Words Are Hard Podcast

On this very special day of the year, we clearly had to bring you a very special episode. This week, Nienna and Jalinar have joined us for a series of reviews – but, of course, this being an After Dark episode, these aren’t just any reviews. Welcome to the extraordinary… Continue reading

Today we’re diving into a topic that many writers struggle with. You’ve spent weeks, months or even years laboring over your story, and you’re getting ready to release it into the world – but what do you call it? We’re tackling this particular subject from a slightly different angle to… Continue reading

This week, we’re continuing with the subject of characters who might not be immediately sympathetic to your reader. A few episodes ago, we talked about villains, and included some of our favourite examples. This time, we’re moving on to anti-heroes. Whilst anti-heroes and villains should evoke different reactions from your… Continue reading

It’s time for one of our nuts-and-bolts writing episodes! Nearly all fiction will contain dialogue in one form or another, so today Chase and Amy chat about their own approaches to writing it. We talk about topics like knowing the history of your character to make their speech feel more… Continue reading

As promised in a few previous episodes, today we’re reviewing The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson is an author we’ve talked about multiple times on the podcast, so it was great to be able to review one of his shorter works. We talk about all the basics of plot,… Continue reading

Quick warning: this is another of our fan-fic episodes and listener discretion is advised. Contents may be considered NSFW and at the very least will make you snort coffee out of your nose. Proceed with caution! Ah, the holidays. A time of good food, good company, and truly terrible fan-fiction.… Continue reading

What happens when you enjoy an author’s work, but disagree with their personal opinions? In this episode, we talk about whether it’s possible to read fiction without letting your knowledge of the author colour it – and whether you even want to. If an author is racist, for example, is… Continue reading

This week’s episode is all about a favourite subject of many writers: villains. In this discussion, we each pick a favourite villain from literature and talk about why we particularly like them. That might be because they’re irredeemably, unashamedly bad, or quite the opposite – they’re a villain, or antagonist,… Continue reading

Today’s episode is a continuation of a theme we started way back in episode 14 of season 2. In that instance, we discussed worldbuilding the religion for your story, and this time round we’re tackling the opposite side of the coin: science and technology. We cover topics including how quickly… Continue reading

Chase and Amy are back this week with a whole host of spooky recommendations, just in time for Halloween. We cover books, movies, TV and games, ranging right across the spectrum from mildly creepy to downright terrifying. There should be something for everyone here, just to time to get you… Continue reading