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Published on August 15, 2025 03:00

August 11, 2025

Woo-Woo and Fiction Writing

Woo-Woo and Fiction Writing – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 165

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“Do you like to daydream? I love to daydream. I’ve always loved to daydream ever since I was a child and when I was a child, I wished I was magic.” – Beth Barany

In this episode of How To Write the Future, host Beth Barany discusses “Woo-Woo and Fiction Writing” by sharing her “woo-woo” interests, her backstory from pre-med to fiction, and the magic of writing. Beth also shares the resources she uses to inspire the characters in her stories, and one of her own resources, the World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers, which is available for listeners to download.

Platforms the podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts | Buzzsprout | Spotify | Amazon Music| YouTube

RESOURCES

Related Episode: What if… and Your Brain

FOR CREATIVE WRITING PROFESSIONALS – BUILD YOUR BUSINESS SERVING WRITERS

Support our work for creatives!

Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

GET SOME FREE WRITING COACHING LIVE ON THE PODCAST

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

GET SUPPORT FOR YOUR FICTION WRITING BY A NOVELIST AND WRITING TEACHER AND COACH

Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers.This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers, too, if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

Transcript for episode 165 Woo-Woo and Fiction WritingIntroduction and Childhood Daydreams

Do you like to daydream? I love to daydream. I’ve always loved to daydream ever since I was a child and when I was a child, I wished I was magic. That was my ardent wish.

How about you? What did you wish for when you were a child?

[00:18] Meet Beth Barany

Hi everyone. I’m Beth Barany. I run How to Write The Future Podcast. I am a science fiction and fantasy novelist.

You can see some of the books behind me. Also a writing teacher and a creativity coach with a specialty in and all things woo-woo.

Woo-woo!

[00:41] Growing Up in a Commune

I am from Northern California. I am the child of hippies. I grew up in what you would call a commune, but really also a cult. I’m no longer part of that.

I left, I wasn’t, the children weren’t really a part of it. They never got to elect to be in it, all the adults, all the parents were in it. But what that gave me was, hearing the adults talk about humans, psychology, philosophy, religion. Both of my parents were very interested in these things, cross-cultural ideas from other cultures, ideas from other times and places, fairytales, folklore, mythology.

All these things were around me when I was a child. And I was deeply interested in folklore and fairytales and read a ton of them. So, yeah, I really wished to be magic.

[01:30] Exploring Woo-Woo Interests

Okay, so today I wanted to do an episode about all things woo-woo, all things woo-woo. I dunno how to say that. All things woo-woo. No. All the things that used to be called New Age, I’m not sure what they’re called now, a little bit about my interests, how I use them as a writer, how I’ve seen others use these tools as writers, and a few tips for you.

[01:54] Astrology, Tarot, and NLP

Now, I feel like I need to address the fact that dichotomy, on the one hand, I’ve been very interested in things and let’s be specific, astrology, tarot, numerology, oracle cards, human design, and some other things.

To me, they felt like ways to get to know myself. And I started getting into astrology and tarot when I was about 20 and started learning how to read tarot cards at age 22. I studied at the Berkeley Psychic Institute for a year, did their clairvoyant training program.

I wanted to understand how I was wired and how I operated, but also how other people were wired and how they operate. And to that end, I went and studied NLP at NLP Marin and learned a lot of great tools for helping me understand how to get onto your map, how to see through the words you say and how you move and the expression on your face, what might be going on inside. And then to ask questions.

I was always very good at asking questions, but then this gave me some more entry points into how to ask more questions, to try and understand how the person in front of me is wired.

And this is great. This comes in handy as a writing teacher and a coach really helps me do what I love to do, what I was already inclined to do because of my own makeup, which is really get to understand and get to know another person, and help them be a better writer. And help them really dive deep into their creative writing practice and really harness your innate strengths and skills and interests and passions, and turn that into a writing practice.

It’s what I did for myself. It’s what I’ve done for hundreds of writers and what I could do for you.

[03:39] From Pre-Med to Writing

I know there’s that side of me, and then there’s this other side of me that wanted to be a doctor since I was a very little girl. Actually, my mom says I wanted to be a nurse, but she’s like, you know, girls can be doctors too. And I was probably six years old and I’m like, okay, I’ll be a doctor. I think that stems from two things.

One, I was very familiar with the hospital setting, having been born premature, been an incubator the first two months of my life, born with fingers that are different that you might see flying around, and also curious.

Oh, there’s a third element.

So very familiar and comfortable with the hospital setting, deeply curious about how the human body works. And number three, wanting to help people.

Fast forward to today, I’m not a doctor, obviously. I decided not to be a doctor when I turned 19. I dropped outta pre-med at U.C. Berkeley.

I’m like, ah, this isn’t for me, pivoted into the social sciences. But I’ve always retained my interest in science and now I write science fiction and fantasy.

