PODCAST · arts
Two Writers, No Hook
by Alan Langford and Michael Pinkus
Every two weeks authors Alan Langford and Michael Pinkus talk about an aspect of the writing process, set our writing goals, and report on our progress since the last episode. Note: We're Canadian, we swear a bit. Marked explicit for occasional strong language. This started as a way for us to hold each other accountable to our writing goals. Two conversations in, we decided to publicly embarrass ourselves and post our conversations on YouTube, the idea being that if there was an audience out there (ha!) we'd be even more committed to our goals. After we spent far too much time trying to come up with a name for this show, Alan got frustrated and said "You'd think two writers could come up with a decent hook!" and Michel said, "that's it!" and so the "Two Writers, No Hook Podcast" was born. We start with Episode 3 because our first two conversations were not recorded.
Episodes
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Exposition vs. Dialog
I start with my progress. Not a lot of new words (but many words replaced). Organizing scenes into chapters and discovering places where I can optimize. Draft 2 is now maybe 10% complete (instead of the 90% I had hoped for) so I moan a little about how everything in this process takes much longer...
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Where We Get Our Characters From
Recorded 2026-09-21 We start talking about a heart balloon that unhelpfully is out of frame. It's the first day of fall and we talk about birthdays briefly. I start reporting with Michael telling me why he skims my newsletter. Then I do a dump of my very productive two weeks, including a bunch of...
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Scammers Targeting Authors
Recorded 2026-09-08 We start talking about beverages while recording, and the cliché of the alcohol-fuelled writers labouring over their manuscript. Then we move to updates. I feel like screaming this: I have finally finished the never-ending edit round! Michael goes over the chronology of his…
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Staying on Track
Recorded 2026-08-24 In this episode we dive right into progress (relatively speaking, less than a minute of chat). I edited 32 pages, two over my minimum goal, and just ten pages short of finishing this pass (my real goal). We had a discussion about the "start on second draft stretch goal"…
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Breaking Through the Wall
Recorded 2026-08-10 We start with a very brief mention of an AI tool that purports to write for you. Surprisingly it's not called "Slopomatic." Enough of that, we go to progress reporting. I report being on page 242, 28 pages edited since our last episode and two short of my goal of 30. In "stuff...
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Timelines in Fiction
Recorded 2026-07-27 We start by trying to not talk about the weather, without success. We do manage to limit it to a mere minute and 38 seconds. If you think climate change is a myth you probably want to skip that bit. On to progress. I report a pathetic 16 pages of editing and 880 words into a…
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Finding Our Style
Recorded 2026-07-17 As usual we start off topic for a few minutes before getting into progress reporting. I've gone through 68 pages of my most recent edit, well over my goal of 50, the first time I've truly killed a goal in the past few months. As a follow-up to our last episode, I came very…
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Killing our Darlings (in Edit)
Recorded 2026-06-29 First up is progress reporting. We laugh about both being in a miserable space at the same time. I start, having gone through 50 pages of my latest edit, 30 pages more than the (low) goal we set last episode. I complain about how slow it's going, and I've made some progress on...
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Character Development
Recorded 2026-06-15 I jump into progress reporting because I have very little progress to report. My frustration is palpable. Michael shares that he's felt the same way several times with his current work. Michael has edited nine chapters. He's cut 470 words from his novel. We talk about working…
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Self-doubt
Recorded 2026-06-03 This episode we managed to limit our usual weather update to 36 seconds. I update progress, which is "not much," and talk about attending WisCon and the impact it had on my work. In terms of actual progress, I'm still putting in my last round of minor edits in and dealing with...
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Sources of Inspiration and Ideas
Recorded 2026-05-19 A shorter than usual episode this time, but unfortunately this is due to Michael not having much to report (for real this time). I've done most of the prep for a developmental edit and am applying changes from my last read-through. Michael asks a question about using AI to...
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Good (and Bad) Groups and Resources
Recorded 2026-05-05 This episode we discuss groups and websites that helped or hindered our progress as writers. Bonus feature, now with less fan noise! In this episode we cut back on the catch-up potion of our chat and move right into progress reporting. Michael starts with his "nothing" report...
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Non-writing Tools We Use
Recorded 2026-04-22 We open as usual with weather, this time in Italy, then a discussion of all the travel he'll be doing visiting wineries in Italy (he's a wine writer, so that's actually work for him.) By next episode he'll be back in Canada (we hope) so we discuss whether or not he'll be able…
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Software Tools for Writing
Recorded 2026-04-06 I think when we started these conversations, we figured they would run about 30 minutes. We were wrong. 45 minutes seems like a more typical length, and this time we went way over, just about four minutes short of an hour. I don't think either of us are quite sure how this...
