The Wordy Pair Podcast

If you're getting into writing, as with anything, there is often a temptation to go all-in on the most expensive tools, thinking that the more expensive stuff will make a huge difference in your workflow.

In this episode, we talk about the tools and software we use to write. There are ways to get cheap computers and laptops, open-source and free software is abundant, and we evaluate and discuss some of the stuff we've tried and make some recommendations.

Spend that money on your cover or advertising, not your word processor!

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠

In this episode, we consider a controversial question about audiobooks: are they "reading?"

This takes us into the issue of writing and the need for precise language. If I told you someone read a book on a train, what would you visualize?

We talk about elitism in reading circles while also noting the need for language that creates the correct perception in readers.

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠

We've got something very weird for you all today: a review of a little-known novel from the early 1980s--the book that made MacGyver, by Terrence Darrow.

This Scottish author took a shot at writing a spy thriller and had his creation immortalized on TV, though not entirely to his liking...

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠

We're just gonna talk about how awesome H.P. Lovecraft is for a while, are you with us?

Our most Lovecraftian offerings are...

Justin's book The Rackon:

https://a.co/d/1fqknWZ

Rudy's book What the Soul Still Fears:

https://a.co/d/4611J1a

Also, check out Horrorbabble's excellent YT channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@HorrorBabble

Check out our other fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠

Today we're talking about actually getting your indie book down on paper and out to people! Justin has just gotten some physical copies of his book, The Good Guy, made in both hard and soft covers.

We discuss the pros and cons of the Amazon PoD system, possible hangups, issues, and how to get the best results!

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠

It's the thrilling conclusion of the movie writing arc! In this episode, we're talking about the writing of Godzilla Minus One, a film that unexpectedly took American theaters by storm!

One of the important aspects of storytelling is to get the reader invested in the setting. One of the best ways to do this is to couch exposition in the characters and events rather than simply stating them.

Godzilla Minus One does this in spades, so hold on as we go through this movie's writing and show (pun intended) how it works!

Also mentioned in this episode is our previous episode about our influences, so check it out if you want to hear more on that:

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/M7FlSqpeMHb

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠

What is this, a freakin' movie arc?

Kind of. We had a bunch of fun ideas for movies that get writing right in various ways and wanted to talk about them.

This week, we've got Alien and Aliens, two very different atmospheres, but both extremely well-written.

If you've been living in a cave, Alien is a slasher movie with some very good (albeit sparse) character work, and Aliens is much more action-oriented, with a much stronger focus on character arcs!

Both are excellent examples of different ways to create tension, advance characters, and all that good stuff.

Oh, and by the way, here's a link to our hilarious Half-Blind Review of Alien Covenant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtBMC_KwNKE

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠

Today, we two hopeless anime nerds are looking at what you can learn from the writing of Studio Ghibli and pre-Ghibli films.

Show, don't tell, as exemplified by Nausicaa.

Character development as exemplified in Castle of Cagliostro!

We look at examples from various films.

Also covered are: Dealing with Stakes, Story Flow and Transitions, The Deceptive Persuasiveness of Bad Ideas, and Being Good to Your Audience!

There's a lot to learn here!

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠

Today we're focusing in on something that's gotten very trendy recently: hard magic systems. We discuss the pros and cons of both hard and soft magic systems, as well as give some pointers on how to harden a magic system you think is too soft.

Also covered: the Isekai Glut (Will we ever avoid anime related topics? No!) and a little bit on fairy tales.

We discuss two videos we made a long time ago:

Batman v. Superman is a terrible movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko8-ydecoPQ

Anime Fansub Golden Age

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyYmFbOzhXk

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠

We are dealing with a plague of deliberately bad localizers and translators in the anime and manga scenes--and maybe in general! Today we're talking about translation and localization.

Both of us are moderately familiar with the Japanese language and do hobby translations, and we've been into anime and manga for a long time.

From a writing perspective, keeping an eye on your translators is a good idea, and we explain why, as well as some ideas on how to do so!

Links to things mentioned:

Our Pippi Longstocking Episode:

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rudolph-kohn/episodes/The-Joy-of-Pippi-Longstocking-e2eunsq

Our video on the golden age of fansubs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyYmFbOzhXk

Check out our fiction at:

(Justin)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

(Rudy)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And follow us on Twitter at:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/NinjaMouseChu⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

and

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Rudolph_Kohn⁠