Season One · Six episodes

Ben & Mike's Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing Adventures. A podcast about the making, not the made.

Two goofballs who happen to have doctorates sit at the desk and compare notes on fear, drafts, maps and magic systems while the work is still unfinished. Beginners especially welcome.

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Latest episode

Episode 06

Emotional Alchemy with a Side of Space AI

Ben finishes rewriting the first section of his science fiction novel, and his ship's computer picks up alien tech, a dank sense of humour and a point-of-view chapter of its own. Michael hands in his book a novella lighter than it came back from his editor, and explains his rule: if it could talk, make sure it's a character.

The player is on its way.Until then, the episode is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

All six episodes

Margin note: “the final draft” crossed out in red and replaced with “the next draft”.

Meet the Goofballs

And the friends who keep turning up.

Ben and Michael, drawn in flat caps, riding a candy-red hover car with a yellow sail.

Ben: red hair tied back, ginger beard, brown tweed flat cap, navy blazer.

Ben

Copywriter turned academic. Up at 5:30 to write science fiction before work.

Michael

Novelist. Eight years, one very large epic fantasy, and a three-book deal.

The Dread: a worried blue blob pulling a pink blanket up to its chin. — **The Dread**Arrives every morning before the writing does. *Ep 2*

The Tin: an open tin of tuna with its lid peeled back. — **The Tin**Tuna, straight from the can, to reduce cognitive drag. *Ep 4*

The Red Pen: a frowning red pen drawing a wobbly red line. — **The Red Pen**The editor's familiar. Removes clutter, politely. Has never once appeared in an episode.

The Ship of the Dead: a little sailing boat with a sad face, bobbing on a wave. — **The Ship of the Dead**Brings novelists home from the final edit, haunted but finished. *Ep 5*

Eric: a green boa constrictor with a suspicious bulge in the middle. — **Eric**A boa constrictor. Contains one pony. Where it all began, in 1997. *Ep 1*

Heard on Episode 06

“I'm at the point now where I absolutely hate my novel, but I love writing it.”

Ben

The show's hand-drawn world map: an island of Map Paper in the Sea of Dread, with the Bunion Hills, Conspiracy Wood, Mt Progressive Overload, Eric's Swamp, Final Draft Point, the 500 Rewrites and the 5:30 Lighthouse.

The Map

Here be Goofballs

Every place on the map comes from an episode: the Bunion Hills, Conspiracy Wood, the 500 Rewrites, the 5:30 Lighthouse, and Final Draft Point, which doesn't exist.

Get lost on the map