5 - Rule of Cool

Rationally Writing Podcast

Daystar and Alexander discuss the Rule of Cool trope, and how rational fiction tries to create organically cool moments without sacrificing the story's integrity.

Co-hosted by http://alexanderwales.com/

With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected Timestamps: 0:40 What is the Rule of Cool? Is it inherently good or bad?

5:45 Swords vs Guns, Lightsabers, Waif-Fu

11:07 Why avoid it in Rational Fiction?

13:00 Ways to minimize negatives of Rule of Cool

19:20 Breaking the world

26:40 Is it better to fully explore an idea, or minimize its

role so as not to "cheat" the plot?

29:40 When to kill your darlings

34:15 When to run with the craziness

37:55 Recap of the three approaches to mitigating loss of coolness when rationalizing.

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