And to me, being curious about the world and having wonderment, and also being in awe about the world, to me is connected to science, but it’s also connected to this desire to be magical.

And when I started keying into, learning a whole bunch of things about being psychic, which was, we can talk about what I really think that is later. And also learning about NLP and also learning about other modalities, like other healing modalities in other cultures, that I studied in college, through a beautiful class, called Medical Anthropology offered by Nancy Scheper-Hughes. Just fabulous class.

And also learning about family systems, family constellations, and having all kinds of experiences. I did do a shamanic journey when I was 19. That was amazing. No drugs, just drumming. It was fabulous.

All that to say, as I grew older, I started to realize that magic is all around us.

[05:44] The Magic of Writing

And it’s in how, it’s in how you perceive, it’s in how you think. And I’ve learned, the more I gained in strength and confidence and skill and practice as a novelist, the more I realized that art is magic.

Like the ability to sit down and create sentences, put ’em together, and make a story and hand it to someone else, and they get to go there in their imagination. That’s incredible. That’s magic.

It’s also practical. It’s also technique. It’s also skill. It’s also practice.

And anyone who wants to learn how to be a novelist, I believe can be. Doesn’t mean it’s easy. Believe me. Doesn’t mean it’s easy.

[06:22] Using Oracle Cards for Writing

And I use oracle cards, a kind of oracle cards when I am stuck with my fiction. I’m gonna show you. I know, I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned these in a previous episode.

This is the Mythulu deck and I bought all these cards. So wonderful. They’re all different colors. We’ve got, so here’s just one of ’em, there’s all these different sets and they’re all just incredible art. Just beautiful art. Ooh, speaking of magic. So black is element. Say you wanna brainstorm an element for your story, and you can pick one of the element section.

So I picked magic. There’s art and words. It’s just beautiful.

So a word about oracle cards.

When we’re stuck in our writing or revisions, we might look out the window and something we see or hear might trigger something inside of us. And then we get an idea. This is one reason why writers love to write at cafes. I do. I love to write and work at cafes ’cause if I’m stuck I can look up, look around, hear something, notice something, and it gives me an idea. That is the same function of this Mythulu deck.

You can use any deck. You can use any system. You don’t even have to use cards, right? You could just look up and look around you. Or you could even go to the bookshelf pointing over there ’cause here’s my bookshelf, one of many in this apartment. And open up, read a line and be inspired.

[07:54] Creative Tools and Resources

Alright, so this is a bit about how the woo-woo can help you as a novelist.

And even as I was sharing this with my husband today and talking about astrology in brief, he’s like, ooh, I could design an astrology system for my story world, for a story world. And then the characters could talk about it and say, oh, he’s the justinian type, or he’s the gabbigaba type, and that’s what it means to me.

So you could come up with your own astrology typing system and use it within your story world.

Archetype systems, they use the Greek and Roman gods. Yeah, there’s so many options and I know people who’ve created their own archetype systems.

All that to say, yeah, I am deeply into using these as tools. I don’t use them as belief systems. I use them as tools.

[08:45] What do I believe?

What do I believe? Ultimately, I believe in creativity. I believe in the power of creativity and what that means is, I’m curious, I’m wondering, I’m asking questions and I’m asking what if and including the question What if it was another way? What way would that be?

Questions are so powerful.

Alright, that’s some food for thought for you this week. I hope that it inspires you to play around with divination systems and other astrology, human design.

What kind of system do you use to, to help you build characters, build your story worlds?

It’d be so great to hear. Let me know. And if you have any questions about how to use these tools in more depth, there’s lots of resources out there.

[09:28] Conclusion and Call to Action

Oh, call to action for you all this week. I want to encourage you to sign up for the World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers.

If you need help with your world building, if you wanna create your own divinity system or astrology, or typing or numerology. I encourage you to do so, and this guidebook can get you started. So sign up for that. The link is in the show notes. Check out the World Building Guide for Fiction Writers.

All right, everyone. That’s it for this week, Write long and Prosper. That’s a wrap.

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061

Need instructions on how to leave a review? Go here.

***

Support our work for creatives: leave a tip: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

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ABOUT BETH BARANY

Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She’s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, “How To Write The Future.”

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

CREDITSEDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA (Refer-a-Friend link)MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. “Fuzz buzz” by Soundroll. Commercial license: https://musicvine.com/track/soundroll/fuzz-buzz.DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465 (Refer-a-Friend link)SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade

c 2025 BETH BARANY

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

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Published on August 11, 2025 09:04

August 5, 2025

Habits of Mind: Openness by Bailey Lang

Let’s welcome back Bailey Lang as she shares with us “Habits of Mind: Openness.” Enjoy!

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As writers, habits of mind — our thought patterns and orientation to learning — shape our external activities, like our writing practices.

