Here Be Tygers: Your Storytelling Guide

Here Be Tygers: Your Storytelling Guide

By Jarod CerfArts
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Here Be Tygers: Your Storytelling Guide episodes

  • The Possible Worlds Exercise, Part 2: Elesion
    Hey all,
    Here’s the second half of our Possible Worlds session with Ken and Dex on what empires do when the world seems to end, how fiat alone cannot the sky’s falling prevent, and why you start from the little truths (like spiders) to find what gives shape, intent and life to rest.
    1 hr 17 min
  • The Possible Worlds Exercise, Part 1: Empyreum
    Hey all,
    Today’s ep is our first full attempt at the new Possible Worlds exercise, where you take a few truths of the world, story, and characters that you write, a particular premise, and ask yourself “what it…?” to see what /else/ might.
    Which should give you plenty of ideas to can play with, discard, or hold up as a mirror to your own work—without any fear of change to its original state. Unless you feel inspired by, or it sheds some new light.
    So join us today for the first half a romp through faith, empire, economics, haberdashery—and perhaps a little Vincent Price.
    We hope you enjoy,
    J
    1 hr 24 min
  • How to Write When You Haven’t Been…
    Hey all,
    This episode was originally meant to air last year. But like so many things during that time, it slipped away and into the far off reaches of mind until the moment, I suppose, was more ‘right’.
    We’ve talked before about how both fear and expectations can interfere with what you’ll write—no matter the genre and in media of all kinds. Today though, I wanted to share some of what my own journey through that has been like: from “not at all” to “I’m still going to try.”
    And what better place to begin than the moment when what you’ve been working on meets an indefinite end? When you’ve lost what you thought you had, and there seems to be a chasm on the road that you’d pass…
    Oh, and there will be spoilers, starting around 12 minutes in, so if you’d prefer to keep everything about my books a surprise, you can save this episode for later.
    1 hr 10 min
  • HBT Livestream: “A Mote in the Mad King’s Eye”, Pt 2
    Hey all,
    We’re back today with the second half of our livestream, “A Mote in the Mad King’s Eye.” And yes, that is a nod to both the Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle work as well as the parable from which they derived.
    When we left the last time, it was on the note that a vizier (and perhaps wizard) gave to the king his most mad designs. And from there did the world break, for others to right. Though of course, and as always, things oft go awry.
    So join us today as we bring this little ‘what if…’ unto ‘why…?’ exercise to a close, and discover what this brave new world holds when even its villains outgrow their old life.
    We hope you enjoy.
    J
    45 min
  • HBT Livestream: “A Mote in the Mad King’s Eye”, Pt 1
    Hey all,
    Today, we’re sharing part of a livestream episode we did for our Patrons back in 2020, when we were tasked with creating a world in which other tales could be made. Using only the premise: “who built the ruins that now lie in waste?”
    You’ll hear my co-host, Dave, lay out the concept for the world. And then our panel will have a chance to make it grow from the simple and mundane into the new, the unique /and/ the strange.
    So join us as we look back to a different Stone or Bronze Age, the folks who’d create, and the maddest of kings who in bull wizards would put their faith.
    We hope you enjoy,
    - J
    57 min
  • "A Visitor Idea", with Odder Worlds and Bee

    Hey all,

    For the holidays, we thought it would be fun to share a conversation that Dave and I had awhile back with one of the students from my writing class, Bee.

    When  we initially recorded the episode for Dave’s show, Odder Worlds, Bee had just begun to define the setting in which her story takes place. So  we invited her to share a few of the most essential truths about her  world, former princess Emery, and the nefarious villain Tarric, who is visited by an idea most unusual and strange.

    That said, there are a couple topics discussed that I would approach differently today: most notably, race. In fantasy tales, these are often distinct and discrete groups of people, with their own origins, histories, presumed biologies, and ‘one unique trait’.

    Though these frequently tend to borrow, mimic or outright appropriate from folks in our own world and their lived experiences without much thought or respect to “who” takes. Or how we profit as creators while things deemed ‘too fraught’ are left off the page.

    Turns out it’s hard work: making a world. Even more so the people who’d shape. And all the particular details and their impact that you have to  contemplate.

    But it’s worth it, I promise you. As you’ll see today.

    We hope you enjoy,

    -J

    1 hr 12 min
  • "Apocryphal Texts & Tails Without End" with Ken H.
    Hey all, 
    Today’s episode is part of a conversation I had with my friend, radio expert, and archaeological buff, Ken.  You may recognize him from our earlier world-building eps. 2 & 8, “Rambling Man” and “The Unforgiving Tree”, where we first delved into some of the more unusual places in the world of Here Be Tygers.  
    Since then, I’ve discovered some peculiar (and perhaps, particular) threads about faith and the gods and things that occurred in the “way back, when…”. That I needed to chase to to their unraveling ends. Before, even to me, they could make some kind of sense.  So rather than leave all of that behind some polished text, we wanted to use today’s ep to show you how “truths of the world” and the journeys through can be laid from beginnings to ends.  
    We hope you enjoy, 
    -J
    1 hr 16 min
  • "When the Dreamer Doth Not Lie", with David Herman & Nic Lori
    Hey all, 
    My apologies for the delay on this week. I’ve been severely ill since last Thursday, and am still finding it difficult to breathe, much less speak. Today’s episode comes from a world-building series on "how to create a space in which you can create", without fear of what might change or persist, that we ran for our patrons earlier this year. 
    You’ll probably recognize the first two voices you hear as the neuroscientist, Nic Lori, and my co-host, Dave Herman. They did such a wonderful job of explaining the premise on which everything else proceeds, namely: ‘what if the world evolved to ‘fit’ man instead?’, that we decided right from there to see what else could happen. 
    We hope you enjoy. 
    - J
    55 min
  • “Lesson 0: Critical v. Creative State of Mind” with Dave Herman
    Today’s ep is a bit of a preface for our future miniseries on the ‘Seven Great Rules to Writing Stories that Sell’. These are things I found myself teaching all the time, so I thought it would be helpful for Dave and I to talk about prep for them. And how you can shift from a critical (‘what is…?’) to a more creative (‘what if…?’) state of mind when you’d like. We’ll also share some of the more pernicious tales we tell ourselves about why we ‘can’t try’ and what you can do to prove otherwise. 
    We hope you enjoy 
    -J
    1 hr 11 min

About Here Be Tygers: Your Storytelling Guide

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Hosted by professional writer, strategist and storytelling guide, Jarod Cerf, Here Be Tygers is a show about stories, those who create, and why.