Royalty Free - A Writing Podcast

Royalty Free - A Writing Podcast

by Melissa M. Rivers, Ellie Lerum, and Kaitlyn King

Season 1

Creating Magic, like Bread! - Magic Systems and Using their Consequences

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!

Get Kneed in the Face! - Translating Write What You Know in Application

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!

Show Me the Story Wishbone - How to Show not Tell (Sometimes)

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!

Death Attorney at Law - Representing Death in Fiction

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!

Taming of the Ideas - How to Develop Story Ideas

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!

Modern Villains - Writing Strong Sympathetic Villains (Who Are Still Evil)

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!

Great Genre Expectations - Why its Important to Meet Book Expectations

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.

In the Beginning - What to Consider in Writing Your Beginnings

In this episode we ramble about how to write beginnings. Beginning your book is hard, and its even harder knowing how to explain everything without info dumping, its hard to know how to describe your characters without sound amateurish, or knowing when to prelude or not to prelude. Beginnings are the powerhouse to engaging readers with your story, and they aren't just the hook, they are the net an author casts to encompass everything that makes the beginning of a book a story you can't put down - and don't want too. If you enjoyed, think about leaving a like and review. And if there are any topics you would like us to cover, drop us an email at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com because we would love to add your requests to our upcoming roster. Thanks again!

AI Overlords Rebellion - Using AI in Writing

On this funky episode, the three of us had a candid-caught discussion on AI and the use of it in written works and in the creative fields. We didn't plan for this to be an episode, but thanks to my quick clicking skills, I caught the entire conversation on mic and we ended up with a very in-depth discussion on the uses of AI, the cons of AI, and even the pros of AI. We discuss everything from how AI is hurting younger creatives, how in days long past we imagined AI was intended to be useful for all, and how it is currently being viewed by creatives as well as the general public. Join us for our unintended episode that proves that well scripted AI prompts will never beat the brilliant chaos of the spontaneous human soul. If you would like to suggest a topic, please drop it in the reviews or write us an email at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you and we'd love to add your requests to our rotation of episodes. Thanks for listening!

What About the Hairdresser?! - World Building Your Book

In this episode we talk about World Building! We discuss our philosophies on how to world build, techniques we use, and how we have expanded our original worlds as our stories have outgrown the original floorplan. We talk about things to consider (like hairdressers, or who is running the mundane tasks) in every day life, and we dip our toes into world creationism (but we'll have to save that for another episode along with flora and fauna). We talk a lot about considering what your society is like in your world creation and how it will effect your characters. We also discuss how we have drawn on other cultures as inspiration and the need to be respectful of them in your stories. This is just the tip of the World Building iceberg, so leave us a comment on what you'd like to hear next! If your earholes enjoy listening to us, please leave us a like and subscribe, and if you would like to leave us a topic recommendation, drop us a comment or email us at royaltyfreewritingpodcast@gmail.com Thanks again!

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