In this series, we’re talking about eight crucial habits of mind for writers.

Curiosity, which we talked about last time, Habits of Mind: Curiosity by Bailey Lang · Writer’s Fun Zone is a drive to learn more about the world.

Today, we’re talking about openness.

What is Openness?

The framework for this series describes openness as “The willingness to consider new ways of being and thinking in the world.”

It’s easy to see why this habit of mind is important for writers, especially (though not exclusively!) novelists.

Unless you want every character you write to be a thinly veiled version of you (bo-ring — not that you’re not lovely, of course!), you need to be able to “consider new ways of being and thinking” and figure out how to represent them as authentically as possible on the page.

Openness will help you get inside your characters’ heads and make them feel like real, flawed, interesting people.

It’s a lot harder to write compelling villains if you’re not willing to consider why those villains think they’re doing the right thing, for example.

However, I want to be clear that openness doesn’t mean it’s okay to write caricatures as a way of representing difference, or that deeply considering other ways of being excuses stereotypes or cultural appropriation.

We’ll come back to these ideas in the article on responsibility.

Openness also keeps us from intellectual stagnation.

The online world, in particular, is algorithmically driven to corral us within ever-tightening spirals of stuff we probably already like (or stuff that makes us angry enough that we can’t walk away from our screens.)

The more time we spend in those loops, the more closed-off we become.

We become less open to new ideas, perspectives, and ways of being in the world.

We see our own interests reflected back to us again and again, as if they’re the whole of the human experience.

Cultivating openness as a habit of mind is a way to challenge the ways social media algorithms try to box us in while also becoming better, more interesting writers.

Openness and curiosity go hand in hand in this pursuit.

Curiosity encourages us to ask questions and seek information — openness encourages us to engage with the answers without rushing to judgment.

As a habit of mind, openness encourages writers to:

Thoughtfully consider multiple perspectives (including our own)Embrace learning without defaulting to making snap judgmentsExperiment with different research and writing practicesHow do Writers Cultivate Openness?

Embracing openness doesn’t mean you have to seek out someone whose political beliefs are the polar opposite of yours.

This is often the first thing many of us think of when we’re encouraged to practice a habit of mind like openness.

You can certainly try it, but it’s a bit like jumping into the deep end of the pool when you haven’t graduated from wearing inflatable arm floaties.

Don’t set yourself up for failure!

Developing openness as a habit of mind starts with noticing your own judgments, opinions, and preferences.

What are your strongly held beliefs? Why do you hold them?What are your biggest pet peeves? Where did they come from?What are your cultural practices around events like marriage, death, and holidays?How might any of the above be different if you had been born in another country or a different century?

Pairing openness with curiosity gives you a double-whammy of helpful habits of mind.

When you notice yourself feeling judgmental or getting caught up in disagreement, see if you can pause, ask questions, and spend some time considering the answers you find.

Cultivating openness requires becoming more aware of what we’re open to, what shuts us down, and how we balance considering new perspectives with our own discernment.

Openness Activities for Writers

Practicing openness is about reorienting our thinking away from judgment and toward thoughtful interest.

Being open doesn’t require us to agree with everything we learn — but not leaping to agreement vs. disagreement is a good sign that you’re becoming more open!

Here are two activities that support writers in practicing openness:

Be a Time Traveler or Space Alien

Re-examining the practices, activities, and traditions we take for granted is a great way to cultivate openness.

This is a quick, fun exercise to help you get into a more open mindset.

Choose a specific memory you have of a tradition (blowing out candles on a cake, marking a holiday with gift-giving, or a unique family celebration).

Then, pretend you’re an alien visiting Earth for the first time or a time traveler from the distant past or future.

Spend five minutes writing about the memory as if you’re witnessing it for the first time from the alien or time traveler’s perspective.

What do you notice?What seems important?What seems strange?

Get Outside Your Comfort Zone

Read a book, watch a documentary, or listen to a podcast about a culture, practice, or way of life that’s different from yours.

Find a novel in a genre or format you wouldn’t normally pick up.

Choose something you find interesting and different — and maybe a little challenging — and learn everything you can about it.

Focus on staying open to the experience and see what happens.

Where do you start to feel closed-off? Why?What sparks your curiosity?How might you incorporate what you’re learning into your writing?

This is a great activity to pair with the library visit I recommended in the curiosity article!

Let us know in the comments how the openness experiments go!

Reading RecommendationsOpen: Living with an Expansive Mind in a Distracted World (Affiliate link)You’re Probably Not as Open-Minded as You Think. Here’s How to Practice.How to Keep an Open Mind: An Ancient Guide to Thinking Like a Skeptic (Affiliate link)

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About the Author

Dr. Bailey Lang is a book coach, writer, and editor. At The Writing Desk, she helps authors build sustainable, enjoyable writing practices that take their books from draft to done. Bailey has a PhD in rhetoric and writing studies and loves geeking out about writing.

