October 11, 2025 • 42 mins
Welcome to Episode 292 of the Spun Today Podcast! In this episode, host Tony Ortiz dives deep into the writing life, inviting listeners into another motivating free writing session. Tony shares his latest writing stats and candidly discusses the ups and downs of creative consistency, including the struggles of writer’s block and the magic of finding inspiration after unexpected detours. He also offers practical writing tips sourced from Sandra Chwialkowska and Jordan Peele, reminding us why showing up to the page matters and why fun should always be at the heart of our creative process.
Tony highlights the gritty, neighborhood-driven anthology Manhattan Noir, reflecting on standout stories and the powerful techniques used by its diverse cast of writers. Along the way, he explores how these short stories can sharpen our craft, from pacing and atmosphere to creating vivid, compressed worlds. In addition, Tony treats us to a personal free writing piece inspired by Vince Staples, touching on dedication, objectivity, and the courage it takes to self-reflect as a creative.
Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just getting started, this episode is packed with honest insights, actionable advice, and plenty of inspiration to help boost your creativity. Settle in and get ready to fuel your writing journey with Spun Today!
Check out all free-writing pieces at: spuntoday.com/freewriting.
The Spun Today Podcast is a Podcast that is anchored in Writing, but unlimited in scope. Give it a whirl.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:19):
What's up folks? What's going on? Welcome to the Spun Today Podcast, the only
podcast that is anchored in writing but unlimited in scope.
I'm your host, Tony Ortiz and I appreciate you listening. This is episode
292 and in this episode I have
another free writing session for you fine folks that will help
motivate and inspire you to get your thoughts down on paper and
(00:42):
expand those creative ideas. In this session I'm
sharing my latest writing stats, some quick writing lessons that
I picked up on along the way, and a few notes from what I've been
reading lately. Today that's Manhattan Noir,
edited by Lawrence Block. It's a gritty anthology
full of neighborhood based stories that explore the
(01:04):
darker corners of New York City. And last but certainly
not least, I'll be sharing a free writing piece of my own.
Stick around for all that good stuff, but first I want to tell you
all about a quick way that you can help support this show.
Your support means a ton. It's highly appreciated. I really, really do
appreciate it. It helps keep the lights on here in the proverbial Spun
(01:26):
Today Studios and motivates me to continue putting out content
that you all will appreciate. So aside from visiting spunt
today.com support where you'll see all my affiliate
links and discount codes that I have for you folks, here is
one of the ways that you can help support this show and then
jump right into the episode. For
(01:49):
my fellow writers and creatives out there, a really cool way you can help support
this show is by going to Spun Today.com
support and clicking on the ProWritingAid
banner. If you're a listener of the show, you know that I use prowritingaid
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ship it off to my editor so that it is in
(02:10):
as pristine condition as I can probably get it.
ProWritingAid offers a great toolkit that helps you polish
your work with easy to use grammar checks and writing assistant that
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(02:32):
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my writing stats for August 2025 I
absolutely stepped my game up a bit to a level that I'm actually satisfied with
when factoring in other life dynamic stuff. But
(02:53):
I wrote 16 out of the 31
days in August for writing percentage of
51.61%. Actually, if I'm not
mistaken, my highest writing percentage for this
year, which is deplorable, as
Hillary Clinton would say. And for September month end
(03:15):
similar to June and July of this year, I did not track
my writing stats, which means I didn't do enough writing
to actually even track it. I know I worked on
a little minor things here and there, but definitely not a good
job of staying consistent and also not
a good job of executing the tracking portion.
(03:37):
But I have re picked up also went on vacation, by the way, which
I'll tell you guys about in another episode. Took a
vacation, a family vacation out to Aruba, which was awesome. But I did start
picking up the tracking again in October. So for the next free writing session
episode, you guys will definitely see what I've been up to there.
And just in terms of writing, I am
(03:59):
excited to share that I had for folks
that listen to my podcast, you know that after writing my first
novel, Fractale, the science fiction time travel
novel, I've had a bit of writer's block in terms
of the second book in that series I have written for it,
but definitely not enough, especially being that it's been
(04:22):
about four years now, maybe even more since the first one
came out and I published Melted Cold in between. Then
that's how much redis block I had for that series specifically that I went off
and wrote, edited and published a short story
collection. Talk about resistance, right? But
(04:42):
I had a breakthrough and epiphany I
knew had seeds of ideas and I have
tons of research files within like my scrivener writing
program like within the binder there for the second book and even for the third
book. But I just couldn't get anything
exciting going enough to
(05:05):
like pull me into. Okay, this is the story that I'm going to tell. And
I know I had that feeling for the first one, but I did have
like a creative break there and something just clicked
and I outlined it, mapped it all out and I'm actually
excited again about sitting down and
as Jordan Peele once said, just start filling up the
(05:26):
sandbox with sand and getting that first draft out that complete from
beginning to end, first draft out and then after all that
sand is in the sandbox, then start creating the castles that
I want to create. But now like I have enough of the elements of the
ideas and the previous research that I did and the trajectory
that I want ahead in to be able to begin practically
(05:48):
tackling it. So really excited about that. I think that's going to help
with these writing stats to bump them up
through the fourth quarter of this year. And those
are my writing stats, the writing tip
that I want to share with you folks. This episode, it's
actually going to be two of them, and I'm pulling them from my Instagram
(06:11):
stories. So I actually have this cool section that even I revisit
from time to time where I save
Instagram stories under writing advice that you guys should definitely check
out. Especially for my fellow creatives out there. It's pretty motivating,
inspiring. It has been for me. Kind of gives you like a nudge and a
kick in the ass when you need a bit of that.
(06:33):
So definitely check it out in my Instagram page spun today
on Instagram, where I'll take like a quote that a writer
has said or a snippet
of an interview or a panel that they're on where they're speaking
about their creative process and things that
I kind of want to save and keep within my little creative toolkit,
(06:56):
if you will. And I saved them all down there under
the writing advice stories. So check that
out. Both of the writing tips that I'm going to share with you guys today
are from there. The first one is a quote from
Sandra Chuialkowska. Apologies in
advance for butchering that last name, but she said, quote,
(07:18):
you don't really know what your novel is about until you've written
it. So the purpose of your first draft is
to figure out what you're trying to say, end
quote. And that's helpful to me,
particularly in, like, the. The mind state that I'm in
with book two and the fractal series where I'm kind of
(07:40):
letting perfectionism or the expectation of to
stop me from moving forward at all. Because I think I need every
single thing worked out before
beginning to write it all. Which is not the case. It's never been the case.
I don't know why I've been stuck on that, and particularly with this
book, because I've been able to write other things, like I mentioned earlier. But
(08:03):
I like advice like that because it is just
a reminder to that it kind of gives you license
or permission, if you will, to be like, oh, yeah, sure, I don't have to
have every single nook and cranny figured out. I can start writing it.
And it's a draft. It's not going anywhere. It's for my eyes only.
You know, just start adding sand to the sandbox. Then
(08:26):
once you have your sand, then start, you know, throwing out the sand you don't
need, forming the pillars of your castle as you need them
with the sand that you do have that you do want to keep, so on
and so forth. So I very much so appreciate that quote from that
perspective, the next piece of advice and the second tip that
I'm sharing with you guys today is actually from Jordan Peele,
(08:47):
and it's a clip from when he was on a panel
for Film Independent. And he said, quote, if
you're not having fun writing, you're doing it wrong. I can't worry about the
movie getting made. I have to write my
favorite movie that doesn't exist. And it
wasn't like I was writing. And then he
(09:09):
emotions like feverishly writing. And he says,
it wasn't like I was feverishly writing for like five
years straight. I allowed it to be my hobby. I allowed it
to be the project that I would go to instead of watching
television. And that would be the most fun thing
that I could do with my time. And the whole purpose of it was to
(09:31):
help me get better as a writer. I know that from Key and Peele.
