Rationally Writing

Rationally Writing

By Rationally WritingEducation
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Rationally Writing episodes

  • Episode 22 - Bottom Up Storytelling
    Alexander and Daystar discuss Bottom Up Storytelling, bring up common pitfalls to avoid, and explore some homespun examples.
    Timestamps
    00:35 Top Down vs Bottom Up
    08:24 Natural Stories in Premises
    11:06 Pitfalls in Bottom Up
    24:20 Homespun Examples
    36 min
  • Episode 21 - Top Down Storytelling
    Daystar and Alexander discuss how authors explore social and political systems through top-down storytelling.
    Timestamps:
    0:25 Top Down World Building
    2:29 Science Fiction for Social Commentary
    18:41 Top-Down Writing in Our Work
    25:30 Fitting Story to Genre
    33:28 Tips for Top-Down
    44 min
  • Episode 20 - Religion in Fiction
    Daystar and Alexander discuss the common pitfalls and problems surrounding religious beliefs in fiction, and how to avoid mistakes that can turn off readers, whether religious or not.
    Time Stamps:
    00:31 Personal Backgrounds
    05:52 Religion in Fiction
    10:05 Real Religions vs Fictional Religions
    13:28 Religious or Atheist Strawmen
    23:19 The Role of Faith
    27:24 The Problem with an Afterlife
    31:13 Do's and Don'ts
    40:49 Examples
    46 min
  • Episode 19 - Exposition
    Daystar and Alexander discuss exposition: the good, the bad, and the common pitfalls.
    Timestamps:
    0:45 Exposition vs Narrative
    4:38 Bad Exposition
    17:00 Exposition as Story Character
    18:22 Exposition Timing
    24:30 Good Exposition
    44 min
  • Episode 18 - Writer's Block (Guest: Eaglejarl)
    Special guest Eaglejarl joins Daystar and Alexander to discuss their experiences of the dreaded writer's block, including ways to avoid and get through it.
    Timestamps
    00:52 How does Writer's Block manifest for you?
    9:07 Avoiding Writer's Block
    20:15 Getting out of Writer's Block
    27:20: Everyone Dies
    38 min
  • Episode 17 - Serial Fiction, Part 2
    Daystar and Alexander finish discussing serial fiction, namely, chapter length, serial structure, and the need for continuous character growth and new conflicts.
    Timestamps
    00:34 Chapter Length
    03:56 Overall Length
    6:18 Dangers of Stretching Stories Out
    10:06 Serial Structure
    12:33 Continuous Character Growth
    17:23 Continuous New Conflicts
    25 min
  • Episode 16 - Serial Fiction, Part 1
    Daystar and Alexander discuss serial fiction's history, pros and cons, and how to navigate scheduling.
    Timestamps
    0:45 Features and History
    10:30 Pros
    15:31 Cons
    18:14 Transitioning to Publishing
    21:00 Scheduling
    35 min
  • Episode 15 - Multiverse
    Daystar and Alexander explore the different types of Multiverse stories, and how to make them compelling and rational.
    Timestamps:
    0:40 Why we enjoy multiverses
    5:54 Types of multiverse stories
    10:58 Realism of multiverse stories
    16:16 Multiverse and Fanfiction
    19:53 Bound vs Unbound Multiverses
    34:22 Writing Multiverse Stories well
    45 min
  • Episode 14 - Time Travel
    Alexander and Daystar discuss the ways Time Travel manifests in fiction, and the various challenges and story space created by each.
    Timestamps
    0:30 Types of Time Travel
    7:00 Static Timelines
    13:29 Multiple TImelines
    25:54 Ripple Effect
    35:21 Hybrids and Opportunities
    42 min
  • Episode 13 - Prophecies
    Daystar and Alexander discuss some of the major problems with prophecies in stories, and ways to potentially avoid the major pitfalls.
    Timestamps:
    1:22 Prophecy as a way of Spoiling Tension
    5:56 Creating Conflict
    10:35 Developing Characters
    11:45 Prophecy Tension
    16:45 Predictable Attempts to avoid Prophecy
    19:00 Shallow Intrigue
    22:10 How to make prophecy work
    30:55 Tricking Prophecies
    37:03 Conditional Prophecies
    39:20 Prophecy in the Real World
    47:23 Being Clever in Subversion
    52 min

About Rationally Writing

From the publisher's feed

Webserial authors Daystar Eld and Alexander Wales talk about the craft of writing stories that make sense, and examine writing tropes and media through the lens of the Rational and Rationalist genres.

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