The Wordy Pair Podcast

Today we're talkin' 'bout a bunch of our recent works and projects! ...And getting cancelled by the Irish and Canadians. Works mentioned: Cracks in the Walls at the Bottom https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com/2024/03/cracks-in-walls-at-bottom.html Alien Bangs in: Self Service https://muppy.substack.com/p/alien-bangs-in-self-service No Ticket https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com/2023/12/no-ticket...

Today we're glancing through a few of Grimms' Fairy Tales, with some fun commentary and thoughts about how these very basic stories nevertheless became so well-known and ingrained in our culture. Also, we reference a great Monty Python sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzn0tIy3dzM Justin's hilarious Cinderella parody is here: https://muppy.substack.com/p/ashley Check out our fict...

Today we're talking about a bunch of different topics, starting from sacred cows and frequently self-imposed rules in writing, and moving in a jagged path that touches on recommendations, James Joyce, and pet magazines. Story mentioned: Mendala https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com/2022/11/mendala-short-story-about-2200-words.html Our funny "roast" of The Good Guy: https://www.youtube.com/...

Wanna know about indie publishing? We'll tell you everything we know. From platforms, to audiobook production, covers, titles, and marketing, we have a few good starting tips for you on each. Plus, a fun little digression about style rules! Check out our fiction at: (Justin) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (Rudy) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And follow us on Twitter at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

In today's episode, we're doing a deep dive into Bram Stoker's Dracula, the classic novel of gothic horror from over 125 years ago! It pioneered (or, at least, is a shining example of) a very interesting multi-perspective style and is a great old book! Come with us as we explore this incredible work of classic fiction! A link to a free PDF of the book: https://archive.org/details/dracu...

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 discus...

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...

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.bl...

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://m...

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) ⁠⁠⁠⁠htt...

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...

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 m...

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 Goo...

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 t...

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...

In this episode, we are starting off with a discussion on using music to inspire your writing, with our usual helping of digressions! We talk about "The Turnaround," a technique common in certain types of writing that can make your writing more exciting if you do it right. Then, we cover our thoughts and techniques for writing action scenes, as well as some other fun stuff! Media mention...

Today we're diving into the quintessential modern children's story series: Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren (yes, we get her name wrong somehow through the whole episode). Pippi's stories are positive, imaginative, and chaotic--very different from earlier children's tales. We touch on Grimm's Fairy Tales and have a short digression into the Wizard of Oz books and their ab...

Kind of a potpourri episode this week. We weren't quite ready to talk Pippi Longstocking, so we decided to talk a little about some of our works. We start out with a bit more on Justin's The Good Guy, then we cover: Book Covers on a Budget Origin Stories and the World Outside Your Story Hard Science and Avoiding Perpetual Motion ...and more! We discuss our works: Jade Cargo https://rnkfict...

An episode starting with two very different perspectives! Justin and Rudy have very different methods when it comes to preparing for writing a story, and they hash out their differences in this episode! Other topics we touch upon are: Different Kinds of Mystery Stories The Disappearance (and Importance) of Physical Media Avoiding Stagnation and Justin's From-the-Hip Jump into VTubing! Featured...

In today's episode, we talk about how to deal with distractions when you're writing. We suggest a bunch of methods to make sure you're getting stuff done! We have a little interlude about Maurice LeBlanc and Saul Panzer, then we talk about adding layers of complexity and excitement to stories. Rudy and Justin have very different ways of doing this, so the discussion is all over the pla...

There are a lot of people who are still really low on the author tier list (like us) and lots of people who somehow manage to be lower. Join us as we go through Larry Correia's hilarious alphabetical list of author tiers! Follow along at: https://monsterhunternation.com/2014/07/24/the-official-alphabetical-list-of-author-success/ Check out our fiction at: (Justin) ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://muppy.substack.co...

Episode 4 has us talking about our influences as writers, and a bunch of sidetracks along the way! Plus! An extended ode to old works, and best of all, many of them are free! Stuff mentioned: Outopos https://rnkfiction.blogspot.com/2023/04/outopos-short-story-about-3100-words.html Quest of the Vampire Lords (part 1!) https://muppy.substack.com/p/quest-of-the-vampire-lords-part-1 Dawn of Discussion...

Today our two indie authors Justin and Rudy discuss the wonderful source of idea seeds that are story prompts, and the upsides and downsides of using them. Then, we share the little bit that we know about conventional publishing, along with some tips and ideas in unconventional publishing! We mentioned Iron Age Media for short story prompts, so here's that: https://ironage.media/ Check out our...

Today we cover the most dreaded topic of all writing: MUH THEMES! Themes are important for analysis but too many writers deliberately (and clumsily) insert way too much theme in a lot of places. Then, we talk about inspiration and taking cues from your favorite authors! There are some who say there are really only like ten stories in all the world. We don't go along with that, so we talk about...

Justin and Rudy talk worldbuilding in the face of a Workshop that produces Games being a jerk about its extremely derivative world that is Dark and also Grim. Then we review The Last Theorem, a book by Arthur C. Clarke and Frederik Pohl. Rudy has read it, and Justin hasn't, leading to a hilarious Half-Blind Review! Check out our fiction at: (Justin) https://muppy.substack.com (Rudy) https://rn...