The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

By Fortunus GamesEducation
Download on the App Store

The Nuts and Bolts of Writing episodes

  • EP 32: Writing Flawed Characters (3) - Benjamin Cox

    PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

    PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

    Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games


    Today, Fortunus and Helevorn talk about Fortunus' character from "Sam in New York," Benjamin Cox, the moralistic and arrogant Dean of the Faculty of Law of Ambrose College, Sam's university. 

    Artwork of the Dean is done by Fortunus. Read more about him on Fortunus' website: https://www.fortunusgames.com/post/benjamin-cox


    Read "Sam in New York" on Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info 

    Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948



    1 hr 23 min
  • EP 31: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Writing Historical Fiction (3) - "Outlaws" by Helevorn

    PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

    PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/


    Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games


    HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! I, Fortunus, am dressed as a random steampunk character that I just created on the spot (out of items found in my closet) and Helevorn is dressed as a character from "Outlaws," Narcisa. The filter on my face is from Snap Camera, which can be connected to Zoom. 


    Today, Helevorn and Fortunus talk about Helevorn's upcoming short story, "Outlaws," which focuses on a particularly turbulent period in Romanian history. Narrated by four different characters (who hail from very different segments of society - a priest, two Roma siblings, and a boyar who becomes an outlaw), "Outlaws" deconstructs and challenges many tropes found in Romanian literature about these "outlaws" (who are often portrayed as Robin Hood types).


    The drawing in the thumbnail was done by Helevorn and shows Amza, who is the boyar outlaw in Helevorn's story. Find out more about him once the series is released in 2021!

    1 hr 19 min
  • EP 30: Writing Flawed Characters (2) - Ardalion Mayakov

    PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

    PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/


    Today, Fortunus and Tete talk about Fortunus' character, Ardalion Mayakov, an arrogant provocateur of a military officer who describes himself as "belligerently antagonistic, too nihilistic, too exceedingly libidinous and vulgar."


    The Sims picture of Ardalion is created by Fortunus and you can see more of Fortunus' Sims on her Sims account: https://www.instagram.com/saminsims4/


    Ardalion is from "What Comes First Will Follow," an upcoming crossover between Tete and Fortunus play/dialogue that will be released on Tapas and Webtoon.


    We compare Ardalion to Tete's characters from her novel, "70 Fierce Years", Evseii and Lukyan, who are arguably even more flawed (in different ways) than Ardalion is. 

    1 hr 23 min
  • EP 29: Writing Extroverted Characters (1) with Helevorn

    PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

    PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/


    Listen to our podcast on Anchor (links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.): https://anchor.fm/fortunus-games


    Today, Fortunus and Helevorn discuss their extroverted characters from Helevorn's "Lucky Wolf" and Fortunus' "Sam in New York." Helevorn discusses Rannveig, Hakon, Halvard, and Eyolf, while Fortunus discusses Sam, Lina, Ardalion, Tom, the Dean and Harvey.


    Helevorn's characters are from "Lucky Wolf," which you can read on Tapas - https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

    Aidan and Merwyn don't appear in "Lucky Wolf," but will appear in its sequel, "Sons of Disobedience." 


    Fortunus' characters are from her project, "Sam in New York," which is a graphic novel on Tapas and Webtoon.

    Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

    Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

    1 hr 33 min
  • EP 28: Writing Flawed Characters (1) - Ardalion Mayakov

    PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

    PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/ 

    Today, Fortunus and Tete talk about Fortunus' character, Ardalion Mayakov, an arrogant provocateur of a military officer who describes himself as "belligerently antagonistic, too nihilistic, too exceedingly libidinous and vulgar."  

    The Sims picture of Ardalion is created by Fortunus and you can see more of Fortunus' Sims on her Sims account: https://www.instagram.com/saminsims4/ 

    Ardalion is from "What Comes First Will Follow," an upcoming crossover between Tete and Fortunus play/dialogue that will be released on Tapas and Webtoon.  We compare Ardalion to Tete's character, Andrei, who is also flawed, but in a different way.

    1 hr 4 min
  • EP 27: Disability Representation in "Chaotic Idiots" (1)

    Today, we talk to Coffee and Comics about the importance of disability representation in their Webtoon, "Chaotic Idiots," which you can read here:

    https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/chaotic-idiots-the-series/list?title_no=448795

    Artwork on the thumbnail is by CoffeeandComics! Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaoticidiotsoffical/

    Here are some of the topics we covered (though we branch out to others as well):

    1. Can you tell us about the role disability plays in “Chaotic Idiots”?
    2. What kind of disabilities do you cover in your work?
    3. How do you feel your webtoon adds to how disabilities are usually portrayed in the media? What types of ableist tropes are you challenging in your work?
    4. What were some of the challenges you faced in creating your series?
    5. What was the easiest about creating your series?
    6. What role do different species like Fae, Vampires, humans, etc. play in your world?
    7. Your work arguably counts as low fantasy - meaning it takes place in a world very similar to our own but with some differences such as Dragons, Vampires, etc. What is the hardest part about writing low fantasy? The easiest? What type of advice would you have for people who want to write their own fantasy series - some of my friends, for example, have had difficulties with world building?
    8. Can you tell us more about the relationship between the Fae and humans in your work?
    9. I love the dynamic between Jacob and Leroy, especially how Jacob is so attuned to Leroy’s moods and always wants to make him happy. Can you tell us more about their friendship?
    10. What advice do you have for people who want to create their own Webtoon?
      11. 50 min
    11. EP 26: Writing Fantasy (1) - Helevorn and Wanda Walker

      Today, Helevorn interviews Wanda Walker!  

      Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rainbw_mansion 

      Her Tapas: https://tapas.io/pseudocide335  

      Wanda Walker is the author of several novels belonging to genres ranging from contemporary fiction  to low fantasy, focused on realistic portrayals of characters and social attitudes. She is also an illustrator, currently publishing a webcomic on Tapas called “Rainbow Mansion”, which you can read here: https://tapas.io/series/Rainbow-Mansion/info  

      Today, we’re discussing her approach to fantasy applied to her 3-volume novel “The Duke’s Prisoner”, written in 2012, which you can read here: https://www.fictionpress.com/s/2995032/1/The-Duke-s-Prisoner  

      Artwork of Duke Kasha (in thumbnail) is by Wanda Walker herself!  

      Questions: 

      1. What is your approach to fantasy? Does it have any supernatural elements involved? 

      2. Why have you chosen this approach? What are the advantages? What about disadvantages? 

      3. Could you tell us more about “The Duke’s Prisoner”, in terms of premise and plot? 

      4. What are the main themes? 

      5. Duke Kasha of Jentirrya makes for a protagonist that is full of surprises and with an interesting character arc. Can you tell us more about him? What’s his backstory? What drives him? 

      6. I found Kasha’s relationship with his wife Opheali very interesting - can you tell us more about it? 

      7. How about the antagonist, Colonel Rodan, the prisoner that Kasha acquires in the beginning of the story? 

      8. What can you tell us about worldbuilding in your story? How did you elaborate it?  

      9. What elements of our real world did you want it to have and is anything fundamentally different from our world? 

      10. The book was finished in 2012. Would you change anything about it now?

      57 min
    12. EP 25: Writing Introverted Characters (2) with Helevorn and Tete

      PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

      PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/


      Today, Helevorn, Tete and Fortunus build upon what was covered last week in EP 24 (watch here: https://youtu.be/M6GrLgO5-QI), where Helevorn and Fortunus discussed their introverted characters. Now, Tete joins us for an in-depth discussion about her introverted character, Gleb (from "The White Horse Rides a Black Horse") and how he compares to the other kinds of introverted characters we've talked about before. In particular, he is the most like Helevorn's Yngvar . He has less anxiety about romantic interactions, although he is just as cynical and misanthropic as Yngvar...listen to learn more!


      The image of Gleb in the thumbnail is Fortunus Games' interpretation of him (Tete approved!) in the Sims 4. See more of Fortunus Games' Sims portraits and videos on https://www.instagram.com/saminsims4! 


      Helevorn's characters are from "Lucky Wolf," which you can read on Tapas - https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

      Aidan and Merwyn don't appear in "Lucky Wolf," but will appear in its sequel, "Sons of Disobedience." 


      Tete's character is from her as of yet unreleased novel, "The White Crow Rides a Black Horse." You can buy her book about Gleb's descendent, Andrei, "70 Fierce Years," here on Kindle: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08GZWJR89/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=70+fierce+years&qid=1598831307&sr=8-1


      Fortunus' characters are from her project, "Sam in New York," which is a graphic novel on Tapas and Webtoon.

      Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

      Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

      1 hr 29 min
    13. EP 24: Writing Introverted Characters (1) with Helevorn

      PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

      PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/

      Today, Helevorn and Fortunus talk about how they've written their introverted characters. Helevorn talks about Yngvar, Aidan, Merwyn, and Lars, and Fortunus talks about Joel, Katya, and Frankie. 


      Helevorn's characters are from "Lucky Wolf," which you can read on Tapas - https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info

      Aidan and Merwyn don't appear in "Lucky Wolf," but will appear in its sequel, "Sons of Disobedience." 


      Fortunus' characters are from her project, "Sam in New York," which is a graphic novel on Tapas and Webtoon.

      Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

      Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

      1 hr 18 min
    14. EP 23: Writing Romantic Relationships (1) with Helevorn

      PODCAST TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nuts_writing

      PODCAST INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/nutsboltswriting.podcast/


      Today, Helevorn and Fortunus talk about two of their couples and how they've portrayed their romantic relationship - Helevorn's Vili and Valdis (Yngvar's parents) and Fortunus' Lev and Raisa (Sam's parents). 


      The work that Helevorn is referring to here is "Lucky Wolf," which you can read on Tapas - https://tapas.io/series/Lucky-Wolf/info


      Fortunus, as usual, is talking about Sam in New York, which is a graphic novel on Tapas and Webtoon.


      Tapas: https://tapas.io/series/Sam-in-New-York/info

      Webtoon: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/sam-in-new-york/list?title_no=501948

      1 hr 6 min

    About The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

    From the publisher's feed

    Hosts Imelda Wei Ding Lo (a.k.a. Fortunus Games), Teresa (Tete DePunk), and R.N. Roveleh interview a wide range of writers and creators about their creative process and approach to writing. They also…