skills and techniques that transfer well between writing prose and writing for screen. ********** Presenter: Dale Hurst Production Assistants: Amber Collins, Prajvi Mandhani

We've brought The Dale Hurst Writing Show to Bournemouth Writing Festival 2024, with a special mini-series of episodes featuring writers, facilitators and more. And we find out much more about what's to come at the end of April from the festival's director and founder, marketing consultant and author Dominic Wong. What's new, what's improved, plus any favourites from last year returning. What are the benefits to attending a writing festival in the first place? Plus, Dominic provides some of his own insights on the writing craft. We're still wondering about how our characters eat...

Drawing a line under another season by reuniting with some old friends from previous episodes. We talk with all of them about their favourite Christmas stories, as well as: Author Alex Colvin joins us to talk about his new work-in-progress, Electric Heist, and we muse on the rises of cryptocurrency and AI. Find out more about Alex's most recent work, Unquestionably Monstrous, on his website.Screenwriter Daniel Riccio tells us more about his ongoing work with Culver Twin Motion Pictures and we debate the age-old question of what defines a Christmas film.Videographer Jamie Webb from JKW Media reveals his journey in the world of news, including his current work with ITV News.Actor-playwright Conor Ó'Cuinn and director Tazy Harrison-Moore discuss the development of Looking for Fun? as it made its return to Edinburgh Fringe earlier this year. Please note this episode contains occasional uses of moderate language.

Something a little different for the last real discussion episode of the season. The podcast has had musicians on before, but this time, we're joined by award-nominated composer and producer Jordan Pace, who sheds light on the ways that soundtracks and scores are used to assist the storytelling process in films and documentaries. Additional editing and mixing: Jordan Pace

How do you go from a story idea to the formation of an entire TV series? An ambition for our host and a reality for our guest. Screenwriter Ryan Avery reflects on the writing process of over 400 pages of TV series script. Plus debunking the storytelling and character development flaws in certain popular series. Contains some instances of strong language. Disclaimer: Actor David McCallum was alive at time of recording; he passed away in September.

We all know a good horror movie when we see one, and we heard last season about how to write horror in novels and short stories. But what about in theatre? What are the creative considerations required to successfully write something scary for the stage? As our Halloween special for the season, New York playwright Justin McDevitt shares his expertise in writing the horror genre for the theatre, as well as his experiences crafting his monologue series Severed Heads.

In the realms of fantasy and science fiction (among other genres), magic is the sort of thing that, without observing a few rules, could risk being overused (or underused). The question is, where does the line get drawn? Fantasy and horror author E.B. Hunter is our guest helping to answer this.