By Mythcreants
For Fantasy & Science Fiction Storytellers
It used to be that lacking a throughline was the most common problem in client manuscripts, but no longer! That particular issue has been dethroned by a lack of agency for the protagonist. Yay? That’s why today’s episode is all...
Abracadabra, your hero casts Plot Destroying Magic, at sixth level! That’s a major problem for the story, but what if it didn’t have to be? In this episode, we’re discussing how you can prevent your magic system from becoming unbalanced...
The concept of historical accuracy can get really weird in speculative fiction. If you add magic, is it history anymore? What if you change everyone’s name slightly? Or maybe you just like to brag online about how much history you...
If you’re a writer, you’ve probably heard that heroes are more sympathetic when they’re underdogs, but what does that mean? Is any hero an underdog so long as the villain is stronger? Why does it even matter? This week, we’re...
Delicious food, spacious housing, and a supportive partner: what do they all have in common? They’re all forms of wish fulfillment, and that’s our topic today! Wish fulfillment is an important element of storytelling that rarely gets talked about, and...
We’re all familiar with plants and animals, but there’s an entire third category that doesn’t get as much attention: the humble fungi. From tasty mushrooms to creepy parasites that hijack insects, this unique kingdom of life always does its own...
What’s this podcast episode about? Can you tell? Does it even matter? This week, we’re talking about curiosity in fiction: how stories create it, what purpose it serves, and why it can be detrimental if taken too far. Don’t worry,...
We try our best to give actionable writing advice that makes stories better, but, unfortunately, not everyone else follows the same code. There’s a lot of terrible writing advice out there, much of it dressed up specifically to tell writers...
Swords? How droll. Guns? Completely unfashionable. Aren’t there any weird weapons out there to satisfy our thirst for novelty? You know what we’re talking about: the kind of completely bizarre contraption that’s as much a danger to the wielder as...
Tension comes from problems that the characters have to solve, and if a character is important, they should contribute to solving the problem in question. But how will they contribute, exactly? This question can be difficult to answer, especially if...
It’s well known that Mythcreants hates it when novels employ multiple viewpoints, but what if we didn’t? In a handful of specific situations, that is. Don’t want to get too wild here. This week, we’re discussing when additional POVs are...
A wise wizard once told us that our eyes can deceive us and we shouldn’t trust them, so maybe that’s why we’re always giving our characters additional senses. This week, we’re using narrative-o-ception to sense what this topic is about...
Everyone knows that stories should have well developed characters, but what does that mean? Should you be racing to give your characters as many traits as possible? Does it matter at all what those traits are? The truth is a...
Even the best villains must eventually come to the end of their run, but what if you could bring them back? It would be so easy, what would be the harm—NO. You stop that. Do not give in to temptation!...
Holy podcasting, Batman! It’s time for an episode about stories that have two main characters instead of one. A story so nice they main charactered it twice. Whether it’s a hero and their sidekick or two siblings equally sharing the...
Every story is made of countless little pieces, from characters and arcs to locations and magic powers. But if those pieces are scattered around randomly, they won’t amount to much. For a story to be as much or more than...
We all love the classic spec fic genres like space opera and cyberpunk, but have you noticed that they can get a bit… stale? Genres change over time, but some are more difficult than others, which results in a bunch...
From wholesome pipe-weed to shady ThreeEye, spec fic writers have a long history of inventing new drugs for their stories. Sometimes these drugs are a metaphor for something else, but other times, something else is a metaphor for drugs! This...
If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that dialogue goes inside a set of quotation marks. Wait, we can’t all agree on that? Uh oh. What else don’t we agree on? What other wild choices are writers...
Careful with that podcast tuning dial: you might end up having to make impactful choices on a haunted island full of spooooooooky ghosts! This week, Oren and Bunny nerd out over the Oxenfree games – both because we just wanted...
Most of the time, we try to keep our podcast focused on important topics that matter to writers everywhere. Not today, though. This week, we’re complaining about all the wordcraft annoyances that bother us most, and maybe we’ll discover a...
Is this really a podcast you’re listening to, or is it actually the psychic whispers of ephemeral beings from beyond the veil? Maybe that’s just what they want you to think! This week, we’re talking about giving your story a...
What if I told you that you can’t trust what this summary says about this week’s episode? Unless you can, of course. Whoa. This week, we’re discussing unreliable narrators and, specifically, how to use them in your story. We’ll discuss...
Choo choo, the steam train is leaving the station! Everyone check your top hats and gears, which will serve as your tickets to this podcast. All abooooooooard! This week, we’re talking about steampunk. What is steampunk? Why is steampunk? Can...
Sometimes you open a book, try to read the first few pages, and are hit with so much confusing terminology that your only recourse is to abandon civilization and return to the sea. This is not the ideal outcome, but...
