Inside Creative Writing

Brad Reed brings a teacher's instincts to Inside Creative Writing, and it makes this show feel different from the typical advice podcast. Reed holds a Master's in English with a creative writing emphasis, spent years as an educator, and that classroom experience translates into episodes that actually teach rather than just talk. The show is relatively young — about 48 episodes — but it's already pulled in over a million downloads and a perfect 5.0 rating on Apple Podcasts (though from a small number of reviewers). Episodes run 24 to 49 minutes and cover both fiction and creative nonfiction, with a nice balance between practical technique and the psychology of the writing life. What stands out is Reed's willingness to approach craft from unexpected angles. One episode explores Internal Family Systems theory as a character development tool. Another argues that boredom is a writing superpower. He's done a thoughtful episode on AI and novel writing that avoids the usual panic or hype. He'll teach you how to plan a novel with index cards borrowed from screenwriting, then follow it up with an episode about what happens when characters refuse to follow your outline. Reed is also an Oregon-based novelist — his survival fiction book "Crossing Cascadia" is set after the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake — so he practices what he preaches. The show includes interviews with published authors, editors, and writing coaches alongside his solo instructional episodes. If you're looking for a newer writing podcast that combines genuine craft instruction with creative exploration, Inside Creative Writing is punching well above its weight.