When you're having fun writing, that's when you get the
east, west bullshit. It works.
Fun works. Any writer or artist dealing
with writer's block, which we all deal with, follow the
fun, end quote. And that's great advice there. And
(09:54):
it's akin to what I was saying earlier about the, like, breakthrough idea
that I had and being excited about it. You know, follow
the fun, like Jordan Peele says there. Or in my case, follow the
excitement about something. And I like how that advice is
grounded in reality. Like how he says, because from the outside looking in,
somebody says they're a writer or they write stories or they wrote this X, Y
(10:16):
and Z. You kind of have this. Or at least I like projected
psycho around them. Like, oh, my God, they're like this professional writer that
sits down and 247 is just thinking about stories and
nothing else. And it is so prolific
and putting out a thousand pages a day,
or words, rather, a day, etc, etc. How
(10:39):
he says there, this very successful writer,
director, creative. He points out there
that it wasn't. That it wasn't feverishly
intensely writing day in and day out. It
was something that he allowed to be a hobby. He allowed himself to.
He created a situation where he would look forward to the thing, where he would
(11:00):
get excited about it, where he wanted to do that as fun,
more so than just sitting down and watching tv. I think that's a really
important point and lesson to take away there. And of course,
like he says, follow the fun. And how I'll add
follow the excitement, follow what makes you excited.
And that, my dear listeners, are the writing tips that I wanted to share with
(11:24):
you guys in this episode. If you want to check those out and more,
follow me on Instagram puntoday and check out the Writing
Advice Stories section.
What I've Been Reading I've been reading Manhattan Noir,
which is a short story anthology, and I will mention each and
every one of the writers involved in a bit. But first I
(11:47):
just want to say that there will be spoilers as I
recap some of the stories from this book
and share some writing insights that I took away from
it. So consider yourselves warned. First off, I wanted to
mention how I discovered the book. I actually came across Manhattan
Noir from a recommendation recommendation
(12:10):
recommendation by Sam Morrill on the We Might
be Drunk podcast during the episode with
Greg Fitzsimmons, and he recapped a couple of the stories in it,
including the one that turned out to be my favorite that I'm gonna share with
you guys in a bit. And the concept of the
series really interested me and I decided to check it out
(12:32):
and I'm glad I did. So hat tip to Samarill
for a really dope wreck. Now, according to the editor of the book,
Lawrence Block, the challenge that he put out to writers was
that each story had to take place in a different neighborhood of
Manhattan, and that concept alone makes this series
worth reading. It's like a like a dark literary
(12:55):
subway ride through the city. Now let's shout out the writers
of this great anthology, because if we don't give it up to the writers here
on the Sponsor Day podcast, then who will? The writers are Charles
or Die, who wrote the Good Samaritan that takes place in Midtown,
which was, by the way, my favorite story, a lot of which I'm going
to share with you guys in a bit. Carolea Benjamin
(13:18):
wrote the Last Supper. That was good too, which takes place
in Greenwich Village. Lawrence Block, which is also the
editor of the anthology, he wrote if you can't Stand the
Heat, which takes place in Clinton. That was actually pretty good too. That's
an honorable mention. Thomas H. Cook, who
wrote Rain Taking Place in Battery Park.
(13:40):
Jeffrey Deaver, who wrote A Nice Place to Visit,
Taking Place in Hell's Kitchen. That was a cool one.
Jim Fusilli, which makes me think of Fusilli.
Jerry wrote the Next Best Thing, taking
place at the George Washington Bridge. Robert
Knightley wrote Take the Man's Pay, taking
(14:03):
place in the Garment District. John Lutz
wrote the Laundry Room, taking place in the Upper west side. Liz
Martinez wrote Freddie Prinze Is My Guardian
angel, which was a fun one. Taking Place in Washington Heights,
man. Myers wrote the Organ Grinder Taking Place in
Les. The Lower east side. Martin Myers
(14:25):
wrote why do they have to Hit? Taking place in Yorkville.
S.J. rosen wrote Building Taking Place in
Harlem. Justin Scott wrote the Most
Beautiful Apartment in New York, Taking place in Chelsea.
C.J. sullivan wrote the Last Round, Taking Place in
Inwood. And last but certainly not least, Juge
(14:47):
wrote Crying with Audrey Hepburn, Taking Place
in Times Square. Shout out to each and every
one of those great writers that put this really dope anthology
series together. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that
there are other noir books, at least one, maybe two of
which I plan on checking out, and maybe more after that, depending on how
(15:10):
those go. But it's a whole noir series. The
Akashic Noir series, they're called. There's a Brooklyn Noir,
a Brooklyn Noir 2A DC Noir,
Baltimore Noir, Dublin Noir, Chicago
Noir, San Francisco Noir. And
forthcoming are Twin Cities Noir, Los Angeles Noir,
(15:32):
London Noir, Wall Street Noir,
Miami Noir, Havana Noir, Bronx Noir, and Lone
Star Noir. Definitely gonna check out the Brooklyn one next,
depending on that goes Brooklyn Part two. And I'm looking forward to the Wall
street one as well. I'll definitely keep you fine folks posted on
those. So I've made notes, as I do while
(15:55):
reading or listening to the audiobook of these stories, and I
want to share some of my key takeaways and writing moments that
really stood out to me, starting with my
favorite story in the series, which opens up the anthology
the Good Samaritan by Charles R. Dai. So this story takes
place in midtown Manhattan, and there are homeless people
(16:18):
turning up dead very frequently, multiple within a week,
every other day in some cases. And the story
follows a detective and his partner who
are trying to figure out who the killer is or all
are. Well, first trying to figure out if these
are accidental or coincidental. And it's tough for them to
(16:41):
piece investigations together because they
are homeless victims. You know, they don't have a lot to go by,
no known friends or family or relatives that they
could connect to and question. And everyone seems
all but happy to write them off as
accidents or, you know, homeless people
(17:04):
being ill and. And passing away due to
the poor conditions that they live in. But this one detective is not letting
up. He's continuing to pursue and ultimately pieces together
from a conversation with one homeless person
that there was this really nice guy that came up to.
That came up to her and offered her a free cigarette.
(17:27):
The detective didn't think anything of it really. You know, he's just going around interviewing
different homeless people. And the next day that homeless person
turned up dead, that same one. And the detective
remembered the anecdote of someone offering them a
cigarette. They find the cigarette there by the body,
sent it in for testing, and it found that it did have poison in it.
(17:50):
So it was a poisonous cigarette. Then went back
to a couple of the other homeless deaths that had
occurred and actually found one of the more recent
ones and picked up a cigarette that was left within
the magazine that was found on the homeless person that had
passed. Took that into evidence and tested that and it
(18:11):
came up positive again for the same poison. So they piece
together somebody's going around poisoning homeless people with cigarettes.
The partner is thinking from a practical
perspective. You know, what can we do? We can't just arrest everybody that
smokes this name brand cigarette that everybody smokes. But the
main detective doesn't let up, doesn't want to let it go, doesn't want to write
(18:33):
it off so easily. He takes it upon himself to go undercover
as a homeless person. So he dresses up all tattered
and starts sleeping in the street. Sleeps in the street one night,
spends the whole day the next day on the street in a different location,
moving from spot to spot, seeing what he can pick up on, hoping
that somebody comes up to him and offers him a cigarette. And I
(18:56):
really like the description here
of what the homeless detective saw while sitting on the floor.
