PODCAST · education
Writing Roots
by Writing Roots
A 10-minute podcast to improve your writing skills
Episodes
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S60E4 - FAQ 2024: How Do I Format Weird Numbers?
The answer to the question about number formatting will largely depend on what style guide you've chosen to use. Most narrative fiction will use the Chicago Manual of Style, but not all answers are in there. There might be times you encounter weird instances of formatting for numbers, such a…
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S60E3 - FAQ 2024: How Do I Format Weird Text?
Standard paragraph formatting doesn't always cut it. Whether you're writing contemporary fiction with text messages or a steampunk novel with newspaper clippings, you'll likely run into times where you need to stray from normal paragraphs. In this episode, we talk about different options for all...
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S60E2 - FAQ 2024: How Do I Describe Different Body Types?
While Ley might tell you that physical descriptions are entirely unnecessary outside of maybe basic identifiers, there is some importance to providing a description for your readers. It helps anchor them in the world and visualize the characters. Finding the right descriptions, though, is...
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S60E1 - FAQ 2024: Asking Questions
Questions are the never-ending well of inspiration for writers across the world. It can feel awkward or intimidating to ask sometimes, especially when it comes to craft questions. But we want you to know it's always encouraged to ask. For simply asking a question can help you find unexpected...
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S59 Bonus - Creating Numbered Rules in Your Story
We've talked all month about numbers. How to use them in your story, common tropes associated with them, and more. But what about creating numbers within your world that mean something? This episode, we talk about ways to create rules in your story, such as the numbered rules of Zombieland or...
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S59E8 - The Chosen One
The Chosen One is a well-used trope throughout all kinds of fiction, but particularly science fiction and fantasy. There are many ways to proceed with this kind of story, and not all of them work out in the end. Listen to this episode for what often makes a Chosen One and how you can use it to...
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S59E7 - Two Sides of the Story
It's often said there are two sides to a story in our lives. The same goes for the stories we write. This can include creating a villainous reflection of your hero, or simply having two point of view characters. Listen for more on how to tell these two sides of a story most effectively while...
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S59E6 - On Three
The infamous countdown can be found in all kinds of stories across genres. This is the moment characters are trying to sync actions, issue a threat, or creating mini ticking clocks in a scene. Listen for more about how to use this to create interesting character interaction or increase the…
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S59E5 - Four of a Kind
Four is a common number for dividing groups in fiction. If you're categorizing characters, those groups often fall into the categories of The Heroic, The Cinnamon Roll, The Nerd, and The Not-So-Bad-Guy. A classic example of this is the Pevensie kids in The Chronicles of Narnia. In this episode…
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S59E4 - Five: Parts of a Whole
If you are looking for a number to help show a sense of completeness or unity, consider the number five. This number is often seen as equal parts of a whole or as a four-plus-one in a case like Sailor Moon. Listen for more about how you can use the number five.
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S59E3 - Six: Naming Characters with Numbers
Using numbers to name your characters has several unique aspects which can help define the character themselves. It's common enough with the number six that it is even the name of the trope3 on TV Tropes. From providing anonymity to adding a sense of dehumanization, the use of a number name is wide.
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S59E2 - Seven: Using and Building Sequences
When you look at examples from history of the number seven, you will often see it associated with a sequence of things: colors of the rainbow, notes in the diatonic scale, days of the week, heavenly virtues and deadly sins. The idea of a sequence within storytelling can help create milestones and...
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S59E1 - Using Numbers for Storytelling
Numbers are a useful tool in storytelling, as they can be used to establish patterns, convey importance, or give hints to your readers. The key is intention. When you aren't paying attention to numbers, you can set up accidental clues that can lead to falling short of expectations. In this…
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S58E9 - Writing About Death: Exsanguination/Blood Loss
The final method of death we are covering for the month is exsanguination, also known as extreme blood loss. There are many methods of this, including open wound bleeding, internal bleeding and even slow blood loss through something supernatural such as vampires. Listen for more about what...
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S58E8 - Writing About Death: Hypothermia
Another form of death you can use that is more often accidental is hypothermia. The process of getting hypothermia can be used to increase tension of dramatic moments as it's often a slow process. Listen for more about how it affects the body and examples from history.
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S58BE - Writing About Death: Weird Historical Deaths
Some ways that characters can die - or be tortured - can't fit into a category we've covered the rest of this month. Some ways have simply been weird, usually as the result of the endless creativity and unhinged capabilities of the human mind. In this bonus episode, we'll talk about historical…
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S58E7 Writing About Death: Blunt Force Trauma
Of all the forms of death, blunt force trauma is one of the most diverse ways to kill a character. It can be accidental or intentional - or one framed as the other. Listen for more about blunt force trauma, how it impacts different areas of the body, and how it might have lasting consequences if...
