"Your character must want something, even if it's a glass of water!" Characters must always have wants, but it takes a bit more work to think about what they need, and more importantly, when in the story for them to address those needs. (Get the extended episode here on Patreon!) January 26, 2021 | Season 17 Ep 7 (Ep 558) | murverse.com | Copyright 2005-2021, Mur Lafferty | BY-NC-SA 3.5 License

Characters' Wants and Needs

"I should be writing" is what people say, but they rarely do it. This podcast is designed to help you get past those blocks, whether it's what your teacher told you when you were a kid, to being totally sure you'll never be as good as (FAV AUTHOR) so you might as well quit.

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S20 Ep13: In Which Mur Attends Wole Talabi's Creative Alchemy Transcript "The primary driver of my sense of success is, 'do I feel happy with what I've done?'" - Wole Talabi Mur chats with Wole Talabi, an engineer turned author (but still engineer). They discuss the Schrodinger's Cat of publishing, the thrill of rewriting old stories for new audiences, and the joy of challenging the norms of fiction. Links:   Wole Talabi   Nebula Awards   Hugo Awards   Locus Awards   Sidewise Awards for Alternate History   Lightspeed Magazine (with Wole's interview)   Caine Prize   Namwali Serpell and her short story "Account"   99 Fleeting Fantasies   Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology   Glasgow 2024 Worldcon (World Science Fiction Convention)   Evergreen Links   Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing book.   Socials: Bluesky, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate.   Theme by John Anealio   Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends   Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more!   OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!   All books featured in Season 20   Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. Also consider leaving a review for ISBW, please! "From Patent Memos to Nebula Nods with Wole Talabi" is brought to you in large part by by my supporters, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon or Substack! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link) "From Patent Memos to Nebula Nods with Wole Talabi" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA April 17, 2024 | Season 20 Ep 13 | murverse.com

[ISBW] From Patent Memos to Nebula Nods with Wole Talabi

S20 Ep 12: In Which Mur Plans to Turn Hurt Feelings into Finished Drafts  Transcript "I read over the notes and I got mad and I got my feelings hurt." - Mur (being fussy) I've received my edit letter about Infinite Archive, so I'm handling all the emotions that carries with it.  ADHD complicated my perception of time, so figuring out how long it will take me is a challenge. Valerie Valdes joins the chat with some excellent advice, like adding extra time to your deadlines to account for the unexpected. Then we touch on the basic concept of "someone comes to town, someone leaves down" (also a Cory Doctorow book title.) We also touch on the concept of love triangles in fiction, sparking a conversation about the trope's effectiveness and its alternatives. Links:  Valerie Valdes (aka @thekidsareasleep) and her Locus-longlisted book Where Peace is Lost. Cory Doctorow Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town Writing the Other (course) Neil Gaiman on "Entitlement Issues" Paul and Storm (Also ISBW fans will recognize the voice behind this other GRRM focused song, "George RR Martin Is Not Your Bitch") Jeff VanderMeer's Wonderbook James Patrick Kelly  A Song of Ice and Fire  Evergreen Links  Like the podcast? Get the book!  I Should Be Writing book. My newsletter, The Hot Mic, and my Patreon. Supporting either of those will get you perks like access to the discord, exclusive content, and early, ad-free episodes. Socials: Bluesky, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate. Theme by John Anealio Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!  (go here for all the books mentioned in 2024)  "Riding the Revision Rollercoaster"  is brought to you in large part by by my supporters, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon or Substack! Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. Also consider leaving a review for ISBW, please! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja,and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon. April 15, 2024 | Season 20 Ep 12 | murverse.com "The Revision Rollercoaster - From Hurt Feelings to Finished Drafts" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

