Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.

19.32: An Interview on Character with CL Clark

We sat down with CL Clark to talk about character—specifically, how they build different POV characters in the compressed space of a short story. We dive into plot processing (a tool CL Clark has learned from Mary Robinette!), how to specify the stakes of your world, and how to build…

19.31: A Close Reading on Character: Tying it All Together

Today, we’re taking a higher view on the techniques we’ve been talking about over the last four episodes and focusing on how you can use our takeaways in your own writing. We’ll go over our final thoughts on C.L. Clark’s short stories (until next week’s episode, when we interview them!).…

19.30: A Close Reading on Character: Agency vs. Choices

We have a theory that we want to work through on today’s episode: agency is the ability to take action, whereas choices are more about the interior life of the character. We use Mary Robinette’s talking cat, try-fail cycles, and C.L. Clark’s Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several…

19.28: A Close Reading on Character: Internal vs External Identity

Today, we’re focusing on C.L. Clark’s  “The Cook,” as we explore external and internal expression. We chose this story because it’s a remarkably physical and touchable story with myriad sensory details. While the audience gets very little information about what Clark’s characters are thinking, you can still understand their internal landscapes by…

19.24: An Interview on Worldbuilding with Arkady Martine

We’ve spent the last month talking about “A Memory Called Empire, and now, we are so excited to welcome the author, Arkady Martine, to the show! On today’s episode, we talk with Arkady about the origins of her novel, and dive into how she navigated the dense and intricate world-building.…

19.21: Language as a Tool (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)

What cultural and worldbuilding information is embedded within the smallest of word choices? Today, we dive into three specific sections from throughout Martine’s “A Memory Called Empire”:  the word for empire, assimilation and naming, and learning the word for bomb. We unpack how Martine uses language to establish important principles…

19.18: How to Build Fictional Economies

Sometimes we know the action and themes of your story, but you don’t know how to build an economy that supports those. Well today, we explain just how to do that! What are some questions you can ask yourself about the worth of certain goods and services in the world…