The Writ Wit

Originally recorded: February 2018

In this episode, the two Matts wonder how undead trees would work, have a live and unedited reaction from pulling a muscle, celebrate Matt Donald's successful publication of Megazoic: The Primeval Power, and tie it into the month's subject matter as they discuss sequels. What are the different types of sequel or follow-up? What are the benefits and detriments of each? What are good and bad reasons for writing a follow-up to your story? How many emails will it take for Matt David to get off his kabuki and write some more? (Japanese play-on-words for ya) We discuss it all, with all our bad jokes and screechy voices that make babies cry, and talk about Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Star Wars.

Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at [email protected]. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.

Originally recorded: January 2018

In this episode, the two Matts celebrate Matt David's long-awaited return, advertise cerebral-stimulation beans, pitch a future story idea about kick-ass geologists, and host the annual awards show "The Witties" once again. What work will we rip off...I mean, did we enjoy the most? What works should others experience who might not have otherwise? Which shirtless scene, out of Chris Hemsworth's or Adam Driver's, will potentially cause the hosts to go gay from their, ahem, hotness? We discuss it all, with all the prestige expected from such an award show, and talk about Thor Ragnarok, The Last Jedi, Power Rangers, and Titanic for some reason.

Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at [email protected]. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.

DISCLAIMER: This podcast was recorded a few weeks ago, but technical difficulties kept us from uploading it right away, because of course they did.

Originally recorded: December 2017 (again)

In this episode, Matt David is still lost in the woods, so Matt Donald has another helper and lovely all-around gal Christina Eilert to help co-host. They talk about German princes and dictators, marvel at stop-motion AA cannons, repeatedly ask Christina's husband in the background for facts and comments, and talk all about holiday stories in this joyous season of festivities. What entails a good Christmas story? What are some of our favorite holiday classics? What is the origin of some standard Christmas traditions? Why are men like waffles and women like spaghetti in terms of conversation? We discuss it all, going over the fields and laughing all the way, and talk about The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Grinch, Elf, and a Christmas Carol.

Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at [email protected]. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.

Special thanks to Christina Eilert and her husband Jake for helping out with this episode.

Originally recorded: December 2017

In this episode, Matt David has abandoned Matt Donald for the month, so Matt Donald calls in their mutual friend and true science geek Allen Brooks to fill in until next time. They talk about asteroids hitting the Earth, complain about the constant barking of Matt Donald's dogs (yet still love dogs, don't worry), roll their eyes at their fellow co-hosts' pathetic attempts at humor, and explain the concept of hard sci-fi, AKA "realistic" sci-fi. What is it compared to soft sci-fi? How much research should you do? What are some common misconceptions about space and physics you should avoid? Why do the two hosts rant about Star Wars for like five minutes despite that not being hard sci-fi in the slightest? We discuss it all, with such knowledge of the topic it puts Carl Sagan to shame, and talk about 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Martian, Star Trek, and Matt Donald's book MEGAZOIC, which is not hard sci-fi at all, but cheap plug! *ding*

Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at [email protected]. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.

Special thanks to Allen Brooks for helping out with this episode.

Originally recorded: November 2017

In this episode, the two Matts talk about their mutual non-drinking of coffee, reveal that one of the hosts is a reincarnated Pharaoh, play a clip of one of Matt Donald's promotional events, and explain the concept of plot ninjas to get out of writer's block. When could one be so stuck to resort to this method? Do they have to be literal ninjas? Do you have to stick to them, or edit them later? What exactly is this Japanese Thanksgiving that Matt David claims to celebrate while in Japan? We discuss it all, with all the dignity of a pooping pigeon, and talk about Power Rangers, Titan AE, a bit of Star Wars, and Final Fantasy (for the third episode in a row for some reason)

Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at [email protected]. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.

Originally recorded: October 2017

In this episode, the two Matts go camping while ensuring they have Wi-Fi, fear how unlucky this thirteenth episode could possibly get (spoiler alert: pretty unlucky), don't have enough experience in Halloween-esque topics to do a Halloween-esque episode, and instead reminisce about their embarrassing old stories to the listeners. What junk did we once write to get to where we were? Are we proud of any of it, or should it stay deep in the garbage disposals of our past? Will Matt Donald's cockatiel become the new co-host as Matt Donald hastily records an ending due to technical difficulties? We discuss it all, with our palms in our faces the whole time from all the horrifying memories, and talk about Arrow, Sunshine, BIONICLE, and way too many different versions of Megazoic (before the "good" one that got published)

Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at [email protected]. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.

Special thanks to Christina Eilert for her contributions to this episode.

Originally recorded: September 2017

In this episode, the two Matts dwell on their year's worth of podcasting, reflect on Matt David's statistically-generic face that also somehow looks like a dinosaur, shoot metaphorical missiles through each other's hearts, and discuss the concept of Mary Sues and how to avoid them. What exactly defines a Mary Sue? What's the difference between a Mary Sue and a normal escapist character? How powerful or special can your character be without falling into the Mary Sue trap? How can the two Matts decide on what color bow to put on their podcasts' forehead if they don't know the gender? We discuss it all, with the calm and reserved tone throughout you'd expect, and talk about Eragon, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Wonder Woman (who Matt Donald specifically states is NOT a Mary Sue, so don't grab your pitchforks, listeners! Save them for next time we inevitably screw up a Tolkien reference or something)

Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at [email protected]. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.

Also, click HERE for the Mary Sue test at springhole.net

Originally recorded: August 2017

In this episode, the two Matts reveal the title of Matt Donald's Megazoic sequel, dine on stories cooked by the great Gaston Crayon de Papier, take a stance against the bigotry and hatred in present-day America, and talk about what makes a bad origin story along with a little about what makes a good one. Does realism factor into what makes a bad origin story? Do you have to follow the classic Hero's Journey paradigm to the letter? Is it okay to follow cliches or totally subvert them? Will Matt David's pride ever recover from Matt Donald's interruption of his EPIC intro song? We discuss it all, with all the blatant immaturity our listeners expect from us at this point, and talk about Star Wars, Spider-Man, Harry Potter, and some hilarious new characters in Marvel's Inhumans. Seriously, they're amazingly terrible.

Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at [email protected]. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.

In this episode, one of the Matts (Matt Donald) edits together a bunch of random clips from the show that display the sheer ineptitude and imbecilic nature of the two Matts in this podcast, so you can all point your fingers at us and laugh accordingly. Since we made it to 10 episodes, and our monthly schedule means we'll for sure never make it to 50 or 100, Matt Donald thought some sort of celebration was in order, although what there is to celebrate here is a question for the ages. 

NOTE: There's still a new episode coming this month, don't worry. This is just bonus content.

Originally recorded: July 2017

In this episode, the two Matts sponsor a writers-only workout program to make writers' creative muscles burn, root for aliens to destroy the Earth as long as dogs are spared, get one of our hosts replaced by a robot for the last segment, and do some serious writing by the seat of their pants using a random-plot-element-generator. What kind of brainstorming can be done on the fly? What kind of ridiculous stories will be imagined? Will Matt Donald ever emotionally recover from his 50-second rant about his pathetic career at the very end of the episode? We discuss it all, with even more uhhs and ummms than usual due to having to be creative on the fly, and talk about Anonymous Rex, Wonder Woman, and some Kamen Rider-esque show about warriors with fruit. Because Japan.

Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at [email protected]. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.

Also, in case you're curious, the words available in our random-plot-element generating program were Romance, Zombies, Robots, Comedy, Gritty, Western, Time Travel, Tragedy, Dogs, War, High School, Dragons, Workplace, Revenge, Holiday, Spy, Horror, Musical, Swashbuckling, Post-Apocalypse, Aliens, Sports, Thriller, Treasure Hunt, Wedding, Desert, Giant Monsters, Vampires, Superhero, and Steampunk.