You can sign up for Bailey’s free newsletter, Word to the Wise, for more writing advice and regular author interviews.

Website

Newsletter

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Published on August 05, 2025 03:00

August 4, 2025

Human Design and Fiction Writers

Human Design and Fiction Writers – How to Write the Future podcast, episode 164

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“Human Design is really helping you work with your energy rather than against it. There is no reason why you have to fight against yourself. It makes it very hard to be a creative person.” – Beth Barany

In the latest How To Write the Future podcast episode, host Beth Barany discusses how to use Human Design as a fiction author to your advantage, how to understand your results, and how this understanding can enhance your creativity, so you can work with it and not against it. From sharing the five types of Human Design to practical tools for writers, this episode will help unlock your creative potential.

Platforms the podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts | Buzzsprout | Spotify | Amazon Music| YouTube

RESOURCES

GET YOUR OWN HUMAN DESIGN CHART

https://www.mybodygraph.com/ (make a free account and chart)

FOR CREATIVE WRITING PROFESSIONALS – BUILD YOUR BUSINESS SERVING WRITERS

Support our work for creatives!

Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

GET SOME FREE WRITING COACHING LIVE ON THE PODCAST

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

GET SUPPORT FOR YOUR FICTION WRITING BY A NOVELIST AND WRITING TEACHER AND COACH

Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers, too, if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

Transcript for episode 164 Human Design and Fiction Writers Introduction

Hey everyone. Beth Barany here with How to Write the Future podcast. I would like today to talk to you about one of the topics that I’m fascinated about: Human Design for Fiction Writers. In a moment, I’ll tell you what is Human Design and why I think it’s so interesting and useful for fiction writers. It’s something that I have been diving deep into for the last five or ten years.

[00:26] Purpose and Focus of the Podcast

This is a podcast to help writers, specifically science fiction and fantasy writers. And really, my focus is on how to help you with your creative process, how to help you with craft, and how to help you create positive, optimistic futures.

And part of that is how do we as human beings really orient towards positivity and optimism, and what could be for the better?

Not because I am ignoring all the problems in the world. I am not. It’s just that dwelling on things that I cannot impact directly is very frustrating.

So what do I do instead?

Where do I have power? I have power as a creative, as I have power as a teacher. And I have power– I have power to create.

And so I’m always curious on how can I get into the flow. Some of you may have heard about the flow. It’s this idea that when we’re creating or surfing or doing anything that we love –dancing, even cooking, washing dishes, kissing, right?

There’s gonna be moments where it feels like we are no longer feeling grumpy about what’s going on. But instead, we’re totally in it. We’re in the moment. There’s no separation between what we’re doing and us the doer and the thing we’re doing, and it’s just this beautiful experience. I don’t know about you, but when I’m writing, sometimes when I’m in the flow, I feel like I am in the story, nine times outta ten, that’s where I wanna go.

And nine times outta ten I get there. And one of the ways that I have found that really helps me as a writer, there are many things, but one of them is understanding myself better. Actually, I would say that was, that would be the top thing, and this is something that I’ve cared about my whole life, is how to know myself better. And I encourage that for you as well.

[02:23] Understanding Human Design

Let’s dive right into the topic, which is Human Design for fiction writers. So I really love human design because it is a system that this guy designed, like channeled, that really is an interesting way to help us get to know ourselves better.

Now, if you don’t believe in this stuff, hey, I totally understand. That’s fine. It’s not for you, but this is for the people who are curious about Human Design. Or maybe you already know a lot or some about human design.

Human Design is like astrology cubed. So if you know your birth date, your birth time, and where you’re born, you can have a Human Design chart made for you.

There’s so many places you can get a chart made and you can get one done for free online I’m gonna recommend to you, mybodygraph.com

It is the official website that originated from the designer’s idea of Human Design. So you make a free account. You put in your birth date, birth time, and location, and it will churn out a chart for you that looks like this.

All that to say, don’t get lost in the weeds just yet. What I really want you to focus on is once you do your chart, you are gonna be one of five types. And how can that help you?

[03:45] How can Human Design help you better?

So you’ll read your chart and you’ll read up about it and you’ll go, oh yeah, that sounds like me. Or, oh, huh, I don’t quite relate to that, but nine times outta ten, I have seen people when I tell them– I do their chart for them. And I tell them what this says about you, there’s something about them that like relaxes. It’s just oh, I don’t have to fight against myself anymore. You still can if you want, but isn’t it nice not to fight against yourself?

Human Design is really helping you work with your energy rather than against it. There is no reason why you have to fight against yourself. It makes it very hard to be a creative person.