There's a point where he starts describing people just walking
by the way their arms would swing as they
walked, their legs, some of the children being at eye
level and the parents would pull their
(19:19):
curious faces away from him, bike tires rotating,
etc. And they were like simple descriptions,
but it made it incredibly visual. It
made you think about being there in that perspective of
someone laying or sitting on the floor. Then ultimately a well
dressed, middle aged man approaches him and offers him a
(19:42):
cigarette. And he has concealed under his clothes his
gun and a recorder. And he's second guessing himself because this
just looks like an ordinary, like a well put together,
articulate older man, but it's the same
brand of cigarette. So he starts pressing the guy and telling him
to smoke a cigarette, but he refuses. He said he doesn't want to, but he's
(20:04):
insistent that he, the homeless man, take the free cigarette and smoke it.
Then the cop pulls out his gun and essentially forces a
confession out of him. And he admits
to the whole thing that he has Been killing the homeless people.
But when confronted about it, the killer says that he's poisoning the
homeless to put them out of their misery because they
(20:27):
shouldn't live that way. Doing drugs and selling their bodies.
That's no way to live, he thought. And the way
he's doing it, they feel no pain. They just smoke a cigarette, go to sleep,
and don't wake up the next day. And in that exchange between the two characters,
it really stood out to me how troubled he was
by the fact that he couldn't seem to come to terms with what the
(20:50):
detective was telling him he was doing, which was killing people who
just continue justifying it in that way that, no, I'm just giving them a
cigarette. I'm putting them out of their misery. I'm helping them. And that
psychological realism is haunting in a
way, because aside from him being a sick fuck, you know, going
around murdering people and justifying it and rationalizing it to
(21:13):
himself, the mental gymnastics that someone is
able and willing to do, to think, to make themselves think
and believe that what they're doing is okay just really stood out to
me. And in that moment, the quote, unquote homeless
detective was recording the conversation. And had
this guy that, to rights, from a legal perspective, just started
(21:35):
noticing how well dressed he was and
how he had a nice watch on his hand and expensive shoes on.
And how he was visibly terrified of the
gun, but still showed no remorse about what he was doing.
And was insistent on the fact that he's doing something good. You know, he's helping
them, putting them out of their midweek. He started playing things out in his head
(21:58):
on how this guy would hire
some hotshot fancy attorney to defend him in court.
And that even them having a recorded confession on tape,
the attorney would write that off to the jury by saying something
along the lines of, of course he admitted to the crime. Wouldn't you, if you
had a gun to your head? And then juxtapose with the fact that
(22:21):
all the victims are these voiceless homeless people
who would have nobody speaking on their behalf. He decided to take matters
into his own hands. He drew his gun and forced
the man to smoke his own cigarette. And if not,
threatened, to shoot him. He refused, pushing back on the
idea, obviously, but ultimately succumbed to the
(22:43):
fear of the gun. And Wanda was smoking the cigarette. And then the
cop, after the guy fell asleep, took his
homeless clothes off that he was wearing, put it on the guy,
exchanged clothes with him, left the scene without anyone around.
And the next day was just reported that another homeless person was
Found dead on the side of the street. How dope is that story?
(23:06):
I haven't gotten tired of sharing that with people, so I hope you'll
get a kick out of it as well. That's, that's one of the stories that
Sam Morrill, by the way, when he was telling Mark Norman
and Greg Fitzsimmons about the series, he
broke down that story as well. And even though I knew what was
happening, it still made me want to read the story. And I'm definitely glad I
(23:28):
did. So just because you know what's gonna happen,
definitely don't let, let that deter you from checking it out.
Another one that got my attention was A Nice
Place to Visit by Jeffrey Deaver, which took place in
Hell's Kitchen. It's a story about this girl that's at a bar that
seems like she's being set up to be victimized.
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But she flips the script and it turns out that she's the predator.
She's been going to different bars, different neighborhoods or different
places and playing the role of
single, naive girl until
guys offer to buy her a drink. She goes back to their place
and then she winds up drugging them, slipping a roofie in their
(24:14):
drinks, and just robbing them blind.
And it's a classic noir. Power
dynamics flipped on their head, and a story of
danger hiding behind charm. So coming
from an unexpected place. And the story actually reminded
me of a short story of mine which if you're interested, you can definitely
(24:37):
check out in my short story series, Melted
Cold. And it remind me of the story ball and Chain
that I have in there where I have a role reversal
dynamic flip of sorts where the wife in that story turns
out to be a serial killer. Spoiler alert. Right?
But if you want to check that out, check that out@spun today.com forward slash
(24:59):
books. There's one more story I wanted to tell you guys about. It was a
fun one and it was Freddie Prince is My Guardian angel
by Liz Martinez. And this one takes place in
Washington Heights. And it's a coming of age story
of a young girl who idolized Freddie Prinze. She
was like number one Stan before he died.
(25:22):
Then after he died, she was such a huge fan of his that
he started appearing to her at different
stages throughout her life. And she finds that he's
her guardian angel. And at different moments throughout her life, you know, sometimes months
would pass, years would pass in between visits, but he
would always nudge her towards joining the
(25:44):
nypd, becoming a cop. He tells her that that's her Calling, that's
what she's meant to do. And it's his job to make sure that
she goes in that direction. And she had zero interest in this,
something she had never thought of before. So she kind of writes it off.
She has other pursuits, but, you know, has
this relationship with Freddie Prinz. And there's a section in the
(26:07):
story where she confronts him and she's like, right, if you're my guardian angel, you
know, help me out, you know, give me the
name of the horses that are going to, or the horse rather
that's going to win this race this weekend so that I can bet on it
and make some money because I'm struggling, so on and so forth. And he tells
her that doesn't really work that way. He can try, but he's
(26:28):
not supposed to do stuff like that. And she's asking for this because he
came back at this point to tell her to stay away from a specific
person. He gives her the name of the person and that, you know, it's
a name that she hadn't heard before. But she's like, whatever, okay,
but I'll do that if you do this for me and give me the name
of this horse that's going to win this race. And these are the two names,
(26:50):
begrudgingly. And then she goes
to bet on the horse and sees the name of the
guy that he told her to stay away from.
So now she's like, confused. She's like, wait, do I stay away from betting on
this horse? Then like, what's. What I do? So she winds up not betting
and the horse wins. She would have won a bunch of
(27:12):
money. And she winds up not, not betting on it because
the signals got crossed there. And then she has this friend
who is into modeling
and wants to be an actress and a model. She and her
friend both kind of look alike. A lot of people mistake them as sisters
and they get approached by this like shady looking
(27:36):
agent guy and he has the
other name or a characteristic of the other name that she thought
was the horse's name. So now she's like, wait, this guy does seem kind of
shady. Maybe this is the one I was supposed to stay away from because the
horse like bet hit and I would have won. So I'm gonna stay away
from that guy. And she tells her friend, listen, stay away from him. I can't
(27:56):
tell you why, but I don't trust him. And the friend doesn't listen to her
and, you know, goes with this agent to like shoot a
portfolio. And, you know, it's very cliche type of thing.
But the agent winds up booking her for a commercial, booking her for different.
For multiple commercials. After that, she winds up
going off to becoming a successful actress.
(28:18):
And, you know, they get estranged, the two friends. So
essentially, Freddie Prince comes back, like, at a later time in
her life, and she's like, yeah, what the fuck? I would have made a bunch
of money with the. The horses, and I would have been a
famous actress model. And he was like, you know, I'm sorry. I mean,
I mixed the names up. I made a mistake. And then she
(28:41):
winds up growing up, going to college. She starts dating this
guy who is a cop. And it's the first time she starts thinking
really of becoming a police officer. And, you know, had Freddy Prinz in her
head all those years, saying that that's your calling. That's where she's meant to
be. And she winds up becoming a cop, and she's a good one.
