Episode 01
The Bunion Hills
Where the epic fantasy began: a bunion operation, two weeks in bed, and Michael finally stops judging his own ideas.
“I had a bunion. It began with a bunion”
Here be Goofballs
The Map
Every place on the map comes from an episode. Tap a place to read its margin note, then follow it to the episode it came from. Final Draft Point is on there too, though it doesn't exist.
The world of Ben & Mike's Sci-Fi and Fantasy Writing Adventures
Places on the map
The same margin notes, all in one place, for anyone who would rather read than wander.
Episode 03
Conspiracy Wood
Heists, investigations and conspiracies are three ways into the same story. Michael's book three lives in here.
“I think it's the vibe of a conspiracy that carries us forward.”
Episode 03
Mt Progressive Overload
Lift a little more each time: one point of view in book one, three in book two. Climbed in black headbands.
“It comes back to this idea, I reckon with writing, it's that you can't do everything all at once and you've got to build up to things.”
Hosts
The Goofballs
Two goofballs who happen to have doctorates, in a candy-red hover car, comparing notes.
Episode 01
Eric's Swamp
Home of Eric, the neighbour's boa constrictor, from the story Ben read out in a 1997 writing class. Pony not pictured.
“Our origin story begins with a snake eating a pony.”
Episode 04
Final Draft Pointthe next draft
Final Draft Point doesn't exist. Every time you get close, it moves.
“It's okay for this not to be the final version.”
Go to Episode 04: Cognitive Drag and the Myth of the Final Draft
Episode 04
The 500 Rewrites
The road to Michael's opening chapter. Asked whether 500 is an exaggeration, he says it's an understatement.
“So I reckon I've rewritten the opening chapter probably about 500 times.”
Go to Episode 04: Cognitive Drag and the Myth of the Final Draft
Episode 06
The 5:30 Lighthouse
Ben gets up at 5:30 and writes for three hours before work. The light is always on.
“…every now and then I'll wake up at 5:30 a.m. with some idea.”
Episode 04
Cognitive Drag Straits
Choppy water made of the bits of writing that slow a reader down when they shouldn't.
“…the rhythm with which characters say things is as important as what they say.”
Go to Episode 04: Cognitive Drag and the Myth of the Final Draft
Episode 02
The Offcuts
Little islands of cut material. Michael keeps an offcuts document because he hates getting rid of anything forever.
“I'll just copy and paste the whole scene to my offcuts, and then I'll just work on that scene being ruthless.”
Episode 02
The Sea of Dread
The water everything sits in. It arrives every morning before the writing does, and it's the shadow side of caring about the work.
“Dread is one of my favourite words for that kind of experience.”
Episode 06
Idea Reef
Lead with the fun and let the logic grow on it later, the way coral grows on a sunken ship.
“It's like a ship or something that's sunk to the bottom of the ocean.”
Episode 05
The Ship of the Dead
Brings novelists home from the final edit, haunted but finished. Michael was aboard for most of Episode 05.
“The kind of ancient Mariner who's been on a ship of the dead is how I'm feeling right now.”
Go to Episode 05: Five Books, Four Digressions, One Ship of the Dead
Episode 01
Fantasy February
An island of one month, seven years ago, when Michael decided to try writing fantasy. It went on a bit longer than February.
“I'm just going to give it a go for a month and see how it feels.”