It’s all very well to talk about stories not needing grimdark dilemmas and gory violence, but how does that actually work? How can you make a story that’s light and optimistic without also making it boring as paste? That’s our...
We’ve all read a book or watched a show that we could only describe as soooooooo slooooooow, but what makes a story feel that way? What choices take the plot from zooming along to a painful crawl? The answer is,...
The prophecy has spoken: We must now destroy the discourse and bring balance to the podcast. Whatever “balance” is supposed to mean. This week we’re talking about those special protagonists chosen by the gods, weird aliens, or an amorphous destiny....
No one wants their readers rolling to disbelieve, but how do we stop it? Sometimes it can feel like beta readers are flagging every single aspect of the story as unbelievable, which is super discouraging. Fortunately, we authors have options...
A story always says something, but is it what the author wanted it to say? All too often, a message is garbled, undercut, or completely destroyed because the author doesn’t understand how to properly communicate it. That’s one of the...
Behold, the idyllic country of Generica, where the stones are cobbled, the roofs are thatched, and the wizards are robed. Such is the nightmare of spec fic writers when they create a new world. We all fear that our setting...
We want our stories to be believable, but we also want conflicts to be resolved by plucky underdog heroes without many resources. The problem is that in a believable world, serious problems would probably be sorted out by the relevant...
Are dark stories deep and meaningful, or are they edgy and empty? It all depends on whether there’s a payoff at the end. Basically, if you throw a bunch of upsetting stuff at the audience, did you have a reason...
A subject is discussed in this episode of the podcast. Conclusions about sentence construction are reached. Increasingly contrived examples of passive voice are made. Much like “show don’t tell,” the advice to always avoid passive voice is pointed in the...
The undead rise from the grave to eat your brains, but why? When did they start doing that, and what’s the history behind it? Do zombies even eat brains anymore? This week we’re looking at all these questions as we...
Lay out your magnifying glass, conspiracy board yarn, and forensics kit, because it’s time to construct a mystery! That means laying the foundation for what needs to be solved, adding stakes, and making sure there are obstacles in the heroes’...
You might think the answer is obvious: just have your villain be clean shaven! Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. Villains need coherent motivations like anyone else, and they need aesthetics that won’t seem silly to the audience. How do...
What is a character arc? A miserable little pile of development! Unfortunately, said development can get a bit confusing, as authors try to change too much, don’t have a real problem to begin with, or aren’t sure how to resolve...
Even the most jaded and cantankerous critic was once a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed reader. Well, they were less jaded and cantankerous, at least. What books bewitched them in this time of innocence? What stories inspired their desire to tear apart...
Literary fiction and speculative fiction, are they really so different? No, but also yes, and most of all, it depends. This week, we’re taking another look at the topic to see if we can figure out what literary fiction even...
There’s just something about them. Maybe it’s the way they make jokes at just the right time, or maybe it’s the way they lift up your chin with the tip of a sword. They can’t just be a normal character...
You begin listening to the Mythcreant podcast. You hear three nerds talking about strange storytelling secrets. Exits are north, east, south, and Dennis. Would you like to: choose a series of branching dialogue options, fight your way through a series...
Many aspiring storytellers rightly expect to learn about their craft in school, be it K-12 or higher education, but there’s a problem: Schools aren’t very good at teaching how to tell stories. At least, not usually. This week, a special...
Behold, for in the ancient year of 2013, a new writing advice site did appear upon the internet. ‘Twas full of snark, and many articles did it publish in the form of ye olden text. But among that sea of...
As content editors, we’ve seen many different types of manuscripts at all levels of development, and we’ve learned which problems are most likely to sink a story. Today we go over those fundamental issues, along with why they happen and...
One episode simply wasn’t enough to say everything on our minds about the mechanics for D&D;’s new quasi-edition, so we’re back for part two. This time, we’re focusing on the honestly baffling ways that WotC has chosen to increase or...
Our deep dive into the latest quasi edition of Dungeons & Dragons continues, this time with the new mechanics. At least, what we know of the new mechanics. It seems like everything we’ve been told could be reversed at any...
Dungeons and Dragons continues to lurch toward a new edition, sort of, maybe, depending on how you define “edition.” One thing’s for sure, Wizards of the Coast would like us to buy a bunch of new books soon, which is...
Every good hero deserves a moment where they ride into the sunset, but ride on what? From horses to bears to weird space dragons, mounts quite literally carry our main characters through the plot, and today we’re talking about our...
As much as you love your hero, maybe they shouldn’t succeed at absolutely everything they try. A little failure once in a while can add variety, not to mention tension and believability. But what should actually happen when your protagonist...