The relationship with the guy doesn't work out, but
(29:03):
she's very, very into her profession.
And Freddie Prinze comes back and tells her, listen, you are going to be in
a situation with a homeless person and just do
not shoot them. That is the whole purpose of why I've been
appearing all these years. You will regret it for the rest of your
life if you shoot that person. You're gonna get into
(29:25):
this confrontation. It'll be okay. Just don't shoot.
Whatever you do, do not shoot. And, you know, she goes on with her life,
takes the advice, goes on with her life, and is in this situation
with a belligerent homeless person who attacks her,
attacks her, attacks her partner, and the person slashes her face.
She has blood running down her cheek. And she starts remembering now
(29:49):
the advice, the. The warning from Freddie Prince.
Don't shoot the homeless person. You're going to regret it for the rest of your
life. And I really like here from a writing perspective, how
the author slowed the time. Here
they wrote about when she drew her gun on the
homeless person and the homeless person slashes her face. And her
(30:11):
remembering the words of Freddie Prinze of not shooting or
you regret it for the rest of your life. And how the writer writes.
Every second felt like a month. And the sounds of the city
went away. And all I heard was the blood pulsing
in my ears. My target became blurry. Like that
kind of writing, slowing down time under stress was a great writing
(30:34):
technique. That is something that stood out to me. And
she listens to the advice of Freddie Prinz. She doesn't shoot when
the attacker continues to come at her. She winds up getting
stabbed multiple times and dying and her spirit
lifts up out of her body. She sees herself on the ground, dead.
Freddy Prince appears to her and tells her that he mixed things up again.
(30:56):
And the final line in the story captures
the the dark humor of it, which was what do you expect
when Freddie Prince is your guardian angel? Now those were the main stories
that stood out to me from this series. And there's another good one actually,
of a con man that is selling fake
boats and winds up getting out conned
(31:18):
by others. But I'll let you discover that one right here
yourselves. But I'm liking these short stories
though, because they they teach pacing and tone.
Like, if you're looking at it from from a creative lens through that perspective,
pacing and tone and the characters are like really compressed.
(31:38):
Each story has to build a full world
just within a few pages. So it forces
writers to make every sentence count, which
is another great takeaway for myself. So I'm definitely looking forward to
reading a few more in the noir series.
And if you're a writer, here's a great exercise. Pick a neighborhood
(32:01):
or a single street corner that you know well and
try to write a story that could only happen there.
Because noir isn't just about crime. It's about
consequence. It's about motivation and that
gray space between right and wrong. And if you want to check
out Manhattan Noir, I'll drop a link in the episode
(32:23):
description for you folks to check out.
I flipped through one of my trusty little notebooks
and have a free writing piece to share with you
folks. This one is not on my website, so it's
not@spun today.com forward/freewriting where
I transcribe a bunch of the free writing that I do in my notebooks
(32:46):
and I put it on there for folks to check out. But there is a
ton there that you guys can can go see this one for whatever reason, I
never put on my website. Maybe I will, but it might also be just
just a podcast exclusive. So this is a piece
that I wrote reflecting on something that was said.
So sometimes I go into free writing where it's just pen to paper. I
(33:07):
write anything and everything that comes to mind. And sometimes
I free write based on a specific quote or a clip
or something that's said either in a movie or in an interview.
And this is one of those. So it was from a radio interview
with Vince Staples and he said, quote,
A lot of a skill set is just dedication and
(33:30):
understanding and kind of taking yourself out of
it. Because if you know you're not good, then you'll
get better. End quote. Into that I wrote
objectivity. How's the serenity prayer go? Grant
me the courage to change what I can, the composure to avoid
avoid what I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference.
(33:53):
Something along those lines. It lends itself to
objectivity, which is at the core of what
Vince is speaking to here in the second half of that
statement. There's courage in the act of being objective
in disconnecting and removing yourself from yourself
in order to constructively criticize your progress in
(34:15):
something, or lack thereof. The first part of that statement
is straight Mamba mentality, that ten little word
that so many of us fall short of implementing
and following through on. Is this a simplistic view
on how one can improve? I don't think so. I
think it's spot on foundational, a base that you
(34:39):
can build your winning recipe off of, dedicate
yourself and get to know yourself enough to know
when a course correction is in order. And I wrote that on
07-21-2022 at
08:08am and I was looking at this to see
what I meant by the section, the
(35:01):
first part of that statement. Straight Mamba mentality, that 10
letter word that so many of us
far fall short of. And I was looking back at Vince's
statement and he says in the the first part of it a
lot of the skill set is just dedication. And dedication
is that 10 letter word that I was referencing. So in case you were
(35:23):
wondering, I was wondering as well and that's what it is.
But I do agree with a lot of this still that
a lot of creative pursuits is
dedication is showing up is consistency
and having the objectivity to know when you're
slacking, when you're lacking is definitely a
(35:46):
good tool to have and to be able to implement. Another
key part is the disconnecting and removing yourself from
yourself in order to constructively criticize your progress.
That's key because a lot of us, myself included,
can make can be like too close to something and
can also fall into the mistake of making up
(36:09):
excuses and rationalizing things of why you didn't get something done,
why you didn't achieve a specific goal, so on and
so forth. So being able to remove yourself from that type of pitfall
would definitely come in handy when a course correction is in order.
Yeah, maybe I will put this one on the site. If I do, you can
check it out@spun today.com forward/freewriting. Even
(36:32):
if I don't you can definitely rewind this as much as you
as you like and listen to me read it, but definitely check out the website
sponsored.com forward/freewriting for a ton of other
pieces. And that
folks was episode
292 of the Spontane Podcast.
(36:52):
Thank each and every one of you for taking the time to listen. It is
very much so appreciated. Please stick around for a few ways you can help
support this podcast if you so choose, which I really, really do
appreciate. Your support goes a long way. And until
next time, peace.
What's up folks? Tony here. I hope you're enjoying the Spun Today
(37:14):
podcast as much as I enjoy producing it for you. Here are a
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(37:37):
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so that it is in as pristine condition as
I can probably get it. ProWritingAid offers a great
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(37:59):
Go to spun today.com support click on the banner
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(38:43):
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(39:05):
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(39:28):
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(39:50):
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(40:10):
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(40:34):
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(40:56):
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(41:17):
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(41:40):
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Thanks for listening.
(42:08):
I love you Aiden. I love you Daddy.
I love you Grayson.
What's up folks? What's going on? Welcome to the Spun Today Podcast, the only
podcast that is anchored in writing but unlimited in scope.
I'm your host, Tony Ortiz and I appreciate you listening. This is episode
292 and in this episode I have
another free writing session for you fine folks that will help
motivate and inspire you to get your thoughts down on paper and
(00:42):
expand those creative ideas. In this session I'm
sharing my latest writing stats, some quick writing lessons that
I picked up on along the way, and a few notes from what I've been
reading lately. Today that's Manhattan Noir,
edited by Lawrence Block. It's a gritty anthology
full of neighborhood based stories that explore the
(01:04):
darker corners of New York City. And last but certainly
not least, I'll be sharing a free writing piece of my own.
Stick around for all that good stuff, but first I want to tell you
all about a quick way that you can help support this show.
