Dissecting Dragons

Episode 268: He Growled, She Ejaculated - Reader Peeves and How to Avoid Them

Every reader has then own personal turns of phrase, descriptions and even tropes which they find irritating. No writer is ever going to please everyone. That said, writers can and do inadvertently learn bad habits from each other, and from reading other writers' books. There are a lot of plates to keep spinning when you write and it's easy to fall into bad or even lazy habits. The dragons don't believe in prescriptive writing advice so this episode is about raising your awareness of what you're putting on the page. Curated from internet sources, Jules and Madeleine present the most common reader peeves: those little irritations that knock readers out of the flow of your book and may even make them put it down all together. And before you become to worried, please be aware that EVERY writer has fallen afoul of at least some of these, dragons included! Join us for a light hearted look at how to tighten your prose.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic.

Episode 267: The Beast Within - Exploring Characters with Darker Sides

Writers sometimes like to take the saying 'you're your own worst enemy' to a literal extreme with their characters, by posing the question 'what if there was an uncontrollable aspect of your personality or psyche that was literally messing up your life?' This week Jules and Madeleine take a look at characters with unwanted darker side. From the classic and tragic werewolf mythos to the Incredible Hulk, the dragons ask what inspired these sorts of character arcs and how best can they be used in speculative fiction? On the slab this week: An American Werewolf in London, The Hulk, Lucifer and many more.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Episode 266: That's Not Equality - When Sexism Dresses as Feminism in Speculative Fiction Part 2

While there's definitely been a shift towards rebalancing gender roles and female leads in SFF in the last couple of decades, lately there's also been an upswing in the number of books marketed as 'feminist' which are anything but. Some of the tropes and portrayals of female characters are just silly, and some are more sinister. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the problems inherent in pitching a book as feminist when it's success is predicated on recycling the same tired, sexist tropes readers and writers have been combatting since the 70s. On the slab this week: A Court of Silver Flames - S J Maas, The Cities of the Dead - Alys Arden, Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs, The Avengers (Marvel Studios) and many more. Part 2 of a two episode topic.

 

Please note that this episode will contain major spoilers for every book or film discussed.

Episode 265: That's Not Equality - When Sexism Dresses Up as Feminism in Speculative Fiction: Part 1

While there's definitely been a shift towards rebalancing gender roles and female leads in SFF in the last couple of decades, lately there's also been an upswing in the number of books marketed as 'feminist' which are anything but. Some of the tropes and portrayals of female characters are just silly, and some are more sinister. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the problems inherent in pitching a book as feminist when it's success is predicated on recycling the same tired, sexist tropes readers and writers have been combatting since the 70s. On the slab this week: A Court of Silver Flames - S J Maas, The Cities of the Dead - Alys Arden, Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs, The Avengers (Marvel Studios) and many more. Part 1 of a two episode topic.

 

Please note that this episode will contain major spoilers for every book or film discussed.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Episode 264 Challenging the System - How Magic Helps Us Deconstruct History, Politics and Social Issues

This week Jules and Madeleine are delighted to welcome special guest Nicole Glover to the show. Nicole is the author of the historical fantasy 'The Conductors', which is set in Philadelphia just after the Proclamation of Emancipation and covers many of the themes discussed in this week's episode. Every fantasy fan loves a good magic system and as aspects both of a well built fantasy world and tools to explore a variety of real life issues, magic systems can be invaluable. The dragons delve into what makes a magic system work and where writers really need to be careful that they're saying what they think they're saying. Under the microscope this week The Conductors by Nicole Glover, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H G Parry, The X-men, The Abhorsen Series by Garth Nix and many more.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Episode 263: The Blade Itself - the Genesis of the Sword in History, Mythology and Speculative Fiction

Any SFF reader will recognise a sword as an archetypal object with a myriad types of symbolism even before you get into it's designated uses. Swords with names, swords with magical powers, swords used to perform great and terrible deeds are rife in mythology all over the world. This week the dragons take a look at this elegant and deadly weapon, following a trail through history, various martial styles, folklore and finally into how blades have been used in speculative fiction. On the slab this week The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman, Star Wars, Excalibur, The Neverending Story by Michael Ende and many more.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic 

Episode 262: Of Liking and Loathing - How to Hook Readers on your Characters

One of the most difficult things for most writers is finding their target audience. Assuming you've managed the basics - finishing a book, selling/ publishing it, packaging it to appeal to your target audience - how do you hook a new reader and keep them reading? One of the key things to consider is writing compelling, narratively likeable characters. (This doesn't mean they need to be conventionally likeable of course!) In this episode Jules and Madeleine get in the weeds on what makes a character compelling, how to design a character from the ground up and how to apply these tactics to side characters. As well as the authors' own work, this week's line up includes A Court of Thorns and Roses, Wuthering Heights and many more.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Episode 261: Reading the Classics - Hidden Meaning and Censorship in Stoker, Bronte and Shelley

Every so often the dragons like to go off on a tangent and look at something that's slightly outside their usual podcasting terrain. This week Jules and Madeleine tackle the question: are you really reading what you think you're reading? Publishing, mindset and the context of the time something was written in can vastly change it's essential meaning, and that's before the inheritors of a writer's estate start chopping and changing things! Using Frankenstein, Dracula and the Tenant of Wildfell Hall as examples, the dragons take you on a tour of the story behind the story. It's a wild ride.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Episode 260: Links and Linguistics - Why Word Choice Matters in Writing

Writing on it's most fundamental level is putting the right words in the write order with the intention of communicating your meaning, often in the form of a story. But are there words which should be off the table when it comes to storytelling? Why do authors pick the words they do? How do you shape prose to create a style that is true both to your voice and the story? And what exactly is euphonics in terms of writing? Reaching new depths of nerd-dom, this week the dragons look at words. From etymology to being authentic to story (without being a dick), Jules and Madeleine have got you covered.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Episode 259: Taking a Toxicity Reading - Criticism and Compromise in Speculative Fiction

The bookish community has its fair share of people with opinions and most of the time that's a good thing. However there are times when differences of opinions on speculative fiction lead to figurative blows and even all kinds of nastiness. One of the big issues seems to be whether a reader or viewer can enjoy something which someone else considers problematic. And one of the problems is that criticism which starts off as reasonable either becomes abusive or is met with abuse. This week the dragons delve into this thorny subject with a look at why, how and what to do to avoid these situations spiraling.

 

Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic