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Fiction has a long history of sacrificing marginalized characters to further the arcs of privileged characters, but these days we have a name for that: fridging. Most of us understand that fridging is bad, but why is it bad? And once we understand that, what … read more »
Some stories are clearly marketed at men, while some are clearly marketed at women, but it’s only that second category that’s ever mentioned out loud. Everything else is assumed to be for everyone. Why is that? What is it that characterizes stories aimed at women, … read more »
If you liked a story, surely you’d love to see what happened before that story, right? No? Well, that’s the logic that drives so much of what we’re talking about today: prequels. Why do prequels happen? Why are they usually bad? Is there anything we … read more »
Sometimes we want to put something in our stories, but we don’t know much about it. What’s the answer? Research! Whether it’s the specifics of knotwork on a Phoenician trade ship or the grand sweep of empires colliding, research is a vital skill for speculative … read more »
Three people with opinions recording a podcast, what a ridiculous notion! See what we did there? That’s called lampshading, or when a story deliberately draws your attention to some aspect of its production, usually a flaw. It’s often a great source of laughs, but is … read more »
An author’s voice is generally considered to be important; sometimes it’s even said to be the most important element of writing. But what is voice, exactly? Is it really that important? Does it change from book to book, and how is it different from character … read more »
Why settle for just one god when you can have a bunch of them? That’s right, this week we’re talking about pantheons, the divine clubhouses where a bunch of different deities hang out. We discuss how pantheons often work in mythology and then talk about … read more »
This episode is a podcast within a podcast within a podcast about plots within plots within plots. That’s right, today we’re talking about fractal plotting. What is fractal plotting, you ask? Listen and find out! We talk about the most basic parts that make up … read more »
The best villains are super scary, from Star Wars’ Darth Vader to Avatar’s Azula, but they don’t get that way on their own. Storytellers have to make the right choices in order for their villains to be threatening, and it’s a task many struggle with. … read more »
We storytellers like to play games, and so it naturally follows that the characters in our plots would like to play games too. But what happens when the game becomes the plot? Is a great time had by all, or is everyone’s good day canceled … read more »