In our ongoing exploration of tension, the time has come to examine conflict. It can be shaped and delivered in numerous ways, but you have to know the core conflict before you can make anybody feel tense about it. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and … Continue reading 18.13: Finding the Core Conflict →

• Conflict, 
• Fight Scenes, 
• Tension

Our continuing exploration of tension has taken us to a favorite technique: unanswered questions. Sure, this obviously applies to mysteries, but consider the question posed in romances: “will they get together?” In its simplest form, the unanswered question that forces a page-turn is “what happens on the next page?” In this episode we explore how to … Continue reading 18.12: The Long Shadow of Unanswered Questions →

• Fulfilling Promises, 
• Promises to the Reader, 
• Suspense, 
• Tension, 
• Unanswered Questions

Our deconstruction and categorization of tension continues this week with an exploration of Juxtaposition, which is a contrast between two elements that supplies tension by allowing the reader to insert themselves. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was recorded by Marshall Carr, … Continue reading 18.11: Turning Up the Contrast With Juxtaposition →

• Forced Congruence, 
• Horror, 
• Humor, 
• Juxtaposition, 
• Tension

Last week we talked about tension, and promised that we’d be breaking it down into more pieces. This week we’re discussing one of those pieces: Anticipation. We sub-divided it as follows: Surprise Suspense Humor Promises We talk about how to create anticipatory tension well, where the pitfalls are, and how this fits into the creation … Continue reading 18.10: Anticipation is More Than Just Making Us Wait →

• Anticipation, 
• Fulfilling Promises, 
• Horror, 
• Humor, 
• Promises to the Reader, 
• shoe, 
• Suspense, 
• Tension

For the next several episodes we’ll be talking about tension. That may seem like a lot of time to spend on just one word, but as we unpack the word ‘tension’ in this episode you’ll see that there is plenty of material to work with.

• Characters, 
• Conflict, 
• Emotion, 
• First Pages, 
• Juxtaposition, 
• Microtension, 
• Ted Lasso, 
• Tension, 
• The Matrix, 
• Tool, 
• Unanswered Questions

After last week’s deep dive into The Spare Man we’re ready to talk more generally about mysteries, and the tools we use to write them. Obviously we can’t cover all of that in just one episode, but don’t worry. In upcoming episodes we’ll explore more of these tools in detail. Credits: Your hosts for this episode … Continue reading 18.08: Building a Mystery →

• Agatha Christie, 
• Bookshelf Genre, 
• Hercule Poirot, 
• Mystery, 
• Noir, 
• Police Procedural, 
• Sherlock Holmes, 
• Sub-genre

Spoiler Alert! This week is our deep dive into Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Spare Man. It’s a sci-fi mystery novel often described as “The Thin Man in space.” Deep dive episodes are necessarily full of spoilers because we ask all kinds of how and why questions specific to the writing of the work in question. If … Continue reading 18.07: Deep Dive into THE SPARE MAN →

• Deep Dive, 
• Mystery, 
• Science Fiction, 
• Story Structure

Your Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler In this episode we interview Howard Tayler, one of the founding members of the podcast, and the creator of Schlock Mercenary. The first question: how did this twenty-year ride change you? And a later question: what comes next? Liner Notes: We’ll eventually … Continue reading 18.06: An Interview With Howard Tayler →

• Humor, 
• Interviews, 
• Serials, 
• Series, 
• Social Satire, 
• Writing Career