Your support means a ton. It's highly appreciated. I really, really do
appreciate it. It helps keep the lights on here in the proverbial Spun
(01:26):
Today Studios and motivates me to continue putting out content
that you all will appreciate. So aside from visiting spunt
today.com support where you'll see all my affiliate
links and discount codes that I have for you folks, here is
one of the ways that you can help support this show and then
jump right into the episode. For
(01:49):
my fellow writers and creatives out there, a really cool way you can help support
this show is by going to Spun Today.com
support and clicking on the ProWritingAid
banner. If you're a listener of the show, you know that I use prowritingaid
to pre edit all of my writing before I put it out or before I
ship it off to my editor so that it is in
(02:10):
as pristine condition as I can probably get it.
ProWritingAid offers a great toolkit that helps you polish
your work with easy to use grammar checks and writing assistant that
also looks into things like pacing improvements, typos,
punctuations, and much more. Go to spun today.com
support click on the banner for prowritingaid and check out their free
(02:32):
option as well as their different tiers of paid options.
Spun today.com support
my writing stats for August 2025 I
absolutely stepped my game up a bit to a level that I'm actually satisfied with
when factoring in other life dynamic stuff. But
(02:53):
I wrote 16 out of the 31
days in August for writing percentage of
51.61%. Actually, if I'm not
mistaken, my highest writing percentage for this
year, which is deplorable, as
Hillary Clinton would say. And for September month end
(03:15):
similar to June and July of this year, I did not track
my writing stats, which means I didn't do enough writing
to actually even track it. I know I worked on
a little minor things here and there, but definitely not a good
job of staying consistent and also not
a good job of executing the tracking portion.
(03:37):
But I have re picked up also went on vacation, by the way, which
I'll tell you guys about in another episode. Took a
vacation, a family vacation out to Aruba, which was awesome. But I did start
picking up the tracking again in October. So for the next free writing session
episode, you guys will definitely see what I've been up to there.
And just in terms of writing, I am
(03:59):
excited to share that I had for folks
that listen to my podcast, you know that after writing my first
novel, Fractale, the science fiction time travel
novel, I've had a bit of writer's block in terms
of the second book in that series I have written for it,
but definitely not enough, especially being that it's been
(04:22):
about four years now, maybe even more since the first one
came out and I published Melted Cold in between. Then
that's how much redis block I had for that series specifically that I went off
and wrote, edited and published a short story
collection. Talk about resistance, right? But
(04:42):
I had a breakthrough and epiphany I
knew had seeds of ideas and I have
tons of research files within like my scrivener writing
program like within the binder there for the second book and even for the third
book. But I just couldn't get anything
exciting going enough to
(05:05):
like pull me into. Okay, this is the story that I'm going to tell. And
I know I had that feeling for the first one, but I did have
like a creative break there and something just clicked
and I outlined it, mapped it all out and I'm actually
excited again about sitting down and
as Jordan Peele once said, just start filling up the
(05:26):
sandbox with sand and getting that first draft out that complete from
beginning to end, first draft out and then after all that
sand is in the sandbox, then start creating the castles that
I want to create. But now like I have enough of the elements of the
ideas and the previous research that I did and the trajectory
that I want ahead in to be able to begin practically
(05:48):
tackling it. So really excited about that. I think that's going to help
with these writing stats to bump them up
through the fourth quarter of this year. And those
are my writing stats, the writing tip
that I want to share with you folks. This episode, it's
actually going to be two of them, and I'm pulling them from my Instagram
(06:11):
stories. So I actually have this cool section that even I revisit
from time to time where I save
Instagram stories under writing advice that you guys should definitely check
out. Especially for my fellow creatives out there. It's pretty motivating,
inspiring. It has been for me. Kind of gives you like a nudge and a
kick in the ass when you need a bit of that.
(06:33):
So definitely check it out in my Instagram page spun today
on Instagram, where I'll take like a quote that a writer
has said or a snippet
of an interview or a panel that they're on where they're speaking
about their creative process and things that
I kind of want to save and keep within my little creative toolkit,
(06:56):
if you will. And I saved them all down there under
the writing advice stories. So check that
out. Both of the writing tips that I'm going to share with you guys today
are from there. The first one is a quote from
Sandra Chuialkowska. Apologies in
advance for butchering that last name, but she said, quote,
(07:18):
you don't really know what your novel is about until you've written
it. So the purpose of your first draft is
to figure out what you're trying to say, end
quote. And that's helpful to me,
particularly in, like, the. The mind state that I'm in
with book two and the fractal series where I'm kind of
(07:40):
letting perfectionism or the expectation of to
stop me from moving forward at all. Because I think I need every
single thing worked out before
beginning to write it all. Which is not the case. It's never been the case.
I don't know why I've been stuck on that, and particularly with this
book, because I've been able to write other things, like I mentioned earlier. But
(08:03):
I like advice like that because it is just
a reminder to that it kind of gives you license
or permission, if you will, to be like, oh, yeah, sure, I don't have to
have every single nook and cranny figured out. I can start writing it.
And it's a draft. It's not going anywhere. It's for my eyes only.
You know, just start adding sand to the sandbox. Then
(08:26):
once you have your sand, then start, you know, throwing out the sand you don't
need, forming the pillars of your castle as you need them
with the sand that you do have that you do want to keep, so on
and so forth. So I very much so appreciate that quote from that
perspective, the next piece of advice and the second tip that
I'm sharing with you guys today is actually from Jordan Peele,
(08:47):
and it's a clip from when he was on a panel
for Film Independent. And he said, quote, if
you're not having fun writing, you're doing it wrong. I can't worry about the
movie getting made. I have to write my
favorite movie that doesn't exist. And it
wasn't like I was writing. And then he
(09:09):
emotions like feverishly writing. And he says,
it wasn't like I was feverishly writing for like five
years straight. I allowed it to be my hobby. I allowed it
to be the project that I would go to instead of watching
television. And that would be the most fun thing
that I could do with my time. And the whole purpose of it was to
(09:31):
help me get better as a writer. I know that from Key and Peele.
When you're having fun writing, that's when you get the
east, west bullshit. It works.
Fun works. Any writer or artist dealing
with writer's block, which we all deal with, follow the
fun, end quote. And that's great advice there. And
(09:54):
it's akin to what I was saying earlier about the, like, breakthrough idea
that I had and being excited about it. You know, follow
the fun, like Jordan Peele says there. Or in my case, follow the
excitement about something. And I like how that advice is
grounded in reality. Like how he says, because from the outside looking in,
somebody says they're a writer or they write stories or they wrote this X, Y
(10:16):
and Z. You kind of have this. Or at least I like projected
psycho around them. Like, oh, my God, they're like this professional writer that
sits down and 247 is just thinking about stories and
nothing else. And it is so prolific
and putting out a thousand pages a day,
or words, rather, a day, etc, etc. How
(10:39):
he says there, this very successful writer,
director, creative. He points out there
that it wasn't. That it wasn't feverishly
intensely writing day in and day out. It
was something that he allowed to be a hobby. He allowed himself to.
He created a situation where he would look forward to the thing, where he would
(11:00):
get excited about it, where he wanted to do that as fun,
more so than just sitting down and watching tv. I think that's a really
important point and lesson to take away there. And of course,
like he says, follow the fun. And how I'll add
follow the excitement, follow what makes you excited.
And that, my dear listeners, are the writing tips that I wanted to share with
(11:24):
you guys in this episode. If you want to check those out and more,
follow me on Instagram puntoday and check out the Writing
Advice Stories section.
