This Might Be… A Podcast
I have news…
I started a podcast!
As Taylor would say, it’s been a long time coming.
Three years, give or take, if we’re being technical about it.
I was living in Los Angeles when the idea of starting a podcast floated through my thoughts during one of my walks on the Strand. I knew what I wanted it to be about: stories, both the ones we write and the ones we live. I didn’t have a title, certainly didn’t have the know-how to pull one off, but the idea of a podcast stuck with me.
That’s usually how I know an idea is something I need to pursue further: when it sticks with me. When there is something I can’t get out of my head, I know I’m supposed to lean into it; that, at the risk of sounding a little “woo woo,” it is something I’m meant to explore further. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out. Most of the time, it either works out or it leads me to something even better. If, of course, I take the time to explore it in the first place.
I turned the idea of a podcast over for a long time. I would go as far as searching to see if certain names were taken (they always were), but never any further. The closest I got to following through with actually doing the thing was buying a microphone that sat unused and collecting dust until I donated it to Goodwill. It didn’t work with my laptop anyway.
About six weeks ago, inspiration hit like a bolt of lightning.
A podcast about creating, revising, and trying again — in writing and in life.
I’m obsessed with stories. Not just the fictional stories I read and write. Your stories. Our stories. I love to sit and listen as people share their life’s adventures with me. I love the plot twists they didn’t see coming that led them to a person or a place or an opportunity that changed their life. I love hearing about how they found the courage to listen to their gut and take a chance on something that seemed so out of left field, but was actually a major turning point in their life. I love the so-called coincidences, the synchronicities, the red threads that tie it all together as though by magic.
I also believe life is simply a draft. We can, at any point, hit the back button and revise, or else start a whole new chapter, if only we have the courage to do so. A blank page can be intimidating. But it can also be freeing. You can do anything, be anything, at any time.
I love this quote:
“For what it’s worth… It’s never too late, or in my case, too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you’ve never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start over again.”
It’s often attributed to F. Scott Fitzgerald, but it’s actually from Eric Roth, who wrote those words when he was adapting the script for A Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Regardless of who the quote belongs to, it’s powerful.
And true.
It’s never too late to rewrite. Revise. Begin anew.
So it’s not too late to start a podcast, either, even though “everyone is doing it” and “the market is so saturated.” In fact, I think this podcast is right on time. For me, but maybe for you, too.
This Might Be A Draft is a podcast for stories – the ones we write, and the ones we live. Each week, we will feature conversations with writers, creators, and makers about the stories we create, the revisions we make, the detours we don’t plan for, and what it means to keep going when the final draft remains unclear.
The first episode is available now wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s a solo episode, which I know the “podcast gurus” say aren’t the most popular, but I felt it only right to start a podcast about stories with my story. It’s a story full of plot twists, moments I didn’t see coming, and chapters still to be written. It’s not a perfect podcast. I recorded with a cheap mic at my kitchen table, after all. But I’m embracing the spirit of the draft and the concept of “done is better than perfect” and putting it out there in all of its imperfect glory. I hope you’ll give it a chance, and if you like it? Please share with your community, leave a five-star rating, and maybe even drop a review.
Plot twists welcomed. Edits to come.
