Kill My Darlings

Visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlingsblog/episode10 for all you darling-killing needs.

This week I’m going to look back on all the past 9 episodes and make some decisions about the way the story is going to move forward, based on all the feedback discussions we’ve had so far! I think this is actually a really important part of the process. I mean, reflection from feedback was kind of one of the main premises of this show in first place. But we’ve spoken a lot about how I could maybe go this way with something or cut that other thing out completely. So, I think in order to move forward, I need to make some actual decisions! If you haven’t listened to all of the episode so far you might get a bit lost so best to keep this one for last!

Why now? Well, because this is the last episode of Kill My Darlings for a little while. I started this working on this podcast in July this year and now that it’s mid-November, I think it’s time to take a little break from constant content creation. Firstly, it’ll give me more time to actually write and secondly give me a chance to refocus and figure out where the show goes from here!

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast . You can email me on [email protected]. Subscribe to Kill My Darlings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or the podcatcher of your choice.

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Is it time you started playing D&D to help your writing? I’ve mentioned its usefulness for writing in previous episodes but let’s break down exactly why. Dungeons and Dragons, commonly referred to as DnD, is a tabletop roleplaying game which was first published in 1974. For those who don’t know, this game is a hybrid between a complex strategy board game, an open-world video game, and dramatic improvisation. A dungeon master builds a world and flexible story for players who build detailed characters to roam and quest. In many ways, a writer takes on all of these roles. They build a world and orchestrate a story but they also ideally embody each character, personalising them and fleshing them out as real people. Since writing and dungeons and dragons have so much in common, it stands to reason the guides given to players can assist writers.

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast . You can email me on [email protected]. Subscribe to Kill My Darlings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or the podcatcher of your choice.

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Head on over to haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlingsblog/episode9 for all your darling killing needs!

This week we’re finally talking about schools of magic. What do I mean by that? Well, not schools, as in, education, but, rather, specialisations, or, genres. The different terms and meanings of different kinds of magic. In WIPworld, magic is divided into these schools or types. Each type has a name by which you’d refer to someone who does that kind of magic. I think for me this is one of the major missing pieces left to discuss in the big picture of what magic is in WIPworld.

We put these ideas to the test in this week's short story, entitled Potluck. As always you can read this on the blog.

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast . You can email me on [email protected]. Subscribe to Kill My Darlings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or the podcatcher of your choice.

Become a Patron of That’s Not Canon Productions at Patreon!

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The watchmen, the fuzz, the sheriff and his men, the king’s guard, the empire’s soldiers. Whatever you call it, it’s always been a feature of the fantasy genre. Law enforcement is a central organisation in almost any society, so of course the worlds of fantasy love to reimagine them in varied and interesting ways. Due to the nature of epic struggle, many of these forces can take on a dark, antagonistic role in the plot, working for the status quo which probably needs to be shaken up. In other cases, they are neutral. And sometimes they are allies to our heroes or perhaps even the form of ultimate justice and good in the realm. Let’s take a look at some interesting incarnations of law enforcement in the fantasy genre.

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast . You can email me on [email protected]. Subscribe to Kill My Darlings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or the podcatcher of your choice.

Become a Patron of That’s Not Canon Productions at Patreon!

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Visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlingsblog/episode8 for all your darling-killing needs.

In this episode we’re going to be looking at the construction of law enforcement in my novel. We’re talking about the police or whatever system that keeps order or maintains the status quo - specifically looking at the city that I described in Episode 4: Kill My Setting. So, this isn’t necessarily universal. The law and how it's upheld is a big consideration when you’re designing a society. There are always checks and balances in organised, governed society but the long arm of the law takes many forms in different novels and settings. It’s not always obviously labelled as the police and, depending on what goes on in the story, it may not even be actual law enforcement that your characters encounter, but rather another form of organised rule-keeping. They could be on your protagonist’s side and allies. Or, more commonly, an obstacle or antagonistic force that works against your heroes.

The short story this week is entitled Compart Five, Carriage Ten.

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast . You can email me on [email protected]. Subscribe to Kill My Darlings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or the podcatcher of your choice.

Become a Patron of That’s Not Canon Productions at Patreon!

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Magic wands and the fantasy genre are inextricably linked. The wand, as a powerful stick or staff used to wield magic, has been a part of human history for as long as we know. To this day, wands are still used and believed to be powerful for various cultural or religious reasons. Let’s take a look at the ancient roots of the magic wand and how it has influenced modern fantasy literature.

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast . You can email me on [email protected]. Subscribe to Kill My Darlings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or the podcatcher of your choice.

Become a Patron of That’s Not Canon Productions at Patreon!

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Visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlingsblog/episode7 for all you darling-killing needs!

This week I'm going to share with you my ideas about wands and the associated wand lore. We have all heard of this most famous of magical tools. Seen in the most wholesome of fairytales to the most serious of fantasy epics. The magic wand. Just saying those words conjures up strong memories and images of fantasy stories and magical realms. Given everything we've spoken about so far you might think this is a fantasy icon that I'd want to avoid. It's been done so many times and I've been trying to avoid cliches. Well, that's true, but the other thing I like to do is put my own spin on things. So that's just what I've done.

Just a heads up though, you'll probably want to make sure you've listened to Episode 5: Kill My Spellcasting before you get into this one.

The story this week is entitled Runaways and is my first attempt at putting my wand lore into words and seeing what that's like. Remember you can read any episode story on the blog!

