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Chris is the lead editor and a frequent blogger for Mythcreants. On the side she also designs, codes, and writes stories. When she manages to escape from chronic workaholism, she likes to drink tea, wear funny hats, pet kitties, and crush her enemies at the game table.
We all love our furry (or not furry) companions, but how should they be used in stories? What separates animal companions from traditional side characters? Is R2-D2 an animal companion? We answer these bold questions and more on this episode of the podcast – plus we … read more »
Sometimes a sentence is very long, and it keeps going and going with commas in places that a period could be and extra clauses that don’t necessarily need to be there. Other times a sentence is short. Which is better? As is so often the … read more »
Not every person that appears in a story is an actual character. These non-characters remain in the background: standing in line, cheering after a speech, or manning a stand. Like the buildings or the waterways, they exist to flesh out the setting. They are the extras of … read more »
Some writers start every sentence with “there are,” others can’t stop italicizing, and still others write sentences that never end. We’ve all got bad habits in our writing, and this week Ariel returns to discuss them with Chris and Wes. Our hosts are all editors, … read more »
What we read influences what we write, often without our conscious intent. So if you’re working on your writing skills, pick your books carefully. Great books can show you how it’s done. Terrible ones can encourage poor habits. But which books are great? If you’re new … read more »
What’s this? Ariel has returned from the wilderness of freelance editing to grace our podcast yet again. She joins Chris and Wes for an in-depth discussion of emphasis in writing. How should writers make key passages stand out? How much is too much? Is bolding … read more »
We had so much to say about dice mechanics last week that we could have made it into two episodes. So, we did! Welcome to part two, where Chris describes a system so weird it sounds like an April Fools’ joke, Oren revels in rolling … read more »
Fiction is made of people doing things, and the standard “protagonist verb object” is a strong way to write that. But if you structure all your sentences that way, you’ll have a monotonous mess on your hands. When that happens, it can be a struggle to inject some life into stale phrasing. To keep your head from hitting the desk, I have some quick ideas you can use. Read more »
Roll to understand game mechanics, because today we’re talking about core dice mechanics. This aspect of a game’s rules can sometimes get overshadowed by flashier combat and spell mechanics, but the way a game rolls dice is essential. So essential that we had way too … read more »
External conflicts are obvious to the audience and easy for storytellers to conceptualize. The hero either defeats the villain or they get beat; they either convince the jury or they are thrown in jail. But while these conflicts are usually the first thing that new storytellers reach … read more »