So once you understand more of who you are, then you can work with who you are instead of against it. You can really unlock your creative potential, really find your flow, really perfect your writing process, so that you know you have created habits and processes, so that when you sit down to write, they entirely work for you. That way you can get work done, you can write, you can be in the writing space that you love so much.

One of the reasons I think writers complain about not liking to write is because they’re disconnected with their flow. They’re disconnected with their energetic truth.

They’re operating off of what they think it should be versus what it really is for themselves. Because your way of going about being a creative is not my way.

So let’s do a quick rundown. And I say quick because we could spend hours on this, honestly.

[05:16] The Five Types of Human Design

So there’s five types. And do your chart and then come back and listen to the rest of this episode.

So this will make some more sense for you. These types are Manifestors, Generators, Manifesting Generators, Projectors, and Reflectors.

[05:33] Manifestor

Now for Manifestors, I have met a few Manifestors and I have one, at least one I know of in my family. If you’re a Manifestor, you’re probably gonna write best in short bursts of inspiration, you’re probably best suited for writing sprints, working on independent projects and like absolute flexibility in your schedule.

You want total freedom to operate when you’re creative and when you’re not creative not to write. So really for you, the watchword is freedom and that is how you’re gonna dive into being consistent over time.

[06:07] Generators

For Generators and I am a Generator, we excel with sustainable energy on projects that we care about. So we really thrive on regular routines. We work well responding to prompts, or I prefer like external, like their stimuli from the outside and that will prompt me. And it’s really important that you work on topics that really excite you to keep your writing vibrant. No operating from the should or supposed to, or “other people do it like this.”

No. It really has to come from you and you have to be deeply excited about it, and find a regular routine that works for you.

[06:44] Manifesting Generators

Manifesting Generators. You are multitaskers. Embrace the multitasking. I have seen this with my friends who are multitaskers, and who are Manifesting Generator. They would think there was something wrong with them, that they were bouncing around all these different creative writing projects until they realized, no, that’s their happy place. And I encourage you to embrace the fact that it is your happy place. If it is your happy place, then you’re probably a Manifesting Generator.

So you might have three or four projects on the go at different stages. You also might not be writing in any particular order. Other people are like, how come you’re not doing this A, B, C, D, and you might be doing Z to A to F, so you’re not necessarily gonna do your projects in any, discernible order, and, and that is fun for you.

Multitasker, multitasking and doing things in all different kinds of order, I would say your watchword is embrace the multitasking.

[07:39] Projectors

Next is Projectors. I have had clients who are Projectors and I notice sometimes get really stuck also in how things should be done.

And they burn out because what they need is to work in short, deep sessions and then have downtime and creative space. So you’re not a generator. You actually, really work best with lots of open, relaxing time. Also, I find that projectors are really great teachers, writing teachers, because you’re natural guides and you’re very insightful on the creative writing process and how to do things.

So you excel at creating systems. So if you’re stuck with your own work, create a system for yourself, and you may need a lot of support and, external recognition, and invitation from other people, like a teacher or a guide, a coach or peers to help you really dive deep into your writing, and that’s totally fine.

So you need that kind of support. So for you, it’s about having the support, and the invitation to do short, deep writing sessions with a lot of downtime.

[08:41] Reflectors

And lastly, Reflectors. I have one family member who’s a Reflector and who’s highly creative and, generally, Reflectors are really sensitive, very attuned to their environment, and they really need a lot of time and space.

A lot of time and space to process their ideas and they really need a very inspiring workspace and really allow themself to follow the lunar cycle to make big choices, big decisions on important projects. So for you, for Reflectors, it’s about really honoring the full lunar cycle.

I wanna just now speak about another important part of your Human Design chart and that’s the authority. So here’s some practical tools.

[09:28] Practical Tools for Writers

Structure your writing session based on your type. So for example, Manifestors write in bursts. Generators like myself, we use scheduled blocks. Projectors work, focus best with short impactful sessions and Manifesting Generators really need the freedom to hop around from project to project.

You really need to create rituals in your environment that work for you and really understand that your own creative energy, your Human Design, your type, your authority can really help you dissolve your self judgment and comparison with other writers. And that in itself will reduce a tremendous amount of your creative blocks.

[10:11] Conclusion and Call to Action

So let me know if you have any questions about this. Write in and tell me your Human Design. What have you noticed? If you’re new to Human Design, let me know your questions as they relate to the creative writing process. If you’ve been playing around with Human Design, tell me what you observe. I’ve worked with writers and analyzed their charts and helped them design their creative writing processes.

If this is something that you would like, reach out to me and we could do a coaching session, a coaching consulting session, and people hire me for that. Alright, that’s it for this week, everyone. Write long and prosper.

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061

Need instructions on how to leave a review? Go here.

***

Support our work for creatives: leave a tip: [bold] https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

***

ABOUT BETH BARANY

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

c 2025 BETH BARANY

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.

