On this episode, we decided to do a Hear Me Out, where one of us picks a topic we either need to defend or discuss to understand better. This episode is Melissa's Hear Me Out where she wanted to discuss a concept she had been thinking called Mirrored Protagonist. A character that mirrors the protagonist, but is not the main character. We used Zuko as the example and we dug deep trying to figure out readers love secondary characters more and yet, if the secondary character was removed, it would not change the main character's story arc, let alone the overall arching storyline.

Unfortunately, the sound quality was hit hard this week, for some reason the audio became echoey. I tried all week to fix it, and this was the best version I was able to create. Sorry about that, but hopefully it won't take away TOO much from the overall discussion we had.

If you would like to leave a comment or send in topic suggestions, please write us at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you!

On this episode, we discuss different magic systems and the different types of magic systems. We use examples from systems in popular media and then discuss our own thought process on how we created our own magic systems in our books and stories and why we did what we did, or why we leaned toward one type of magic system. There are countless ways to create your stories world, and the magic systems you include may reflect culture or a world view. Join us for more of a fan-girl episode on how much fun creating magic systems is and what we find fascinating and how we twist tropes to make them shine.

We'd love to hear from you! Drop us a comment or email us at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com if you have any questions or topics you would like us to discuss. Thanks for listening, Bye!

On this episode we'll discuss how to write what you know - easily one of the most common pieces of writing advice that is extremely logical on the surface, but no one ever explains in practical use. Writing what you know means you are using personal experiences you have had in your life and gifting the idea of it to your character to translate your story into a real and grounded reading experience.

I've never ridden a dragon, but I have ridden a horse and I've gone camping, so I can use those experiences to describe the way the dragon moves under me, rocking me side to side on the leather saddle, and then dipping backward and forward as it dives or climbs through the air, the wind whipping at my hair. The smoke from the dragon's mouth wafting into my face smelling of ash and green wood sputtering in the embers. - see? Its easy. That's what makes it fun. Use what you have experiences throughout your life and apply it to your story, and a depth of reality will grow around those moments the readers spend with the characters.

If you would like to suggest a topic or leave us a review, please comment below or send us an email at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com. We'd love to add your request to our queue!

On this episode we discuss how to show not tell... and also promptly talk about when telling is okay. Showing is describing the emotions a character is feeling without telling the reader those emotions. We as authors need to trust our readers to understand the descriptions as we show character through their actions and choices, and we have to believe our readers are capable of perceiving the deeper motivations as the character react in-character.

We also devolve into tangents using Avatar: The Last Airbender, Arcane, and Wishbone as fantastic examples of good examples of Showing. But we do also talk about when telling is needed and we give a few tips on times when telling is preferable.

If you have any questions or would like to request a topic, drop us a review or email us at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com . Thanks for listening!

Content Warning: we will be discussing death and how to represent real life in fiction.

On this episode it is just Ellie and Melissa today. We decided to discuss death and how to represent it in fiction with respect, realism, and even how to use death within the fiction to do everything from character development, plot, subverting expectations, and allowing death to affect not just the main characters, but even side characters who are side characters to the main story. We also dip our toes into how using real life loss has affected how we try to write death for a broader prospective for readers and audiences who haven't dealt with it on a first hand basis. Hopefully we were respectful of the topic.

If you have any comments, questions, or insights, please drop us a comment, or email us at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com and if you have any requests for future topics, please let us know! We'd love to add your requests to the roster!

On this episode, we discuss how coming up with ideas is easy, its the development of the ideas that take time. No matter where you start with your story, how do you generate ideas to expand your story? We discuss starting with character, setting, wants and needs, and we talk about modern adaptations that took the time to generate ideas to create something new. Dig deep into the what-if questions, think about how one idea can spiral into yet more ideas if pushed. And always remember, people love a good Shakespeare adaptation.

If you have any questions or suggestions our next topic, please drop us a review or email us at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you, and we'd also love to address any questions you have!

On this episode, we discuss how to write villains! We all love talking villains, but we did get a little carried away about discussing how modern villains differ from classic villains. We talk about how sympathetic villains are engaging and that is a great thing modern writers have done well, but we also delve into the fact that some stories just need a good evil villain for the sake of the game.

Plus, you get to listen to me loose my mind because I figuratively forgot how to talk about my fury concerning the atrocities of what happened to Scar in the live action remakes. I'm still not okay over his treatment. (so many options and they didn't take any of them, they chose that route instead!)

This is definitely a topic we'll discuss again, we only scratched the surface of this topic; so if you have any questions or suggestions, we would love to hear from you. Either drop us a review or email us at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com and we'd love to incorporate your requests into a future episode. Thanks for listening!

On this episode we will discuss Genre Expectations. When you decide to write a story, knowing what Genre you are writing is important, because readers expect certain things from that genre. Whatever emotion that genre invokes in a reader, the author has to do their best to write toward what that feeling or anticipation that the reader expects from that topic. You don't want to throw a tragedy in the middle of a comedy where there isn't an uplifting reminder to laugh by the end (Patch Adams), nor do you want to mix genres without taking the time to figure out how they would even work in the first place, where do they match, how do they overlap? And, how do you market to readers if you have broken Genre Expectation? These are the things to consider when writing your story; and if you want to break them all? Bless your heart, and good luck.