Offed mistresses and sexy pool boys take the stage in this episode continuing our conversation about Love Triangles. This week we dive into the darker side of Love Triangles, and talk extensively about how to make a main character relatable and interesting, especially when the main focus is the love interests. Featuring a lengthy detour about historical romance and bad worldbuilding, this episode is here for your every Love Triangle writing need.

Have a trope you want us to talk about or a question about the episode? Email us at [email protected]!

Sometimes you celebrate Valentine’s Day with flowers and chocolates and a romantic dinner. Other times you celebrate Valentine’s Day trying to choose between two people wildly in love with you who cleverly represent different paths your life could ultimately take and different parts of yourself you probably need to develop. Join us this week for the first part of our unexpectedly long episode on Love Triangles and all the different ways you shouldn’t write characters falling in and out of love. XOXO

From your classic bridge trolls to your very effective brick walls, Threshold Guardians are here to cause minor problems for your hero and maybe teach them a thing or two in the process. Join us for discussions on pacing and plot and just how exactly the three of us would get past a grumpy bridge troll. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, but maybe do listen to this episode before you write a Threshold Guardian.

Sometimes the temptation to the dark side is just too much… especially when the dark side is so much sexier than the boringly attractive good guys. With their sharp angles and slicked back hair and suave, competent mannerisms, it’s hard to resist loving the villains. But should we? Join us this episode as we talk about sexy villains, what makes them sexy, and all the potential problems with writing them. It’s a fun time of rants about tumblr writers, rants about sexism and basement boys, and ridiculous gushing about sexy actors. Go forth and be sexy. (And write more sexy villains. But, like, thoughtfully, maybe.)

Hear ye! Hear ye! Join us this episode as we discuss the character archetype of the Herald and why we don’t really think it should be a character archetype at all. Heartrending betrayals, exciting plot twists, and hot takes on bad writing—this episode has it all! Don’t miss it!

It’s the holiday season and we’re here with a fun wintry episode all about making characters fall in love, revealing murderers, worldbuilding infodumping, and choosing which character to eat first. Join us as we discuss the best places to be Snowed In, explain how one plot contrivance might not work but six or more totally would, and offer such timeless and insightful writing advice as “just don’t be boring.” Happy Holidays!

Cowboys and eye candy and gardeners, oh my! Allies come in all shapes and sizes, and this episode we’re covering all of them. Join us as we talk all things BFFs and sidekicks, take a brief foray into how feminism affects the hero’s journey, and eventually land on some very counterintuitive writing advice. (Best listened to with 4 to 7 of your very best friends, family members, or various other allies, then shared with 4 to 7 more.)

He’s big, he’s bad, and he’s got a plan to take over the world that would have worked, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids! The Evil Overlord is the quintessential villain trope, and as such, there are a lot of really bad examples of it out there. Don’t be another cautionary tale of an Evil Overlord gone wrong—listen to this episode and write a convincing big bad! Or at least join us as we tear apart your favorite villains and try very hard not to reveal our secret plans to take over the world. You know, the usual.

Where there’s a Hero, there’s someone to tell that Hero he’s an idiot. Enter the Mentor. Join us in the second installation of our Archetype series as we discuss all the ways a Mentor can be neither old nor wise, and all the instances in which they’re stereotypically both, because humans sure do like their comfortable tropes. So wax on, wax off, and give our wise mentoring advice a listen as you continue along your writing journey.

It’s spooky season! So we’re here with an episode all about witches. From alewives and the Spanish Inquisition to Harry Potter, Frozen, and mass produced romances, we’ve got witchlore coming at you from every which way. Join us for rants about worldbuilding, arguments about magic systems, and just enough writing advice to keep calling this a podcast for writers. Pull up a broom and come fall under our spell!