What I've Been Reading I've been reading Manhattan Noir,
which is a short story anthology, and I will mention each and
every one of the writers involved in a bit. But first I
(11:47):
just want to say that there will be spoilers as I
recap some of the stories from this book
and share some writing insights that I took away from
it. So consider yourselves warned. First off, I wanted to
mention how I discovered the book. I actually came across Manhattan
Noir from a recommendation recommendation
(12:10):
recommendation by Sam Morrill on the We Might
be Drunk podcast during the episode with
Greg Fitzsimmons, and he recapped a couple of the stories in it,
including the one that turned out to be my favorite that I'm gonna share with
you guys in a bit. And the concept of the
series really interested me and I decided to check it out
(12:32):
and I'm glad I did. So hat tip to Samarill
for a really dope wreck. Now, according to the editor of the book,
Lawrence Block, the challenge that he put out to writers was
that each story had to take place in a different neighborhood of
Manhattan, and that concept alone makes this series
worth reading. It's like a like a dark literary
(12:55):
subway ride through the city. Now let's shout out the writers
of this great anthology, because if we don't give it up to the writers here
on the Sponsor Day podcast, then who will? The writers are Charles
or Die, who wrote the Good Samaritan that takes place in Midtown,
which was, by the way, my favorite story, a lot of which I'm going
to share with you guys in a bit. Carolea Benjamin
(13:18):
wrote the Last Supper. That was good too, which takes place
in Greenwich Village. Lawrence Block, which is also the
editor of the anthology, he wrote if you can't Stand the
Heat, which takes place in Clinton. That was actually pretty good too. That's
an honorable mention. Thomas H. Cook, who
wrote Rain Taking Place in Battery Park.
(13:40):
Jeffrey Deaver, who wrote A Nice Place to Visit,
Taking Place in Hell's Kitchen. That was a cool one.
Jim Fusilli, which makes me think of Fusilli.
Jerry wrote the Next Best Thing, taking
place at the George Washington Bridge. Robert
Knightley wrote Take the Man's Pay, taking
(14:03):
place in the Garment District. John Lutz
wrote the Laundry Room, taking place in the Upper west side. Liz
Martinez wrote Freddie Prinze Is My Guardian
angel, which was a fun one. Taking Place in Washington Heights,
man. Myers wrote the Organ Grinder Taking Place in
Les. The Lower east side. Martin Myers
(14:25):
wrote why do they have to Hit? Taking place in Yorkville.
S.J. rosen wrote Building Taking Place in
Harlem. Justin Scott wrote the Most
Beautiful Apartment in New York, Taking place in Chelsea.
C.J. sullivan wrote the Last Round, Taking Place in
Inwood. And last but certainly not least, Juge
(14:47):
wrote Crying with Audrey Hepburn, Taking Place
in Times Square. Shout out to each and every
one of those great writers that put this really dope anthology
series together. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that
there are other noir books, at least one, maybe two of
which I plan on checking out, and maybe more after that, depending on how
(15:10):
those go. But it's a whole noir series. The
Akashic Noir series, they're called. There's a Brooklyn Noir,
a Brooklyn Noir 2A DC Noir,
Baltimore Noir, Dublin Noir, Chicago
Noir, San Francisco Noir. And
forthcoming are Twin Cities Noir, Los Angeles Noir,
(15:32):
London Noir, Wall Street Noir,
Miami Noir, Havana Noir, Bronx Noir, and Lone
Star Noir. Definitely gonna check out the Brooklyn one next,
depending on that goes Brooklyn Part two. And I'm looking forward to the Wall
street one as well. I'll definitely keep you fine folks posted on
those. So I've made notes, as I do while
(15:55):
reading or listening to the audiobook of these stories, and I
want to share some of my key takeaways and writing moments that
really stood out to me, starting with my
favorite story in the series, which opens up the anthology
the Good Samaritan by Charles R. Dai. So this story takes
place in midtown Manhattan, and there are homeless people
(16:18):
turning up dead very frequently, multiple within a week,
every other day in some cases. And the story
follows a detective and his partner who
are trying to figure out who the killer is or all
are. Well, first trying to figure out if these
are accidental or coincidental. And it's tough for them to
(16:41):
piece investigations together because they
are homeless victims. You know, they don't have a lot to go by,
no known friends or family or relatives that they
could connect to and question. And everyone seems
all but happy to write them off as
accidents or, you know, homeless people
(17:04):
being ill and. And passing away due to
the poor conditions that they live in. But this one detective is not letting
up. He's continuing to pursue and ultimately pieces together
from a conversation with one homeless person
that there was this really nice guy that came up to.
That came up to her and offered her a free cigarette.
(17:27):
The detective didn't think anything of it really. You know, he's just going around interviewing
different homeless people. And the next day that homeless person
turned up dead, that same one. And the detective
remembered the anecdote of someone offering them a
cigarette. They find the cigarette there by the body,
sent it in for testing, and it found that it did have poison in it.
(17:50):
So it was a poisonous cigarette. Then went back
to a couple of the other homeless deaths that had
occurred and actually found one of the more recent
ones and picked up a cigarette that was left within
the magazine that was found on the homeless person that had
passed. Took that into evidence and tested that and it
(18:11):
came up positive again for the same poison. So they piece
together somebody's going around poisoning homeless people with cigarettes.
The partner is thinking from a practical
perspective. You know, what can we do? We can't just arrest everybody that
smokes this name brand cigarette that everybody smokes. But the
main detective doesn't let up, doesn't want to let it go, doesn't want to write
(18:33):
it off so easily. He takes it upon himself to go undercover
as a homeless person. So he dresses up all tattered
and starts sleeping in the street. Sleeps in the street one night,
spends the whole day the next day on the street in a different location,
moving from spot to spot, seeing what he can pick up on, hoping
that somebody comes up to him and offers him a cigarette. And I
(18:56):
really like the description here
of what the homeless detective saw while sitting on the floor.
There's a point where he starts describing people just walking
by the way their arms would swing as they
walked, their legs, some of the children being at eye
level and the parents would pull their
(19:19):
curious faces away from him, bike tires rotating,
etc. And they were like simple descriptions,
but it made it incredibly visual. It
made you think about being there in that perspective of
someone laying or sitting on the floor. Then ultimately a well
dressed, middle aged man approaches him and offers him a
(19:42):
cigarette. And he has concealed under his clothes his
gun and a recorder. And he's second guessing himself because this
just looks like an ordinary, like a well put together,
articulate older man, but it's the same
brand of cigarette. So he starts pressing the guy and telling him
to smoke a cigarette, but he refuses. He said he doesn't want to, but he's
(20:04):
insistent that he, the homeless man, take the free cigarette and smoke it.
Then the cop pulls out his gun and essentially forces a
confession out of him. And he admits
to the whole thing that he has Been killing the homeless people.
But when confronted about it, the killer says that he's poisoning the
homeless to put them out of their misery because they
(20:27):
shouldn't live that way. Doing drugs and selling their bodies.
That's no way to live, he thought. And the way
he's doing it, they feel no pain. They just smoke a cigarette, go to sleep,
and don't wake up the next day. And in that exchange between the two characters,
it really stood out to me how troubled he was
by the fact that he couldn't seem to come to terms with what the
(20:50):
detective was telling him he was doing, which was killing people who
just continue justifying it in that way that, no, I'm just giving them a
cigarette. I'm putting them out of their misery. I'm helping them. And that
psychological realism is haunting in a
way, because aside from him being a sick fuck, you know, going
around murdering people and justifying it and rationalizing it to
(21:13):
himself, the mental gymnastics that someone is
able and willing to do, to think, to make themselves think
and believe that what they're doing is okay just really stood out to
me. And in that moment, the quote, unquote homeless
detective was recording the conversation. And had
this guy that, to rights, from a legal perspective, just started
(21:35):
noticing how well dressed he was and
how he had a nice watch on his hand and expensive shoes on.