[ISBW] Riding the Revision Rollercoaster

S20 Ep11: In which we travel "The Other Valley" with Scott Alexander Howard  Transcript "I wrote it in a blissful who cares? Mentality, like, 'oh, well, genre will sort itself out.'" - Scott Alexander Howard In this episode, we're joined by Scott Alexander Howard, author of The Other Valley, a novel where literary meets speculative. Scott delves into his journey from philosophy to fiction, sharing how his background influenced the emotional depth of his debut. We discuss the challenges of genre and the slow dance of publishing. Links:  Scott Alexander Howard The Other Valley Elena Ferrante Ted Chiang Virginia Woolf Yoko Ogawa Marilynne Robinson Jenny Erpenbeck Martin McInnes   Evergreen Links  Like the podcast? Get the book!  I Should Be Writing book. My newsletter, The Hot Mic, and my Patreon. Supporting either of those will get you perks like access to the discord, exclusive content, and early, ad-free episodes. Socials: Bluesky, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate. Theme by John Anealio Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!  (go here for all the books mentioned in 2024)  "The Landscape of Grief with Scott Alexander Howard"  is brought to you in large part by by my supporters, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon or Substack! Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. Also consider leaving a review for ISBW, please! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja,and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon. April 12, 2024 | Season 20 Ep 11 | murverse.com "The Landscape of Grief with Scott Alexander Howard" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

[ISBW] The Landscape of Grief with Scott Alexander Howard

I Should Be Writing Season 20, Episode 10 "I felt like a cuckoo among very pretty birds." - Mur Fresh off the JoCo cruise, we discusses the allure of nerd paradise and how navigating imposter syndrome is a frequent struggle. I share tabletop RPG antics, celebrity karaoke adventures, and the amazing feeling of having legitimately cool creators accept you. Self doubt did show up, and I'll talk about how I dealt with that. Also, what should I do for my 20th year podcasting celebration? Other links:   JoCo Cruise Jonathan Coulton Skullcrusher Mountain Chiron Beta Prime Portal (Video Game) Portal 2 (Video Game) NPR Ask Me Another That Bronze Girl (Twitch) Drunk History James S.A. Corey (Ty Franck) The Expanse Tochi Onyebuchi Mari Naomi Our Flag Means Death Oscar Nunez Vico Ortiz Scott Alexander Howard The Other Valley (Book by Scott Alexander Howard)  Evergreen Links  I don't talk enough about the I Should Be Writing book. It exists. Go buy it! My newsletter, The Hot Mic, and my Patreon. Supporting either of those will get you perks like access to the discord, exclusive content, and early, ad-free episodes. Socials: Bluesky, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate. Theme by John Anealio Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!  (go here for all the books mentioned in Season 20)  Your support keeps our ship afloat. Thank you for being part of the crew. If you can't give monetarily, then consider leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts! April 18, 2024 | Season 20 Ep 10 | murverse.com | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

[ISBW] Navigating Imposter Syndrome on the JoCo Cruise

I Should Be Writing Season 20, Episode 9  Transcript  "If you don't start out perfect, you're never going to be good." - Evil Mur  Evil Mur is back giving terrible advice and it's a wild ride through the looking glass of a writer's darker musings. We cover questioning the point of writing when perfection eludes us to the ruthless strategy of writing on the job. She gives some seriously excellent advice about emotions in horror, and offers an unorthodox method for trimming the fat from your prose. We touch on the Hugo Awards and reveal the cover of Mur's upcoming book, Infinite Archive. Be warned: Evil Mur doesn't play by the rules, and neither does her advice. Other links:   JoCo Cruise Baldur’s Gate 3 (game) The Secret (book) Jonathan Livingston Seagull (book) The Celestine Prophecy (book) Infinite Archive (book)  How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method (book) Hugo Awards Save the Cat Writes a Novel (book) Penguin Random House (publisher) Twitch (MightyMur)  Evergreen Links  I don't talk enough about the I Should Be Writing book. It exists. Go buy it! My newsletter, The Hot Mic, and my Patreon. Supporting either of those will get you perks like access to the discord, exclusive content, and early, ad-free episodes. Socials: Bluesky, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate. Theme by John Anealio Savor I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!  (go here for all the books in Season 20)  Support the show, if you dare, and remember: Evil Mur is watching. Write like it's your last act of defiance. CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studioand files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon. April 5, 2024 | Season 20 Ep 9 | murverse.com "The Epiphany of Routine" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Characters' Wants and Needs

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