The Nit Writs Pod

Art:Gabriel by bethgilbert_art for atouchofmagicdesigns on Instagram!https://www.instagram.com/p/CmW_R2_L8SN/?img_index=1 Elise by jemlin_c on Instagram!https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd_YNmvr8Wq/ ***SPOILER ALERT!! Spoilers for Zodiac Academy ALL of Zodiac Academy and some of Ruthless Fae!***Please don’t listen unless you’ve read the entire Zodiac Academy main series! In this episode, we discuss the ENDING of the full main Zodiac Academy series and Sam’s start to Ruthless Fae! We thought we’d shut up after finishing the main series but Sam is already deep into Ruthless Fae so onward we go! This was a fun reaction episode where we could finally talk freely and be at the same level of understanding.Give it a listen and let us know what you think!Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

Tory & Darcy by Maria Selto on Deviantart and Instagram!https://www.deviantart.com/mariaselto/art/Tory-x-Darcy-Vega-Zodiac-Academy-943906666 ***SPOILER ALERT!! Spoilers for Zodiac Academy up to Book 9 so proceed with caution!***In this episode, we discuss where Sam is at in Zodiac Academy (ALMOST at the end of Zodiac 9) and her fav moments and expectations. We also spend some time discussing what we would want if we were FMCs (what powers, love interests, class, etc) and as always chat a bit about our writing journeys.Give it a listen and let us know what you think!Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

Seth and Caleb by liaramirezillustration on Instagram!https://www.instagram.com/p/DLlmWfLt3Zu/?img_index=1 The Heirs by adamszkiart on Instagram!https://www.instagram.com/p/ClTyzT8LquU/?img_index=1 ***SPOILER ALERT!! Spoilers for Zodiac Academy up to Book 8 Chapter 3 (and a random Throne of Glass spoilers because of comparisons/etc) so proceed with caution!***In this episode, we discuss character arcs and Save the Cat beat sheet/series progression as we once again giggle about where Sam is in Zodiac (Allie has finished it and was in the middle of 8.5 at the time of recording). There’s certain HUGE things that happen at the end of 7 so we had a lot to reel about! And lots of thoughts about conflict and how far you can push characters, etc. Give it a listen and let us know what you think!Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

Art by bethgilbert_art on Instagram!https://www.instagram.com/p/CXboizHrERN/?img_index=1 ***OBVIOUSLY SPOILER ALERT!! Spoilers for Zodiac Academy up to Book 6 so proceed with caution!***In this episode, we discuss our current reads–Zodiac Academy! We weren’t going to coordinate this at first and Allie just started reading because of all the insanely varying reviews but now Allie’s almost at the end of the main series and Sam is catching up quick (just starting Book 5!). We just couldn’t help ourselves and yapped about the series and Sam’s thoughts/theories and general reactions.Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

In this episode, we discuss character voice! This is kind of an overall discussion with a focus on our own writing too since the topic is pretty broad. We also had a lot of fun discussing Zodiac Academy as we’ve begun reading them (we just had to know what people were on about with how much they love AND hate these books!). Let us know what you think in the comments!Poem of the Week: Winter Stars by Larry Levishttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53388/winter-stars-56d232a1c9b93 Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

In this episode, we discuss the descriptions of scents and taste in romantasy in particular! There’s lots of interesting examples throughout the genre and many a book boyfriend has a signature scent! We discuss the vibes of some of them and how they interact with the story/writing/etc. What’s your favorite book boyfriend scent?!?Here’s the reddit thread we were looking at for the Maasverse scent descriptions: https://www.reddit.com/r/acotar/comments/z455gd/everyones_scents_in_the_world_of_sarah_j_maas/ Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

Thumbnail art: Art by madschofield on Instagram!https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ465dUyjDc/?img_index=2 **WARNING! Spoilers for the Shepherd King Duology!**In this episode, discuss this duology that we recently read at the same time! We discuss our favorite parts, debate the writing and what we loved and didn’t love as much (as always–no hate on these great books!) We chat about the use of rhyme, where the duology splits, the really interesting villain in this series, the magic and beauty standards, and a lot more! This is the perfect thing for someone who just read these!What’s your favorite part of this duology? And what should we read together next??Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro2:12–Reading & Writing Check-Ins!Sam has read the Supernatural Curse seriesAllie finished Morningstar (from Red Rising)12:33–Main discussion: The Shepherd King Duology! **SPOILER WARNING!!**1:27:59–Next week, closing & outro music

In this episode we had so much fun chatting about the first pages of some iconic and super well-loved booktok books! The ranking was super fun and something we'll def consider doing again (though maybe shorter lol we can YAP! omg). Which one is your fav first page??Keep in mind there may be light spoilers for any of these so proceed with caution!Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