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S58E6 - Writing About Death: Asphyxiation
If you're looking for a more up-close and personal way to end a character in your story, asphyxiation might be what you're looking for. In this episode, we discuss the different forms of asphyxiation, from the more common strangulation to magical miasmas.
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S58E5 - Writing About Death: Ranged Piercing Weapons
If your characters want someone dead, but want to stay at a distance, ranged weapons are what you'll need. There are many to choose from, including guns, bows and even less well-known projectile launchers like the atlatl. Listen for more on the true dangers of ranged weaponry, why they are used,...
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S58E4 - Writing About Death: Hand-to-Hand Melee Combat
While hand-to-hand melee combat has not historically been used in terms of warfare, except in extreme circumstances, it is more common in personal fights. From blunt force trauma to grappling, there are many ways that hand-to-hand fights can be used in your writing. In this episode, we discuss…
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S58E3 - Writing About Death: Natural Toxins
Continuing from our last episode, we wanted to talk about other natural toxins that can be used in your story to kill a character. These are more likely to be accidental in some way, but can also be utilized by the right character as an intentional killing. Listen for more ideas and inspiration...
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S58E2 - Writing About Death: Heavy Metal Poisons
One of the ways you might use to kill someone in your story is through poison. In this episode, we focus specifically on poison from heavy metals such as arsenic and cyanide. We look into what happens to the body, how these poisons are used, and historical references you can use in your own...
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S58E1 - Writing About Death: The Moment of Death
Welcome to spooky season! To celebrate, we will be digging into death. Across all genres, one common thread that connects many of them is the idea and fallout of death. Whether it's a character working through grief or on-page violence, you will likely have an experience writing about it. In this...
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S57E9 - Unwritten Communication: Rebranding Words
Rebranding words - taking words that exist and making them mean something particular for your story - is a time-tested way to engage readers with your story. They offer almost an easter egg quality to your story progression. Listen for more on how to rebrand words and why it can be useful.
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S57 Bonus - Unwritten Communication: Leaving Stuff Out
Mystery is a friend to all writers, no matter the genre. Sometimes, what you leave out tells your reader a lot more about characters or the world than what you explain. In this episode, we talk about what you can leave out, tricks to knowing when to wait, and what makes backstory interesting.
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S57E8 - Unwritten Communication: Promises, Promises
Intentional or not, you are always making promises to your reader. Whether it's promises related to the genre or how you establish your first chapter, you're setting the reader's expectations. When you break those promises, it can guarantee bad reviews - or at the very least, no word-of-mouth...
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S57E7 - (Un)written Communication: Tables of Contents, Headers and Footers
The topic of this episode ventures slightly into written communication, though not within the bounds of the text itself. There are lots of useful tools with formatting that can help your readers navigate your book and understand the full context, especially with non-fiction books. In this…
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S57E6 - Unwritten Communication: Fonts and Formatting
The final formatting of a novel is a key part of connecting with your readers. From font size to chapter headers, it influences the reader's experience. In this episode, we talk about when font matters and basics of formatting chapters and scenes.
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S57E5 - Unwritten Communication: Head Hopping
One of the questions we see often popping up in writing circles is "what is head hopping?" It's often confused with simply having multiple points of view, but they are two very different things. In this episode, we look at how to identify POV in order to avoid head hopping, and different…
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S57E4 - Unwritten Communication: Rhythm in Sentences
Another way to create a rhythm in storytelling is through the sentences themselves. From the length of each sentence to the choice of punctuation, you can direct how the reader interacts with each scene. In this episode, we discuss how to use these two tools to establish the pace you want.
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S57E3 - Unwritten Communication: Rhythm in Dialogue
Establishing a rhythm - not the kind used in poetry - in scenes can convey a message of its own to your reader. Within dialogue, it can help with pacing, direct focus to important pieces of information, and tell the reader a lot about the character speaking. When you understand how to use the…
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S57E2 - Unwritten Communication: Using White Space
The use of white space in your book is a subtle, yet powerful way you can communicate with your readers. Lots of white space with extremely short paragraphs pushes the reader through the pages faster. Long, dense paragraphs and pages with little white space will slow the reader down.…
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S57E1 - Unwritten Communication: The Reader Experience
There are a lot of ways to communicate to your readers, including ways that go beyond the words themselves. The reader's experience also involves elements such as pacing, epigraphs, and even how the words look on the page. Before we can talk about everything that goes into unwritten…
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S56BE - Structures for Pantsers
The reason we have spent the month looking at the structures of storytelling, characters and more is for one reason: to improve your own instincts for writing. When you become familiar with concepts like pacing, it is easier to include it in your own stories without trying. This is especially...
