Ditch Diggers gets me. I'm not a masochist very often, I don't do submissive, but Mur and Matt smack me digitally with their words of wisdom, and tell me I've been a bad, writer for spending too much time playing Flappy Crush, which is an application that keeps me sane. Ditch Diggers has been around for twenty-five episodes now, and it is worth listening to each one, and revisiting the finer point episodes of deep-seeded, grinding that every writer must do. The name says it all: Ditch Diggers; a hypothetical take on the hard work for the little reward, but the plight of writing every day, and wrestling with all the digital distractions that make flighty minds do everything but what they're supposed to, and that's write.
Granted, Mur and Matt aren't telling you that all free time must be kept free soley for writing, but they want to express that writers that want to get famous, and don't put in the work, digging those ditches, well, there's always a need for a copywriter. I love the podcast I Should Be Writing (usually abbreviated ISBW) and Ditch Diggers is the complimentary shot of hard whiskey, to Mur's first-born podcast that goes down smooth like the proverbial fine wine. Ditch Diggers gets some of the top write in the field, in multiple genres, multiple markets, and I've yet to hear an episode where I didn't learn something about the industry, and I've been learning the market while still in my teens. Mur is the first podcaster that I've actually felt comfortable enough to e-mail, and she, along with Matt, are both outstanding writers. I like that they also don't pull punches, and in the era of safe spaces, I love when people are brutal, but also constructive in their criticism. I'd want Matt to tear a new asshole in anything I write, because in know it's only to better my abilities. I say this hypothetically, of course.
I would say that Difch Diggers is designed to be a dick towards you, but it's a sort of dick that you need to hear. Matt and Mur know their shit, and they will tell you in the most colorful, doggish language. This is the show you want to listen to, it's a podcast for people who need to hear the truth about writing, and that it's going to take you longer than you want to become the writer that you wish you could be. Ditch Diggers is essentially the podcast for writers that have been pampered for too long, and need not just a reality check, but a pro-informative podium that is quintessentially helpful. I see it as a format that breaks you down, only not build you back up to even greater heights, it's a damn fine show.
I highly recommend Ditch Diggers, it's a compelling podcast, and as mundane as that sounds, it is as honest a description as any. Matt Wallace and Mur Lafferty are like salt and pepper, saying they compliment each other is an understatement. I've been a fan of ISBW for several years now, listening on-and-off, but now more than ever have I've been glued to my iPod, waiting for the next update, as I devour each new episode of a Ditch Diggers. I suggest you download the podcast, and get to writing.
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