Like the work we do? Tip us! https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

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Published on August 04, 2025 05:52

August 1, 2025

Books as Oracles by Catharine Bramkamp

Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp as she shares with us “Books as Oracles.” Enjoy!

***

The Power of Bookstores

I wrote a blog about finding your next career or even passion by visiting a book store.

I considered this as I was prepping for a trip to Moe’s Books in Berkeley.

A four story treasure house of used and new books.

I can spend three hours in this store and feel I only scratched the surface.

I love huge used bookstores.

You probably do too.

Entering with a Plan

And I also guess that like me you don’t walk into a book store unarmed with no battle plan.

And if you avoid bookstores because they are overwhelming, what you need is to be armed.

With a plan.

At least a list.

My Amazon Wish List Strategy

My list is kept by Amazon.

Whatever and whenever a book captures my eye, I find it on Amazon and add it to my wish list.

I love my Amazon wish list.

Every time I see an interesting book — referenced in a newsletter, a review, an article, a book club recommendation, I toss the book into the Amazon wish list — free, organized, TBR (To Be Read) without the cost.

From Digital to Analog

When I travel to a marvelous book store, or just want to support our Indie bookstores in town, I pull about 10 to 15 books from the list and create a hard copy list of what I want to find in the bookstore.

That’s the plan.

Tracking Past Reads

I also carry the history of past battles.

I don’t enter a library or a marvelous used bookstore, without my history of read books (on Notes in my phone).

This helps in a used bookstore, and it is critical at Friends of the Library sales.

I started the reading book list ever since the afternoon I pulled a book from the crowded sales shelf and thought, wow, this looks great!

It was.

I’d donated it last year.

Wish List

I love books so much that I consistently overestimate the time I have to read versus the wealth of published books.

The Amazon book list holds all my scattered enthusiasm and ideas about what I probably, likely, very soon, will read.

The list holds every book that catches my eye (I’m like a magpie) and stands at about 250 books ready to be purchased.

Why so many?

Sometimes the interest is brief and on further inspection, the book is deleted from the list.

Sometimes I realize the book is exactly what I need and it is promoted to the shopping cart.

And sometimes it serves as the indie bookstore search engine.

A Reflection on Reading Focus

Prior to the drive to Berkeley, I skimmed down the 200 or so books on the wish list and pulled out 13 to focus my Saturday search.

Out of thirteen books:

6 books were on art and artists — specifically the Hudson River School and Impressionism.2 books on creativity3 bio’s of poets and artists.and a couple of novels.

What does that say?

Interestingly, my spontaneous book choices directly reflected the theme of my next book Take Up Space, Art and Creativity in the Second Half of Life.

Surprises from the Subconscious

The books I chose followed along with my current passion.

Which is very affirming.

And so easy, you may think I made it up just to create a great example.

Yes, the list reflected the current project, which is great.

But I also loved to be surprised, from another book list I have to consider what exactly Laura Ingalls Wilder has in common with John Ashbery?

I’ll get back to you on that.

The list doesn’t always make sense, but since it comes from your subconscious, there is something there worth exploring.

Reading Habits and Hidden Desires

If you have a book wish list, take a look.

Do you like to collect all the books of a specific author? (A list of read fiction is critical, kindle helps by informing me I already have a book that I wanted to upload because it sounded good).

But while standing in the basement of an old library where the community cast-offs lurk?

I’m on my own, and there is no cell signal.

So it’s hard to remember if I read this Terry Pratchett or that Anne Perry.

But for a dollar, I’m willing to take the risk.

Do you choose fiction based on place or time?

On this list, do you choose books related to the same subject?

Your List, Your Self

How often does this happen?

If you are choosing reading material for pleasure, what books surface?

Are you an engineer but keep adding books on the Great War to the list and to the pile of To Be Read?

Are you a baker but love to read the biographies of Roman Emperors?

Are you a librarian but collect cookbooks?

From the list –– imagine you can buy any ten books.

What do those ten choices reveal?

Let Books Inspire New Paths

Or how do those ten choices inspire you?

Would you take a cooking class?

Travel to Rome?

Write an article about the Battle of the Somme for a newsletter?

Can a simple trip to a bookstore spark a new creative pursuit?

Or do you just want to buy the next book club pick on sale and be done with it?

It’s a book.

I approve of it all.

For more on books, creativity and writing: Out Loud, An Adventure in Writing for Women

***

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***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catharine Bramkamp is a successful writing coach, Chief Storytelling Officer, former co-producer of Newbie Writers Podcast, and author of a dozen books including the Real Estate Diva Mysteries series, and The Future Girls series. She holds two degrees in English and is an adjunct university professor. After fracturing her wrist, she has figured out there is very little she is able to do with one hand tied behind her back. She delights in inspiring her readers.

