Alien Diplomacy
How Do I Write Structural Oppression?
How can I write a story about fighting racism? I want to write a character who’s faced prejudice and hatred from everyone around them and never found a place to live. How can the character learn to combat racism and bigotry and oppression in a … read more »
302 – Humor in Stories
What’s that, you want to know how to tell jokes in fiction? I guess we could… humor you. Yeah, that’s about the level of comedy you should expect from this podcast, but on the bright side, we do have some actual insights into how humor … read more »
Building Crescent City: How Maas Remixed Old Tropes
Hey there, friend, do you feel like joining some vampires for a night out on the town? What about riding with a werewolf motorcycle gang or chasing down demons in the city’s unrealistically accessible sewers? I hope at least one of those things appeals to … read more »
Nine Ways to Describe Your Viewpoint Character
One of the most common questions that comes up in writing is how to gracefully describe the point-of-view character. In limited perspective, the narration reflects what that character is thinking at some level. While it’s easy to work in description of other characters as soon … read more »
What’s a Non-Ableist Alternative to “Losing Sanity” in Stories?
Fay, I’ve read your article on addressing ableism in sanity systems, and I’ve been wondering how to write about horrible things that do cause radical alterations in people. I come from the land of the SCP Foundation Wiki and they have anomalies that hijack and … read more »
301 – Theming Your World… Again
Water, earth, fire, Amelia Earhart. Wait, what? One of those things is not like the others. This is what happens when you don’t theme your world. What does theming your world mean? I’m glad you asked, because this week we have a podcast all about … read more »
Six More Stories That Don’t Understand Power and Privilege
There are lots of things that stories can get wrong, but few are as relevant to our lives as power and privilege. Whether we like it or not, power and privilege affect every aspect of our lives, from how much we’re paid to whether we … read more »
Lessons From the Tense Writing of Winter World
I was hoodwinked by the marketing of Winter World. It says “International Bestseller” on the cover, and without thinking about it too hard, I assumed that meant this book was a bestseller. Only later did I realize it’s probably referring to the author, A. G. … read more »
D&D 5th Edition Subclasses: Swords vs Valor Bards
The bard has managed to grow beyond the subpar abilities of previous editions to become one of the best classes in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. It is a full caster class boasting a robust spell list and has the ability to steal a total … read more »