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast . You can email me on [email protected]. Subscribe to Kill My Darlings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or the podcatcher of your choice.

Become a Patron of That’s Not Canon Productions at Patreon!

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Everyone in the world has some knowledge of Cosmology. What is it? Cosmology is the facts of the universe. Well, the facts as someone believes them. It’s the conception of the cosmos as an organised, structured entity, including its origin, order, meaning and destiny. For instance, the physical cosmology of our universe - that is, the scientific view - is dominated by the Big Bang theory. The universe started from a big bang and expanded and cooled over billions of years to this point. The earth is suspended in space by gravity. There’s not a spiritual or divine aspect to this cosmological model. However, when we look at the various religious beliefs in the world, we start to see a lot of different variations on “the facts”. Different versions of how the universe was created. Different “facts” of how everything is laid out. There’s spiritual beings who influence everything and layers or dimensions like heavens and hells.

For a long time, it was the prevailing belief that the world was a flat disc or plane and you could sail too far and fall off the edge. “The facts” were that there was a heaven physically above us and a hell physically below us and to believe otherwise was considered heretical - or anti-Christian. While it has been widely known that the Earth is spherical for millennia, there are still a handful of flat-earth believers today, who have created a new logo and website as recently as 2013. However, while a few Christians have held onto this belief the longest, they weren’t the only group to believe the earth was flat. All cultures had a flat earth theory of some kind - how could we not when we walk on the earth’s surface without falling off and had no concept of gravity.

So, what does all of this have to do with writing your fantasy novel or world-building? Listen and find out.

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast . You can email me on [email protected]. Subscribe to Kill My Darlings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or the

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Head over to haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlingsblog/episode6 for all you darling killing needs.

This week we look at the cosmology of WIPworld - well, whatever I have come up with so far. What is cosmology? It’s not as niche or technical as it sounds. Cosmology is a broad term for the nature of the universe. This includes how the world began, how it exists presently, and how it is expected to end. It also includes the spiritual layout of the universe - the heavens, the nine hells, all that stuff. Despite what you might be thinking, there are many examples of cosmology to be found in fantasy novels and in fact can play a big part - just think about the Discworld series or gods in Game of Thrones.

So what is the cosmology of WIPworld? Well, this was actually inspired by reading the Dungeon Master’s Guide for the game. The Otherworld. In this model, the Material Plane has a twin realm that fills the role of all the other planes. The Celtic cosmology has an otherworld, called Tír na nÓg, and the cosmologies of some religions inspired by Asian myth have a similar Spirit World. I love the concept of a dual realm, consisting entirely of magical energy. Or maybe it’s just the place it comes from and magic runs wild and free. Perhaps it mirrors the material world or perhaps it is tethered to it and infinitely larger.

In particular, this idea of a Spirit World stuck with me, and the possibility of spirits playing a part in the natural world. In a world of magic, I love the idea that there could be a physical side to these spirits - or whatever I decide they should be. And in fact, they would be linked to the energy of magic somehow and its existence in WIPworld. In other parts of the cosmology, an added element I really like is the idea of some sort of in-between place. I couldn’t help but feel it’s connected to dreams. What if dreams were actually a glimpse of this in-between realm.

This week’s story is an attempt at just writing anything to do with spirits. I’m not 100% sure of where I’m landing on with a lot of this stuff so this was helpful in just putting any idea into words. It’s entitled: The Spirit Of Truckle Lane.

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast . You can...

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Harry Potter has become a household name, even in households that have never read the books or seen the films. It seems impossible to have missed this world-wide phenomenon. It’s a well publicised fact that in 1990, while Rowling was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry came to her. She often used elements of her own life and experience in her writing.

A large part of the charm of the novels is Rowling's twists on the world we know combined with new additions that fill in the gaps. In particular, when creating her version of magic and those who possess it, she borrowed heavily from existing magical lore and culture in Europe. There’s no doubt that the richness and detail of Rowling’s world building is the triumph of the Harry Potter series. She does an exceptional job at creating a highly cohesive, seemingly infinite world which immerses the reader thoroughly. Every chapter of every book reveals new, interesting details about the wizarding world.

One of the interesting phenomena of the Harry Potter series, which spans over 10 years, is that Rowling's writing style, themes, and content matures with her adolescent characters. But, more profoundly, with her adolescent audience. Rowling’s technical style has received mixed reviews. Some criticise it for repeated use of favoured sentence structures and an excessive use of adverbs, among other things. Others say the same elements of her writing create an active and lively world and are not overused or at least don’t detract from the storytelling. On the whole though, her prose is obviously very accessible and the success of the franchise speaks to her ability to tell a compelling story, no matter how technically well.  

If you like the show, please consider becoming a patron of Kill My Darlings on Patreon.

For the interactive part, visit haydenrodgers.net/killmydarlings. Find the blog for the episode you just listened to. Read the summary if you forgot what you just listened to. Help me clarify my ideas with your feedback in the comments section. I’ll try and respond to everything - it’ll be great for procrastinating the actual writing. Join a cute community of like-minded fantasy adventure-loving nerds by following all the accounts and things.

Head to the blog to kill any darlings you'd like to from this episode and sign up for email alerts. Say hi and join the community on Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook under @killmydarlingspodcast, on YouTube at the Kill My Darlings channel, and on Twitter under @KMDpodcast. You can email me on [email protected]. Subscribe to Kill My Darlings on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or the

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