Thumbnail art: Septimus and Nyaxia by the INCREDIBLE alicia.mb.art on Instagram!Septimus:https://www.instagram.com/p/CvFS5o8Lluc/ Nyaxia:https://www.instagram.com/p/CwxcBm0r8Y2/ **WARNING! Spoilers for the Crowns of Nyaxia series!**In this episode, we analyze the cover of The Lion & The Deathless Dark cover by Carissa Broadbent! We read the blurb and look at the cover and discuss what we could. To help us we also discussed the other books and lots of different aspects of the series. It’s a meandering but fun convo and we’d love to hear your take on the cover!! Did you find something? What do you think it signals about the next book?Poem of the Week: “Stone” by Charles Simichttps://www.mindfulnessassociation.net/words-of-wonder/stone-charles-simic/ Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro2:01–Reading & Writing Check-ins:Allie started Red Rising!Allie didn’t write shit!Sam is reading Empire of Storms!Sam tried her hand at poem writing!18:00–Main discussion: The Lion & the Deathless Dark cover/blurb discussion and theories!52:13–Poem of the Week:  “Stone” by Charles Simichttps://www.mindfulnessassociation.net/words-of-wonder/stone-charles-simic/ 57:25–Next week, closing & outro music

In this episode, we do a writing exercise! We start with reading & writing check ins as always but then we spent honestly a good chunk of time (that was then cut out of course lol) writing our scenes! We read and discussed them and had a lot of fun discussing the interesting things that come up with a prompt like this. If you want to do it with us, here’s the Writing Exercise Prompt: Write a scene where your characters visit a sacred place.If you did it, let us know how it went in the comments!If you’re not a writer, tell us what you love about scenes with the sacred in your fav books!Poem of the Week: “Changeling” by Hieu Minh Nguyenhttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/91678/changeling-5848812e490aeIntro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro00:41–Reading & Writing Check-ins:23:16–Main discussion: Writing Exercise!46:46–Poem of the Week: “Changeling” by Hieu Minh Nguyenhttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/91678/changeling-5848812e490ae 51:15–Next week, closing & outro music

Thumbnail art:Violet & Xaden by rezle_ on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/p/DFGOA1wNKtX/?img_index=1 Aelin & Rowan by liaramirezillustration on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/p/DCDR_z_OeZS/?img_index=1Oraya & Raihn by vallerony_ on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/p/DEm_1oKsptp/?hl=enMische & Asar cludi_a_ on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/p/DNBI7OcNfpE/ In this episode, we discuss fated mates! We go over what we think works well and doesn’t work as well with this trope. We discuss our own approaches as well as the way it works in some popular romantasy books!Who’s your favorite set of fated mates??Poem of the Week:  “Forfeiting My Mystique” by Kaveh Akbar:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/145989/forfeiting-my-mystiqueIntro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro00:41–Writing check-ins:Sam got 0 (writing lull)Allie got 1200 words6:03–Reading check-ins:Allie is mad at Outlander (spoiler alert for first book and a half!)Sam is in the middle of ToG reread9:37–Main discussion: Fated MatesSome light spoilers for Beast of the Briars, Fourth Wing, Throne of Glass, ACOTAR, Crowns of Nyaxia54:52–Poem of the Week: “Forfeiting My Mystique” by Kaveh Akbar:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/145989/forfeiting-my-mystique1:04:17–Next week, closing & outro music

In this episode, we discuss Brandon Sanderson’s Three-Pronged Character Development concept! This concept is a really interesting one generally about how to balance characters by using this sliding scale tool for three different key components of a character: proactivity, relatability, and competency. We discuss this with our own characters and some popular BookTok characters to see how this really works in practice. Have you heard of this approach? Where do your characters land?Link to Sanderson’s YouTube video longer explanation: https://youtu.be/G-6z7JqvDoE?si=XJeSbe6VIyZq36GvLink to Gina Denny’s shorter TikTok going over this idea: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMkfPB8m/Another explanation link: https://stormwritingschool.com/character-mixing-board/The poem for this week was “Summer Solstice, New York City” by Sharon Olds: https://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/olds/SummerSolstice.html Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

In this episode, we chat through different story structures and talk through how we approach these in our stories (especially as one of us is a panster and the other is a plotter!) and discuss different approaches for how we could do things. If you’re a writer, what story structure do you use??Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestLink to the gigantic picture of allll structures: https://imgur.com/onltNgA Save the Cat Beatsheet https://newbietonovelist.com/2020/09/23/save-the-cat-fifteen-beats-vs-the-seven-point-story-structure/ 