The post Books as Oracles by Catharine Bramkamp appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on August 01, 2025 03:00

July 28, 2025

Learn How to Craft Settings that Hook Readers

Learn How to Craft Settings that Hook Readers – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 163

***

“This class is really for those who care about tone, character, genre, and the emotional resonance of your story.”

In this How To Write the Future episode, titled “Learn How to Craft Settings that Hook Readers,” host Beth Barany shares about the upcoming exciting class she’s teaching as part of Sue Brown Moore’s HEA Sessions called “Settings That Hook Your Readers” where she’ll dive into teaching a 90-minute hands-on training for character driven fiction writers.

Beth will provide you with the tools you need to help revise with clarity, find the value of setting in your story, and use it with intention. Register by July 31, 2025, 10pm Pacific here: https://bethbarany.com/heasetting2025/ [Affiliate link]

Platforms the podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts | Buzzsprout | Spotify | Amazon Music| YouTube

RESOURCES

Settings that Hook Readers: An HEA Sessions August Workshop

https://bethbarany.com/heasetting2025/ [AFF Link]

FOR CREATIVE WRITING PROFESSIONALS – BUILD YOUR BUSINESS SERVING WRITERS

Support our work for creatives!

Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

GET SOME FREE WRITING COACHING LIVE ON THE PODCAST

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

GET SUPPORT FOR YOUR FICTION WRITING BY A NOVELIST AND WRITING TEACHER AND COACH

Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers, too, if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

Transcript for episode 163 Learn How to Craft Settings that Hook ReadersIntroduction and Podcast Milestone

Hey everyone. Beth Barany here with How to Write the Future Podcast.

[00:04] Exciting New Class Announcement

I’m feeling all interior introverted today because I am deep in the final stages of putting together a class I am really excited to tell you all about. If you’ve been a listener of this podcast, and it’s been three years now, so shout out to doing three years of this podcast, then you know I am passionate about world-building. And one of the most tangible forms of world-building is putting attention on your story’s setting. So science fiction and fantasy authors, this is for you especially, and it’s for all fiction writers. If you are writing a character-driven story, then your setting is viewed from the point of view of your character.

[00:50] Class Details and Enrollment Information

So I have been deep in putting the final touches on this class that I’ll be teaching in about a week or so at this recording. And I am making an episode because there’s just a few more days that you can sign up for this class, and then after that, it goes into an evergreen mode.

So hopefully the links that are related to this podcast episode, you’ll be able to find it even if it’s after a few weeks after release date. So this should be going up on July 28th, and the closing date for this course that I’ll be offering on setting is July 31st.

So I wanna tell you a little bit about it because I’m really excited about it, and I wanna get back to it and putting the finishing touches on this course.

I’m not doing this course alone. I actually was invited as a writing teacher to teach this in Sue Brown Moore’s world. She is a writing teacher and a writing coach, and a fabulous editor. And now she primarily teaches and coaches writers. And so she invited me and another writing teacher to come teach this summer in her HEA sessions.

That’s HEA, stands for Happily Ever After because her primary audience is romance authors. And it’s also anyone who writes a character-driven story, and that’s my audience as well. I primarily focus on science fiction and fantasy, especially character-driven stories.

[02:17] Teaching Approach and Class Benefits

So I wanna tell you a little bit about this class: Settings That Hook Your Readers. Now, this is a 90-minute hands-on training for character-driven fiction writers. It’s not really meant for beginners, really, for intermediate and advanced writers.

So, beginners, don’t worry. I have a resource for you at the end of today’s episode. So I just wanna let you know that when I work with writers, and I am a developmental editor slash teacher and coach. So I only edit people’s work, who I also coach and do teaching with.

I know that working with these writers, they want their stories to feel really vivid and immersive, but often, settings get brushed aside. People just do placeholders for their settings. And I’m often saying to my clients, ah, please, more specifics, more sensory details. I want this to feel alive. I want it to feel connected to the story.

A lot of advice out there will say, just like that, add more sensory detail. But what I do with my clients and what I’m gonna do in this class is show you how to make it really relevant and connected to your story, to your characters, to the point of view character, and to, to your plot as well.

[03:32] Hands-On Workshop and Practical Techniques

So I’m gonna be doing a deep dive, a practical dive into your setting where we are going to connect craft with the emotional heart of your story and the experience of your reader.

So, I really recommend this class. If you wanna create a rich, immersive world without writing paragraphs upon paragraphs of description. We don’t want that. I don’t teach that. Nobody wants to read that. We want to imbue setting into our story as everything is happening, as the plot is happening. This class is really for those who care about tone, character, genre, and the emotional resonance of your story.

You want tools to help you revise with clarity, not so you have to guess. And you already understand that setting is more than scenery.

So if you are that kind of writer and you wanna create rich, immersive worlds, then this is what we’re gonna do.