And how he was visibly terrified of the
gun, but still showed no remorse about what he was doing.
And was insistent on the fact that he's doing something good. You know, he's helping
them, putting them out of their midweek. He started playing things out in his head
(21:58):
on how this guy would hire
some hotshot fancy attorney to defend him in court.
And that even them having a recorded confession on tape,
the attorney would write that off to the jury by saying something
along the lines of, of course he admitted to the crime. Wouldn't you, if you
had a gun to your head? And then juxtapose with the fact that
(22:21):
all the victims are these voiceless homeless people
who would have nobody speaking on their behalf. He decided to take matters
into his own hands. He drew his gun and forced
the man to smoke his own cigarette. And if not,
threatened, to shoot him. He refused, pushing back on the
idea, obviously, but ultimately succumbed to the
(22:43):
fear of the gun. And Wanda was smoking the cigarette. And then the
cop, after the guy fell asleep, took his
homeless clothes off that he was wearing, put it on the guy,
exchanged clothes with him, left the scene without anyone around.
And the next day was just reported that another homeless person was
Found dead on the side of the street. How dope is that story?
(23:06):
I haven't gotten tired of sharing that with people, so I hope you'll
get a kick out of it as well. That's, that's one of the stories that
Sam Morrill, by the way, when he was telling Mark Norman
and Greg Fitzsimmons about the series, he
broke down that story as well. And even though I knew what was
happening, it still made me want to read the story. And I'm definitely glad I
(23:28):
did. So just because you know what's gonna happen,
definitely don't let, let that deter you from checking it out.
Another one that got my attention was A Nice
Place to Visit by Jeffrey Deaver, which took place in
Hell's Kitchen. It's a story about this girl that's at a bar that
seems like she's being set up to be victimized.
(23:51):
But she flips the script and it turns out that she's the predator.
She's been going to different bars, different neighborhoods or different
places and playing the role of
single, naive girl until
guys offer to buy her a drink. She goes back to their place
and then she winds up drugging them, slipping a roofie in their
(24:14):
drinks, and just robbing them blind.
And it's a classic noir. Power
dynamics flipped on their head, and a story of
danger hiding behind charm. So coming
from an unexpected place. And the story actually reminded
me of a short story of mine which if you're interested, you can definitely
(24:37):
check out in my short story series, Melted
Cold. And it remind me of the story ball and Chain
that I have in there where I have a role reversal
dynamic flip of sorts where the wife in that story turns
out to be a serial killer. Spoiler alert. Right?
But if you want to check that out, check that out@spun today.com forward slash
(24:59):
books. There's one more story I wanted to tell you guys about. It was a
fun one and it was Freddie Prince is My Guardian angel
by Liz Martinez. And this one takes place in
Washington Heights. And it's a coming of age story
of a young girl who idolized Freddie Prinze. She
was like number one Stan before he died.
(25:22):
Then after he died, she was such a huge fan of his that
he started appearing to her at different
stages throughout her life. And she finds that he's
her guardian angel. And at different moments throughout her life, you know, sometimes months
would pass, years would pass in between visits, but he
would always nudge her towards joining the
(25:44):
nypd, becoming a cop. He tells her that that's her Calling, that's
what she's meant to do. And it's his job to make sure that
she goes in that direction. And she had zero interest in this,
something she had never thought of before. So she kind of writes it off.
She has other pursuits, but, you know, has
this relationship with Freddie Prinz. And there's a section in the
(26:07):
story where she confronts him and she's like, right, if you're my guardian angel, you
know, help me out, you know, give me the
name of the horses that are going to, or the horse rather
that's going to win this race this weekend so that I can bet on it
and make some money because I'm struggling, so on and so forth. And he tells
her that doesn't really work that way. He can try, but he's
(26:28):
not supposed to do stuff like that. And she's asking for this because he
came back at this point to tell her to stay away from a specific
person. He gives her the name of the person and that, you know, it's
a name that she hadn't heard before. But she's like, whatever, okay,
but I'll do that if you do this for me and give me the name
of this horse that's going to win this race. And these are the two names,
(26:50):
begrudgingly. And then she goes
to bet on the horse and sees the name of the
guy that he told her to stay away from.
So now she's like, confused. She's like, wait, do I stay away from betting on
this horse? Then like, what's. What I do? So she winds up not betting
and the horse wins. She would have won a bunch of
(27:12):
money. And she winds up not, not betting on it because
the signals got crossed there. And then she has this friend
who is into modeling
and wants to be an actress and a model. She and her
friend both kind of look alike. A lot of people mistake them as sisters
and they get approached by this like shady looking
(27:36):
agent guy and he has the
other name or a characteristic of the other name that she thought
was the horse's name. So now she's like, wait, this guy does seem kind of
shady. Maybe this is the one I was supposed to stay away from because the
horse like bet hit and I would have won. So I'm gonna stay away
from that guy. And she tells her friend, listen, stay away from him. I can't
(27:56):
tell you why, but I don't trust him. And the friend doesn't listen to her
and, you know, goes with this agent to like shoot a
portfolio. And, you know, it's very cliche type of thing.
But the agent winds up booking her for a commercial, booking her for different.
For multiple commercials. After that, she winds up
going off to becoming a successful actress.
(28:18):
And, you know, they get estranged, the two friends. So
essentially, Freddie Prince comes back, like, at a later time in
her life, and she's like, yeah, what the fuck? I would have made a bunch
of money with the. The horses, and I would have been a
famous actress model. And he was like, you know, I'm sorry. I mean,
I mixed the names up. I made a mistake. And then she
(28:41):
winds up growing up, going to college. She starts dating this
guy who is a cop. And it's the first time she starts thinking
really of becoming a police officer. And, you know, had Freddy Prinz in her
head all those years, saying that that's your calling. That's where she's meant to
be. And she winds up becoming a cop, and she's a good one.
The relationship with the guy doesn't work out, but
(29:03):
she's very, very into her profession.
And Freddie Prinze comes back and tells her, listen, you are going to be in
a situation with a homeless person and just do
not shoot them. That is the whole purpose of why I've been
appearing all these years. You will regret it for the rest of your
life if you shoot that person. You're gonna get into
(29:25):
this confrontation. It'll be okay. Just don't shoot.
Whatever you do, do not shoot. And, you know, she goes on with her life,
takes the advice, goes on with her life, and is in this situation
with a belligerent homeless person who attacks her,
attacks her, attacks her partner, and the person slashes her face.
She has blood running down her cheek. And she starts remembering now
(29:49):
the advice, the. The warning from Freddie Prince.
Don't shoot the homeless person. You're going to regret it for the rest of your
life. And I really like here from a writing perspective, how
the author slowed the time. Here
they wrote about when she drew her gun on the
homeless person and the homeless person slashes her face. And her
(30:11):
remembering the words of Freddie Prinze of not shooting or
you regret it for the rest of your life. And how the writer writes.
Every second felt like a month. And the sounds of the city
went away. And all I heard was the blood pulsing
in my ears. My target became blurry. Like that
kind of writing, slowing down time under stress was a great writing
(30:34):
technique. That is something that stood out to me. And
she listens to the advice of Freddie Prinz. She doesn't shoot when
the attacker continues to come at her. She winds up getting
stabbed multiple times and dying and her spirit
lifts up out of her body. She sees herself on the ground, dead.
Freddy Prince appears to her and tells her that he mixed things up again.
(30:56):
And the final line in the story captures
the the dark humor of it, which was what do you expect
when Freddie Prince is your guardian angel? Now those were the main stories
that stood out to me from this series. And there's another good one actually,
of a con man that is selling fake
boats and winds up getting out conned
(31:18):
by others. But I'll let you discover that one right here
yourselves. But I'm liking these short stories
though, because they they teach pacing and tone.
