To Trope or Not to Trope

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...

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 all...

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 te...

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 c...

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...

He’s here to save the world! Or slowly devolve in a downward spiral of madness and obsession. Y’know, whichever works. Welcome to our Archetype mini series, in which we deconstruct character archetypes and talk about how to write them (and, of course, how NOT to write them), starting with the inescapable Hero. Join us this episode for arguments about whether or not Star Wars actually counts as sci...

He’s suave, he’s hot, he’s here to steal your heart…and maybe your grandmother’s jewels while he’s at it. Join us this episode as we discuss all things Gentleman Thief, that villain we all love to love. We talk ethics, we talk worldbuilding and business cards, we talk heists (of course), and we spend an inordinate amount of time playing “is he actually a gentlemen thief?” with various fictional ch...

Sometimes true love is written in the stars. Other times the stars are just petty and cruel. Join us this episode as we talk all things Star-Crossed Lovers, argue repeatedly about Romeo and Juliet, and discuss the real questions, like “can you write star-crossed lovers into an early 2000s style rom-com?” and “is Ansel Elgort the new Leonardo DiCaprio?”

Get in, losers, we’ve got a totally fetch season finale for you. Cady Heron isn’t like regular Nines, she’s a cool Nine. Join us this week as we talk Mean Girls, Marvel, and how to write an interesting Enneagram Nine character who’s still a Nine by the end of the story. Grool!

This week we stray from strict tropes into the land of retellings and adaptations, discussing when you should, when you shouldn’t, and what makes us ridiculously annoyed at stories. We also spend an inordinate amount of time arguing about whether Marvel is fantasy or sci-fi, which doesn’t really have anything to do with retellings, but seemed like a good idea at the time.

“Fight me.” –Lizzie Bennet, probably. No matter the challenge, Eights will rise to it. Join us this episode as we talk about megalomaniacal dictators and strong independent women and every Eight in between. This week, we’re asking the important questions, like, How do you write every Enneagram type in one story? and, What if Lizzie Bennet had been cruelly experimented on and ended up in the movie...

Sir, that’s my emotional support dead woman in a refrigerator! If you’ve ever considered killing off a character in your writing, listen to this episode. We discuss in depth when it’s okay to kill off characters and when it’s just a lazy plot trick or cheap emotional manipulation, with a side of when it might be sexist, just for kicks. From Batman’s parents to Sean Bean, this episode has everythin...

To live is an awfully big adventure, and Sevens are all about that adventurous life. Join us as we discuss the many iterations of Peter Pan and more than you ever wanted to know about writing Enneagram Sevens. It’s a wild and fun time. Much like Enneagram Sevens.

I hate you. I love you. I hate that I love you. Join us this episode as we talk all things Enemies to Lovers and offer some very unhelpful advice on how to write this trope. Did you know that the key to writing good books is, in fact, to write good books? You will after listening to this episode!

Me? An Enneagram Six? Shut. Up. From loyal faith in preexisting systems to skepticism of literally anything outside their comfort zones, Sixes show up in fiction in a variety of ways. Join us this episode as we talk about Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia, and the many ways you can shove a Six character out of their comfort zone and into a plot. We also talk about Chris Pine a lot, because come...

It’s twosday! We’re coming at you on 2/22/2022 with an episode all about magical numbers, numerology, and symbolism. Head back to middle school English class with us (but, like, in a fun way!) as we discuss how and when symbolism should be written into stories and the kinds of symbolism that should generally be pushed away with a very sharp stick. Enjoy!

It’s elementary, dear listeners. At least, that’s what a Five would have you believe. Join us as we discuss Sherlock Holmes and other Enneagram Fives both real and fictional, and talk about how to write them. Specifically how to make them human. And female. Featuring other important questions such as: “Would Sherlock understand TikTok memes?” “Should the three of us plan a heist?” and “Is building...

He’s here, he’s hot, and he’s got a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas. He’s got a lot of feelings and he’s not afraid to use them. He’s also probably got a leather jacket, because of course he does. Join us this episode as we go off about the Moody Broody Sad Boy, talk about how to write him as a character, take a couple weird detours into what he could look like IRL, and reveal way too much...

But you just don’t understand! From tortured artists to empaths, from serial killers to characters who have so many feelings they just can’t help but sing about it, Fours just want to be special. Join us this episode as we discuss Klaus Hargreeves and the possibilities of a devoted cult gone wrong, and put out a heartfelt request for more Enneagram Four villains in fiction, because chaos energy an...

When someone says “elf,” what do you think of? If you didn’t answer, “a toymaker bearing the white hand of Saruman” or “an orc in jingly shoes,” you need this episode in your life. Join us as we discuss such hard hitting questions as: Is Santa a sexy high elf? Is the Naughty and Nice list an unbreakable fae contract? Are Rhys and Tamlin really any different from Legolas or Thranduil? Tolkien, Sant...

Anything you can do, Threes can do better. It’s just a fact. (If you ask them, anyway.) Join us this episode as we discuss Tony Stark and his stereotypical Enneagram Three selfish selflessness, and disagree over whether or not he would make a compelling supervillain. From imaginary fans to Pokémon masters, this episode is here for all your Enneagram type Three writing needs.

Is it incest if you’re not technically related? Do evil scientists who specialize in human experiments actually create found families? If you’re all legally declared dead, can you still go through the adoption process? All this and more in this week’s episode on how to write Found Family!

Do you want to build a… type Two character? Join us in our second Enneagram episode as we discuss Anna, Princess of Arendelle, and how we think she could be a more compelling character. Featuring other such side topics as Dolly Parton’s dystopia and whether Sam was the real hero of Lord of the Rings, this episode is here for all your Enneagram Two writing needs.

Sad boys here! Come and get your sad boys! Join us this episode as we discuss the real questions, like can a manic pixie dream girl exist without the dreamer? do sad boys really need more stories written about them? and should Jack have survived Titanic? All this and more in the episode.

From the benevolent rule of Mary Poppin’s cheerful dictatorship to Thanos’s perfectly balanced soufflé, join us as we discuss how to make an Enneagram One character come to life in your writing. Forget stick-in-the-mud moral guardians—Enneagram Reformers are here with a (morally justified) vengeance! (And maybe an army of chimney sweeps. You never know.)