Daystar and Alexander discuss race in fiction, or rather, ethnicity, and how it informs characters and is addressed by different types of stories.
Co-hosted by Alexander Wales
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected
Timestamps
03:38 Race as a Social Construct
14:20 Approaches to Race in Fiction
22:30 Black Superman
32:55 How Race Informs Character
48:01 Literal Racism
56:48 Research
Daystar and Alexander discuss politics as a plot device, and and political fiction as a genre.
Co-hosted by Alexander Wales
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected
Timestamps:
00:35 What is a political plot?
8:58 Main types of political plot structures
24:00 Political 5 Man Band
37:05 Challenges
Links:
Rules for Rulers
Daystar and Alexander discuss irrational or non-rational fiction. Co-hosted by Alexander Wales
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected
Timestamps
00:35 “Rational” vs “Irrational”
10:04 How do you distinguish?
18:50 Conversations around the difference
33:05 Audience Mindset
48:18 Writing non-rational fiction
Daystar and Alexander discuss dropped threads and side plots in stories, what tends to lead to them and how to manage them as you go.
Co-hosted by Alexander Wales
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected
Timestamps
2:34 Serial Fiction
9:32 What Ends Up on the Page
14:55 Side Plots
17:10 Serials
21:25 Why Threads Get Dropped
27:30 Story Shifts
37:30 Our Dropped Threads
44:28 Bonus Dropped Threads
Daystar and Alexander discuss character flaws; what makes for good ones, how to avoid Mary Sues, and why some flaws show up so often compared to others.
Co-hosted by Alexander Wales
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected
Timestamps
0:35 Flaws As Conflict Generators
5:53 Mary Sues
15:23 Brought Low
23:14 Most Common Flaws
36:02 Rarest Flaws
Links
Twig by Wildbow
The Erogamer by Groon the Walker
Daystar and Alexander discuss the reasons authors abandon stories before they’re finished, whether they want to or not.
Co-hosted by Alexander Wales
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected
Timestamps
1:26 Abandonment vs Hiatus
6:16 Different reasons for Abandoning
17:10 Alex’s List
25:55 Managing Burnout
39:37 Other Authors
48:21 Author Trust
Daystar and Alexander discuss Ideological Turing Tests; what they are, why they’re important in fiction, and how to try to pass them as best you can.
Co-hosted by Alexander Wales
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected
Timestamps
0:34 Turing Tests
6:15 Avoiding Caricatures Isn’t Enough
10:14 Passing ITT
25:48 Frames
37:53 Personal Challenges
47:11 Presentation
Daystar and Alexander discuss romance in fiction, particularly in finding meaningful romantic conflicts as either the major plot, or as a subplot in a broader story.
Co-hosted by Alexander Wales
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected
Links
Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton
Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal, is Alex’s post-credits recommendation, a romantic fantasy story set in Regency England. You can head over to Audible to help support the show and pick up a free copy!
Timestamps
7:21 Body Language and Chemistry
14:00 Source of Romantic conflict
21:43 Troubled vs Doomed
30:20 Extreme Romantic Contexts
36:29 Compatibility
43:06 Conflict from Change
50:38 New and Ongoing Conflicts
Daystar and Alexander discuss the value and pitfalls of using time skips, long and short.
Co-hosted by Alexander Wales
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected
Links
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller Jr.
Newton’s Cannon by J. Gregory Keys
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
Seveneves by Neil Stephenson
Timestamps
1:13 The Two Axes
11:51 Rules for Timeskips
25:27 Relationships
42:13 Extremely Long Timeskips
