Chris Winkle
Episode 332: Unusual Settings
Castles, spaceships, and high tech cities are all great, but they can get a bit repetitive.
Six Ways to Add Stakes to a Mystery
It takes a little effort to make inheritance compelling.
Episode 331: Flashbacks and Interludes
Nothing good happens in an interlude.
Why We Have to Let Go of Meta Mysteries
Admiral Ackbar called; he wants to talk about your reveal.
Comic: Vampire Hunter
If vampires were universally evil, where would we find a love interest?
Episode 330: High Magic Settings
Sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from a broken setting.
Episode 329: Writers in Stories
Why are writers so bad at writing about writing?
Five Common Reasons Stories Screech to a Halt
When the story stalls, audiences get bored and lose their motivation to continue.
Comic: Magical Timing
Just be thankful when a mage remembers they have magic at all.
Episode 328: Our Favorite Tropes
Are you tempted by tropes? That's okay!
Narration Makeover: Giving Action More Immediacy
The last thing you want is prose that makes action feel like a slog.
Episode 327: What Are Wizards?
We were going to talk about wizards, but we couldn't agree on what they are.
Five Ways to Include Dreams in Your Plot
Without impacting future events, dreams feel like a tangent or a cheap route to excitement.
Episode 326: Parents in Fiction
Parents: they really get in the way when your underaged hero wants to have dangerous adventures
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