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Spares
Recorded 2026-03-23 This episode starts with us laughing about saying "on the air" with our tiny number of viewers (hi there, viewers, we appreciate you). We also had a little hiccup getting started because Michael was misled about when we start thanks to an AI assistant. He claims that he's...
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Writing Implements
Recorded 2026-03-10 Much like the previous episode, this episode arrives a tad late, as Michael had a scheduling issue on Monday, our usual recording day, and I took a little longer to get the edit done as well. In this episode we run a little long again, largely because I accidentally restart…
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Writing While Travelling
Recorded 2026-02-24 This episode arrives a tad late, as Michael had a scheduling issue on Monday, our usual recording day, and I took a little longer to get the edit done as well. We've also reversed our trend of ever-longer conversations, with this one clocking in at a svelte 30 minutes. Other...
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Editing
Recorded 2026-02-09 This podcast started as a simple way to be more accountable to our writing goals, but while our goals play a central role, our chats have expanded to a dive into our writing processes. In this episode, much of the discussion centres around editing. Also Michael has some major...
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Writing and Artificial Intelligence
Recorded 2026-01-26 We always seem to open up talking about something that has little to do with writing, and this episode is no different. This time it's the big snowstorm that went through a wide swath of the continent over the weekend. Then we momentarily get on track as I report on how I'm...
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Killing a Character
Recorded 2026-01-12 Michael and I have known each other for something like 18 years. During that period we've met over coffee a few times, but aside from that, all of our interactions—and the formation of our friendship—have been online. For reasons known only to him and his partner, they decided...
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Series: the Good and the Bad
Recorded 2025-12-29 We talk about yesterday's ice storm, missing our progress targets (so much for complete first drafts by year end 🙁), and what makes a book series good, bad, or ugly. Next week we'll explore how to decide when to kill a character.
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Killing Our Darlings
Recorded 2025-12-15 This conversation starts with Canadian stuff. A little reminiscing about SCTV and a discussion of snow clearing, eh? I deliver most of my progress report but we digress into books for a minute before I come back and wrap up with stats on a decent two weeks work. A spam call...
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All Over the Map
You can tell these sessions are largely unscripted because we start off this week's check-in with a brief discussion of sports, specifically the NFL and Formula 1. If that's not your thing, skip ahead three minutes. At three minutes, Michael reports on his progress over the past two weeks. His…
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Updates
Recorded 2025-12-01 There's no real topic in this episode aside from keeping each other up to date on progress, although we do mention a webinar offered by Author's Publish (a great resource for authors). Michael has a 500 word story rejected because it's two words over, but this comes as a...
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Getting Started
Recorded 2025-11-17 Every two weeks, author Michael Pinkus and I get together to check in with each other's writing progress and to set goals for the next two weeks. We're in different genres; he's writing mysteries, I'm writing science fiction. We also have differing styles (he's a pantser, I'm…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Every two weeks authors Alan Langford and Michael Pinkus talk about an aspect of the writing process, set our writing goals, and report on our progress since the last episode.
Note: We're Canadian, we swear a bit. Marked explicit for occasional strong language.
This started as a way for us to hold each other accountable to our writing goals. Two conversations in, we decided to publicly embarrass ourselves and post our conversations on YouTube, the idea being that if there was an audience out there (ha!) we'd be even more committed to our goals.
After we spent far too much time trying to come up with a name for this show, Alan got frustrated and said "You'd think two writers could come up with a decent hook!" and Michel said, "that's it!" and so the "Two Writers, No Hook Podcast" was born.
We start with Episode 3 because our first two conversations were not recorded.
HOSTED BY
Alan Langford and Michael Pinkus
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Two Writers, No Hook have?
Two Writers, No Hook currently has 25 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Two Writers, No Hook about?
Every two weeks authors Alan Langford and Michael Pinkus talk about an aspect of the writing process, set our writing goals, and report on our progress since the last episode. Note: We're Canadian, we swear a bit. Marked explicit for occasional strong language. This started as a way for us to hold...
How often does Two Writers, No Hook release new episodes?
Two Writers, No Hook has 25 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Two Writers, No Hook?
You can listen to Two Writers, No Hook on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Two Writers, No Hook?
Two Writers, No Hook is created and hosted by Alan Langford and Michael Pinkus.
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