Meet
Our Hosts

Caleb James K.

Caleb James K. is the former Editor-in-Chief of the literary journal, Drunken Pen Writing, and the host of the DPW Podcast. He’s also a fiction writer, poet, and aspiring novelist.

Spencer Church

A former aspiring comic book artist, Spencer is the cohost of the DPW Podcast as well as a short story writer and avid reader.

No cold open today. Instead, we dive right into the topic of the day. We examine the current illiteracy crisis going on in the US and discuss a study done with English majors who were found to be unable to read or inadequate in understanding the opening to Charles Dickens’ novel Bleak House.

We read the opening of Bleak House ourselves to see if we’re capable of understanding it, and then, for fun, we read some pages of Ulysses by James Joyce to prove just how dumb we really are.

#229: How To Fix Bad Writing And A Secret Book Club – Drunken Pen Writing Podcast

In today's cold open, we read from Edmund Spenser's epic fantasy poem, The Faerie Queene. We also discuss the Arthurian language used and why the work is so difficult to read. After that, we settle down and talk about bad writing and ways to fix it! We cover an article on the subject from http://www.aliventures.com, which gives some great examples of bad writing and tips on how to fix it. Of course, we share some of the things we've learned over the years and how we go about crafting stories. Finally, after the outro music, we have a secret book club for you! And no, Spencer is not involved in this one. It's the brand new Book Creepers Club! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at http://www.calebjamesk.com.