Writing Roots

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 roman numerals. Listen for more options for when it comes to numeral formatting.

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 kinds of weird formatting you may encounter.

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 difficult, especially when trying to describe various body types. Like any character, it's important to be respectful when describing different physical body types. Listen for more about different words and metaphors that can be useful, and cautions against what might be offensive to readers.

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 answers.

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 Gibb's Rules from NCIS.

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 build your story and world.

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 avoiding repetition.

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 tension of a moment.

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, we talk about why this happens and how you can use this trend in your own story.

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.

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.

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 clear points of progression. Listen for more on how to use the number - and sequences in general - to build your story.

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 episode, we talk about the different ways you can use numbers, including with your worldbuilding.

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 exsanguination does to the body and for examples from history for inspiration.

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.

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 ways people died, from impaling to laughing or dancing to death.

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 the character doesn't die.

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.

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, and how you can incorporate them into your story.

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 what happens to the body during this style of combat.

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 about plant- and animal-based toxins for your story.

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 research.

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 episode, we talk about the moment of death: how to set it up, and what happens when someone dies. **Trigger warnings: Topics throughout this month will address all aspects of death, which may include graphic descriptions.**

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.

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.

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 promotion. In this episode, we discuss the kinds of promises you make and how to be intentional about it.

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 episode, we talk about the table of contents, headers and footers.

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.

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 formatting tools you can use to show your readers whose thoughts they're seeing on the page.

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.

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 three main ways to tag out dialogue, you can skillfully direct the reader through scenes and quickly or slowly as you need.

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. Understanding how to use this white space and paragraphing to your advantage will help you communicate better with your reader. In this episode, we talk about what white space is and how to use it to your advantage.

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 communication, we need to talk about how the readers consume their books, and how understanding this can make a difference in how you approach publishing.

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 important for pantsers. For this bonus episode, we wanted to dive more into how plot structures are still important for pantsers to understand and how you can use them even after you've written the story.

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, from character names to the overall structure.

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.

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 same visual outlet when writing a book, there is still a lot to learn from the structure, characters, and clever use of dialogue.

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 that may not have been the obvious ones for what part of Mark's life they were going to highlight. Listen along with us as we break down the characters and storytelling choices that makes this movie a resource for learning how to write.

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 storytelling.

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, plot and the worldbuilding weaved throughout the movie.

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 much in this beloved tale.

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 us as we break down the characters, plot and worldbuilding into something you can use for your own creations.

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, we'll be working together. We begin with an overview of what it is to analyze a story. We'll break down what we're looking for, and what to consider as you consume. At the end of each episode this month, we'll assign you homework to watch one movie, which we'll discuss in our next episode.

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 Dead and The Girl Who Punches Werewolves and member of the Authors & Dragons podcast, to talk about gaming, writing and how the two can support each other. Links: Amazon

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 with them and the DM can integrate their backstory easily. There's a balance, though, to the feedback you'll receive in TTRPG spaces. Learn more in this episode of Writing Roots.

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.

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 scenes that make sense, monsters that pose a challenge. Listen for more on how you can use the game mechanics of TTRPGs to write your stories.

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 directly copying those systems, you can still learn a lot through learning and studying how they work in order to create a complete and well-built magic structure of your own.

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 practice at this through gaming can help you figure out where that line is between backstory and current story, as well as how to bring it up without info dumps.

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 unique role and contributions. All of this you can translate over into your own storytelling through writing.