Like, if you're looking at it from from a creative lens through that perspective,
pacing and tone and the characters are like really compressed.
(31:38):
Each story has to build a full world
just within a few pages. So it forces
writers to make every sentence count, which
is another great takeaway for myself. So I'm definitely looking forward to
reading a few more in the noir series.
And if you're a writer, here's a great exercise. Pick a neighborhood
(32:01):
or a single street corner that you know well and
try to write a story that could only happen there.
Because noir isn't just about crime. It's about
consequence. It's about motivation and that
gray space between right and wrong. And if you want to check
out Manhattan Noir, I'll drop a link in the episode
(32:23):
description for you folks to check out.
I flipped through one of my trusty little notebooks
and have a free writing piece to share with you
folks. This one is not on my website, so it's
not@spun today.com forward/freewriting where
I transcribe a bunch of the free writing that I do in my notebooks
(32:46):
and I put it on there for folks to check out. But there is a
ton there that you guys can can go see this one for whatever reason, I
never put on my website. Maybe I will, but it might also be just
just a podcast exclusive. So this is a piece
that I wrote reflecting on something that was said.
So sometimes I go into free writing where it's just pen to paper. I
(33:07):
write anything and everything that comes to mind. And sometimes
I free write based on a specific quote or a clip
or something that's said either in a movie or in an interview.
And this is one of those. So it was from a radio interview
with Vince Staples and he said, quote,
A lot of a skill set is just dedication and
(33:30):
understanding and kind of taking yourself out of
it. Because if you know you're not good, then you'll
get better. End quote. Into that I wrote
objectivity. How's the serenity prayer go? Grant
me the courage to change what I can, the composure to avoid
avoid what I can't, and the wisdom to know the difference.
(33:53):
Something along those lines. It lends itself to
objectivity, which is at the core of what
Vince is speaking to here in the second half of that
statement. There's courage in the act of being objective
in disconnecting and removing yourself from yourself
in order to constructively criticize your progress in
(34:15):
something, or lack thereof. The first part of that statement
is straight Mamba mentality, that ten little word
that so many of us fall short of implementing
and following through on. Is this a simplistic view
on how one can improve? I don't think so. I
think it's spot on foundational, a base that you
(34:39):
can build your winning recipe off of, dedicate
yourself and get to know yourself enough to know
when a course correction is in order. And I wrote that on
07-21-2022 at
08:08am and I was looking at this to see
what I meant by the section, the
(35:01):
first part of that statement. Straight Mamba mentality, that 10
letter word that so many of us
far fall short of. And I was looking back at Vince's
statement and he says in the the first part of it a
lot of the skill set is just dedication. And dedication
is that 10 letter word that I was referencing. So in case you were
(35:23):
wondering, I was wondering as well and that's what it is.
But I do agree with a lot of this still that
a lot of creative pursuits is
dedication is showing up is consistency
and having the objectivity to know when you're
slacking, when you're lacking is definitely a
(35:46):
good tool to have and to be able to implement. Another
key part is the disconnecting and removing yourself from
yourself in order to constructively criticize your progress.
That's key because a lot of us, myself included,
can make can be like too close to something and
can also fall into the mistake of making up
(36:09):
excuses and rationalizing things of why you didn't get something done,
why you didn't achieve a specific goal, so on and
so forth. So being able to remove yourself from that type of pitfall
would definitely come in handy when a course correction is in order.
Yeah, maybe I will put this one on the site. If I do, you can
check it out@spun today.com forward/freewriting. Even
(36:32):
if I don't you can definitely rewind this as much as you
as you like and listen to me read it, but definitely check out the website
sponsored.com forward/freewriting for a ton of other
pieces. And that
folks was episode
292 of the Spontane Podcast.
(36:52):
Thank each and every one of you for taking the time to listen. It is
very much so appreciated. Please stick around for a few ways you can help
support this podcast if you so choose, which I really, really do
appreciate. Your support goes a long way. And until
next time, peace.
What's up folks? Tony here. I hope you're enjoying the Spun Today
(37:14):
podcast as much as I enjoy producing it for you. Here are a
few ways you can help support the show for my fellow
writers and creatives out there, a really cool way you can help support the show
is by going to spuntoday.com support
and clicking on the ProWritingAid banner. If you're a listener of the show, you
know that I use prowritingaid to pre edit all of my writing before
(37:37):
I put it out or before I ship it off to my editor
so that it is in as pristine condition as
I can probably get it. ProWritingAid offers a great
toolkit that helps you polish your work with easy to use grammar
checks and the writing assistant that also looks into things like
pacing improvements, typos, punctuations, and much more.
(37:59):
Go to spun today.com support click on the banner
for prowritingaid and check out their free option as well
as their different tiers of paid options.
Sponsoreday.com support a great
way for my fellow writers and creatives out there to help support this show is
by going to spunterday.com support and clicking on
(38:20):
the Mock Up Shots banner. When I first started writing and
putting out content, I wanted to think of creative ways to help market
my books. So I would take my own pictures, place the books in different places,
take it to the beach with me, put it out in the snow, and I'd
wind up with a couple good usable images and a bunch
more mediocre ones. And also, in the case of the snow example,
(38:43):
a completely soggy book. Then I found Mockup Shots
in one click. Mockup Shots turns your book cover
into thousands of images, videos,
graphics and more. If you follow me on social, it's what I use to
promote my books. You can check them out on Instagram at Spun
Today to take a look at the professional creative quality of what
(39:05):
Mock Up Shots has to offer. And now for my listeners, you
can get unlimited lifetime access to the
largest instant book mockup archive for
50% off that's right, that's
50% off and you can use it for any
books that you currently have available or any books that you will write in the
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(39:28):
spun today.com support and click on the
banner for mock up shots to claim your 50% off
discount. You can also support by checking out my writing go to
spunter.com forward/freewriting here you'll
find a collection of freely written thoughts which is intended to
be a cathartic, meditative practice for myself, but also
(39:50):
winds up doubling up as motivation and inspiration
for myself and others. You can also go to spun
today.com short stories to check out my latest
short stories and also listen to the free
audiobook versions of those stories. You can also support my
writing by going to spunceaday.com
(40:10):
forward/books and check out what I have available for sale.
Currently available is Make Way for you, which is a
collection of t tips for getting out of your own way. It's a great read
for my fellow writers or creatives out there. Also available is
Fractal, which is my debut time travel novel,
and last but certainly not least, Melted Cold, which is
(40:34):
a collection of short stories. Each of the books are available in
all digital formats for your Kindle or Ibook or
any other e reader, as well as paperback
and hardcover options. Again, go to
spontaday.com books and I'd love to
hear what you chose to check out as well as your thoughts after reading spun
(40:56):
today.com books. If you're a fellow
creative, a cool way that you can help support the Spun Today Podcast and actually
be part of the podcast is by filling out my five question
questionnaire located@spun today.com
questionnaire. Here you'll find five open questions related to your
craft, your art, what inspired you to create, what type of unrelated
(41:17):
hobbies you're into, and what motivates you to get your work done. You
can choose to remain anonymous or plug your website and your work.
And once you submit your questionnaire, I read your responses on a future
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could potentially spark inspiration in someone else, why not share
(41:40):
that spun today.com questionnaire?
And as always folks, substitute the mysticism with hard work
and start taking steps in the general direction of your dreams.
Thanks for listening.
(42:08):
I love you Aiden. I love you Daddy.
I love you Grayson.
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