In this episode, we discuss our naming process for our own characters and some of our favorite within some popular books too. We found so much to talk about and honestly still have more surface to scratch but it was a really interesting and fun conversation. A lot of names are really instinctive but also need to resonate and can really make or break a story!What are some of your favorite character names?Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro00:51–Reading check-ins!Sam read the third and fourth of the Beasts of the Briars seriesAllie read ~200 pages of Outlander5:34–Writing check-ins!Allie didn’t write much after last week’s epSam wrote 1400 words (and broke her writing slump!)11:06–Main Discussion: Character names! Our own and general discussion of some famous popular romantasy names too1:04:34–Poem of the Week! “This living hand” by John Keats! (Read it here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50375/this-living-hand-now-warm-and-capable )1:15:21–Next week, closing & outro music

In this episode, we check in with each other in terms of our reading and writing this week and then we get into a writing exercise! We have a lot of fun with this one and both ending up reading what we wrote during the exercise!Here’s the prompt: Describe your character’s favorite place (that you haven’t yet described). If you’re a writer, give this one a try! If you do, let us know how it went!Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro00:42–Reading check-ins!Sam read a couple chapters of Forged by MaliceAllie read two chapters of Outlander4:31–Writing check-ins!Sam hasn’t written but has is mentally writing, as you doAllie wrote 2k words and a poem!16:12–Writing exercise! We originally were going to do 2-3 but ended up just doing one of them since we actually took like 40 mins to do it instead of just 10 mins. Here’s that prompt: Describe your character’s favorite place (that you haven’t yet described). 18:47–Initial reactions after the exercise20:05–Allie reads what she wrote26:35–Sam reads what she wrote39:55–Next week, closing & outro music

In this episode, we discuss what got us started writing our main novels and how we think about the process! We also talk for quite a while about Sam’s new reading experience with the Beast of the Briar series! Check it out and let us know–if you’re a writer, what got you started writing??? Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro00:54–Reading & Writing Check InsAllie wrote 1500 words and read nothing!Sam also didn’t write but finished Slaying the Vampire Conqueror by Carissa Broadbent and Bonded by Thorns by Elizabeth Helen! **Spoilers for Bonded by Thorns**30:12–Main Discussion: Why did we start writing novels??1:07:08–Next week, closing & outro music

**Keep in mind this episode will have SPOILERS for The Fallen & The Kiss of Dusk!!**Thumbnail art is by naarielart on Instagram!https://www.instagram.com/p/DCPETgVRXLP/In this episode, we discuss our thoughts on The Fallen & The Kiss of Dusk! We didn’t read or write too much this week so we just jump right in discussing some of our favorite aspects of the book and theories for the next book! What did you think of this book??Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

In this episode, we discuss our reading and writing goals for 2026! We are both looking to amp up our reading and writing this year and we hope you’ll join us!!What are your goals for the New Year??Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwest

In this episode, we get into the different marketing trends we see on booktok and how authors present their books to audiences! We’re always interested and puzzled by the different strategies and we had a lot of fun here talking about how this works when a big part of the fun of reading is not knowing what comes next. As always, we both see this a little differently so it’s an interesting discussion.What about you?? Do you like knowing tropes? Do you read the backs of books before you buy them?Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro00:55–Reading check-ins!Allie read basically nothing (except Horizon Zero Dawn–a game lol). Spoiler alert for Bioshock lol! 10:55–Writing check-ins!Allie doubled the new story word count (with only 1400 words lol–still not hitting the 2k weekly goal)Sam wrote 3.5k words writing an important early battle scene!19:31–Main Discussion: Social media marketing ploys and what is too far!Crowns of Nyaxia (Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk) spoiler discussion at 27:34-30:54Light spoilers for Plated Prisoner series at 33:29-36:231:00:41–Next week, (plus long tangent about plans for writing next week), closing & outro music

In this episode, we discuss our fav lore! We actually didn’t fully talk through everything and ended up discussing a lot about exposition (but I’m sure we’ll return to lore discussions in general–but exposition is a huge part of that convo!). We do our reading check ins (spoiler alert for When the Moon Hatched and Fallen and the Kiss of Dusk!) where we heavily discuss Allie’s experience finishing When the Moon Hatched and the things she liked and also had some issues with for that book! We also end with a fantastic poem called “Another Elegy ["This is what our dying looks like"]” by Jericho Brown. Read it here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57693/another-elegy-this-is-what-our-dying-looks-like What about you?? What do you look for in terms of lore? What breaks your immersion quickest??Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro00:41–Reading check ins! Allie finished When the Moon Hatched and had some THOUGHTS (SPOILER ALERT for When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A Parker!!), plus exposition tangentSam finished Mother of Death & Dying and started the Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk (both by Carissa Broadbent)33:42–Writing check ins!48:43–Main Discussion: Lore Discussion1:09:07–(TW–implied SI) Poem of the Week! “Another Elegy [“This is what our dying looks like”]” by Jericho Brownhttps://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57693/another-elegy-this-is-what-our-dying-looks-like 1:16:18–Next week, closing & outro music