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S56E9 - Case Studies: Big Fish
Our final storytelling case study of the month is Big Fish, directed by Tim Burton. Signature to his style, this movie relies a lot on visual elements to convey the stark difference between the two stories being told within the film. Even then, there is still a lot to learn from various choices,...
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S56E8 - Case Studies: Stranger Than Fiction
Stranger than Fiction is an interesting study for authors, and not just because of the meta nature of it. There is a lot to learn by studying this movie, from writing distinctive character voices to planning a woven plot where decisions influence the lives of everyone else in the story.
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S56E7 - Case Studies: Glass Onion
For this episode of our Case Studies series, we turn to a modern murder mystery that harkens back to the classics such as Agatha Christie. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery uses visual misdirection and the power of suggestion to weave an intricate closed-door mystery. Though you don't have the…
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S56E6 - Case Studies: Welcome to Marwen
If you're interested in writing a memoir, stories and movies based on true events are a great place to start. When deciding to write about your own experiences, finding where to start is one of your biggest challenges. Welcome to Marwen, our case study in this episode, made intentional choices…
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S56E5 - Case Studies: Jaws
Jaws has maintained a place in popular culture, despite being nearly 50 years old. It has memorable and distinct characters, and a monster interesting enough to haunt the nightmares of many for decades. In this episode, we break down the movie and what we can take from it to improve our own...
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S56E4 - Case Studies: Kiki's Delivery Service
Studio Ghibli is known for heartwarming and magical stories. They are a great source of inspiration for many writers, and often the perfect stories to study to learn about immersive storytelling. In this episode, our hosts review Kiki's Delivery Service and break down the aspects of characters,...
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S56E3 - Case Studies: The Princess Bride
Another one of our favorite movies at Writing Roots is The Princess Bride. From amazing characters to an intricate story-in-a-story plot, this movie is a classic that has a lot to teach us about storytelling. In this episode, join us as we discuss what makes the characters and world stand out so...
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S56E2 - Case Studies: Pixar's Up
If you're looking for good story and character structures to study, a great place to start is with Pixar movies. One of our favorites at Writing Roots is Up. Even the first 10 minutes is a perfectly encapsulated story structure that sets the viewer up for the rest of the movie. Listen along with…
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S56E1 - Case Studies: Analyzing Stories
To begin our sixth year of Writing Roots, we wanted to equip you with the knowledge of how to break down stories that you consume so you can use them in your own writing. We've discussed before different tricks and ways to take influence from your favorite books and authors. This month, though,...
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S55BE - Learning from TTRPGs: Authors & Dragons with Rick Gualtieri
The crossover between writing and TTRPGs is nothing new, as represented by the long-running podcast Authors & Dragons. From character work to plot development, TTRPGs are the perfect place to get ideas or improve your skill in storytelling. We sat down with Rick Gualtieri, author of Bill of the...
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S55E8 - Learning from TTRPGs: Getting Feedback
Tabletop games are a great place to test so many storytelling elements, from character dynamics to mechanics. It's also a great place to receive immediate feedback. You'll know if a joke landed if the other players laughed. You'll know a character makes sense if the other players can work well…
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S55E7 - Learning from TTRPGs: Writing LitRPGs
LitRPGs are rising in popularity in the writing world, especially among fans of fantasy TTRPGs or video games. In this episode, we discuss the LitRPG genre and how you can pull from your gaming experiences to help you craft an interesting and fun story.
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S55E6 - Learning from TTRPGs: Game Mechanics
Even if you aren't are looking to write a fantasy or sci-fi story, one of the best tools you can use to write anything from fight scenes to the world itself, is to look at the mechanics of TTRPGs. Each kind of book has defined everything from travel to fighting. Action economy can help you build...
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S55E5 - Learning from TTRPGs: Organizing Your Magic System
If you plan to write fantasy or science fiction, a great resource will be tabletop games. There is so much you can learn from the structure provided for gameplay, and especially for the magic and tech systems. Each system comes with pre-built structure, limitations, and capabilities. Even without...
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S55E4 - Learning from TTRPGs: Weaving in Backstory
Backstories are a key piece to characters in tabletop games, such as Dungeons & Dragons. Players usually create that backstory, and the game master helps determine what to do with that information. Then they work together to weave the backstory into the current storyline. For writers, having...
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S55E3 - Learning from TTRPGs: Diversity in Storytelling
From the other players at your table to the vast cultures available within the worlds, there is a lot to learn about diversity from engaging in TTRPGs. You can explore different experiences through your characters and their interactions. You can learn about team balance, where everyone has their...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Writing Roots have?
Writing Roots currently has 591 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Writing Roots about?
A 10-minute podcast to improve your writing skills
How often does Writing Roots release new episodes?
Writing Roots releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 591 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
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Writing Roots is created and hosted by Writing Roots.
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