In this episode, we check in with our reading and writing as always and we spend our main discussion doing a writing exercise! The exercise prompt is given at 21:45 (also written below) and we read what we came up with at XX:XX. This one was super fun to do as two people at different stages and experience with our writing (Sam has never done this style of writing exercise, Allie has done hundreds of them; Sam’s a plotter, Allie’s a pantser; etc!). We also get into a tangent about writing kid dialogue and end with a fantastic poem called “The Glass” by Sharon Olds. Read it here: https://www.deepcenter.org/deepcenter/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/the-glass_sharon-olds1.pdf Prompt for the writing exercise: Write a scene where a parental figure is telling a story to a child in your world. Does not have to be a core myth, doesn’t have to mean anything or ever be included.Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro00:33–Reading check ins! 9:38–Writing check ins!21:14–Main Discussion: Writing Exercise!Prompt for the writing exercise: Write a scene where a parental figure is telling a story to a child in your world. Does not have to be a core myth, doesn’t have to mean anything or ever be included.22:32–Reading our drafts31:50–Kid dialogue tangent (discussing two of Allie’s characters)38:53–(CW–Yucky? lol) Poem of the Week! “The Glass” by Sharon Oldshttps://www.deepcenter.org/deepcenter/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/the-glass_sharon-olds1.pdf 44:07–Next week, closing & outro music

Raihn from Crowns of Nyaxia by @aseriaart on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/p/Cy3dC0rohbe/?img_index=1Rhysand from ACOTAR by  @charliebowater on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BLEsQ6FABPR/Xaden from Fourth Wing by @carraert on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/p/C35ArZqMzRE/?img_index=1 **SPOILER WARNING FOR CROWNS OF NYAXIA SERIES, ACOTAR, FOURTH WING, LIGHT SPOILERS FOR BROKEN KINGDOM SERIES, AND WHEN THE MOON HATCHED!**In this episode, we jump into discussing enemies to lovers within the romantasy genre! As one of the most popular tropes, we chat about how it appears historically and in three very popular series (ACOTAR, Fourth Wing, Crowns of Nyaxia)--note the spoiler warning! We have a fun reading check in discussing WtMH and Crowns of Nyaxia (and especially how exposition and world building is written). Next week we’re doing a writing exercise!Let us know what your fav enemies to lovers story is!!Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Cold open, intro song, and episode intro00:26–Writing check ins!7:07–Reading check ins! Allie discusses the first part of When the Moon Hatched, Carissa Broadbent in general (and also specifically her latest, The Fallen and the Kiss of Dust), Sam is still working on War of Lost Hearts Series!Main Discussion: Enemies to Lovers!34:51–Early enemies to lovers, Shakespeare/10 Things I Hate About You, LJ Andrews’ Broken Kingdoms series45:18–Discussing ACOTAR, Fourth Wing, Crowns of Nyaxia & categorizing types of enemies to lovers (internal vs external factors)1:18:03–Next week, closing & outro music

In this episode, we’ve got our usual reading and writing check ins and then we discuss being a pantser and a plotter! Allie is a pantser and Sam is a plotter so we talk about our very different processes, struggles, patterns in writing, etc. We discuss some of our current stories and how that process has shaped them and it’s a fun conversation! During our reading check in we also have some fun classic book discussion about the War of Lost Hearts series, Six Scorched Roses and The Songbird and the Heart of Stone (all by one of our favs Carissa Broadbent!) as well as When the Moon Hatched. The poem of the week is “The Pope’s Penis” by Sharon Olds. Let us know in the comments if you’re a pantser or a plotter!Intro and Outro Music is by Chasing Westhttps://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Intro song, and episode intro/summary1:06–Sam’s reading check in & Carissa Broadbent discussion12:09–Allie’s reading check in–Six Scorched Roses (plus Lilith name discussion) & discussion of The Songbird and the Heart of Stone, plus soon to be read books & WtMH discussion32:34–Writing check in!39:59–Main discussion: Pantsers vs Plotters!1:05:52–Poem of the week: The Pope’s Penis by Sharon Olds (here it is if you want to read too!: https://www.haggardandhalloo.com/2013/09/05/the-popes-penis/ )1:08:12–Next week, closing & outro music

This episode is a little intro episode where we are discussing who we are and where we’re at on our own reading and writing journeys! Intro and Outro Music is by Bar Dahan! Check him out on Instagram as Chasing West!https://www.instagram.com/chvsingwest/http://www.youtube.com/@chasingwestChapters:00:00–Intro song, and episode intro00:22–Why are we doing this?! lol2:44–Writing check ins (Allie’s a pantser, Sam’s a plotter!)4:42–A little background and reading journeys (plus gaming convo)26:59–This year’s book count37:01–We attempt to talk about writing and then go back to more reading talk (mild Shadow Hunters spoilers)49:58–Actual writing journey discussion lol1:14:09–Publishing discussion1:21:31–What the podcast will be!