We’re gonna explore: What is the value of setting in your story? And how do you use it with intention? And there’s multiple layers of that we’ll go over.

We’re gonna talk about, here’s the thing. You’re gonna bring to class the opening paragraph, like four to six sentences of the opening of your story, and we’re gonna use that to work with during the workshop. This is my favorite way of teaching, is to have you invite you, the writer, to work on your own material as we work through the class ’cause I believe, and this is just my life experience, is I have a hard time learning from books.

But if you take my manuscript and you point out to me how it can improve, and you rewrite some of my sentences. Wow, all of a sudden it makes so much more sense because I’m emotionally connected to the my own story and watching how other people view my story and might rewrite bits of it, taught me so much over the years, helped me see that there’s other ways that I could approach things, and it allowed me to create just a huge, huge palette of options.

And this is what I’m gonna do for you.

So we’re gonna evaluate the opening of your story through the lens of time, place, genre, and character, your character.

In fact, we’re gonna go into your character’s worldview and emotional filter and notice how that will affect how they view and take in the setting.

Plus, I’m gonna talk about some practical framing techniques that come from cinema, from movie making, the wide, the medium, and the closeup, to control pacing and mood. And then we’re gonna do some guided exercises to help you specifically revise and enhance your opening scenes, and hopefully you’ll walk away from the class having real skills that you can apply to the rest of your book.

This is a hands-on class. It’s really for people in revisions. So if you’re working on your first draft, awesome, please keep working on your first draft. Do not stop to revise. That’s my opinion. It’s hard to revise something that is half done, so keep going. Keep daydreaming, keep writing, and keep going.

This material and a lot of the things that I do are for writers who are ready to revise. And maybe you’ve even done some revisions. So you’re gonna have time in this class to apply what you’ve learned, to think, to chat, to share, to work.

[06:58] Registration and Additional Resources

Now registration is still open. Hopefully there’s still some spots left. Sue, who’s my host for this class, told me there are still some spots. Be sure to check out the link on the screen, in the show notes, or on the blog post, and register for this class. And there is a wonderful upgrade. If you want in-depth help, we have a three-week cohort upgrade. And you will see that information when you register.

And just so you know, there’s a two-step registration process if you want to come into the cohort. First, you register for the 90-minute class on setting. Then, you register for the cohort. I’m really excited to see you in class.

[07:39] World-Building Workbook

And for those of you who are still in the early stages of your novel and you want help with the basics of world-building and you’re writing your first draft and maybe you’re brainstorming or you just started revisions and you’re still trying to get the lay of the land, then I highly recommend that you check out my World-Building Workbook for Fiction Writers. This will give you some starting points to envision your story world. And it’s a workbook, a digital workbook. You can download it, and I really designed it to give you a guideline, a roadmap to get you started on your world-building.

[08:14] Personal Coaching and Final Thoughts

And lastly, if you want customized, individualized support from me that is really designed for you and your book and where you are in your process, I coach writers, and I have a few openings right now. You are welcome to come in for a discovery call, and let’s talk. I’d love to talk to you if what you see on my podcast and hear is right for you and you think I would be a good fit. Please come and talk to me. I love working with writers. This is my life passion.

[08:44] Celebrating Milestones and Conclusion

It is three three-year anniversary of my podcast, How to Write the Future, Tips for Writers. I’m still very passionate about the podcast, and it’s also the 19th anniversary of my business. I’ve been running this business for 19 years, helping writers. I’m still super passionate about it, and gosh, it’s amazing.

It’s just amazing to me. I am not only a podcaster, teacher, coach, nonfiction writer. I’m a novelist. I’m a working novelist, y’all. And, I’m deep in it. I love it. And I’m a filmmaker too. Woo-hoo. Which is a whole other story that I’ve talked about in some previous podcasts, and I’m sure I will talk about in future podcasts.

That’s it for this week, everyone. Write long and prosper. That’s a wrap.

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061

Need instructions on how to leave a review? Go here.

***

Support our work for creatives: leave a tip: [bold] https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

***

ABOUT BETH BARANY

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

CREDITS EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA (Refer-a-Friend link)MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. “Fuzz buzz” by Soundroll. Commercial license: https://musicvine.com/track/soundroll/fuzz-buzz.DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465 (Refer-a-Friend link)SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade

c 2025 BETH BARANY

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.

Like the work we do? Tip us! https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

The post Learn How to Craft Settings that Hook Readers appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on July 28, 2025 10:39

July 25, 2025

How Can Writers Resist the Attention Economy? Learn How to Do Nothing by LA Bourgeois

Let’s welcome back LA Bourgeois as she shares with us “How Can Writers Resist the Attention Economy? Learn How to Do Nothing.” Enjoy!

***

The Double-Edged Sword of Social Media for Writers

As writers, we use social media to grow our audience and sell our books, but also procrastinate by scrolling through memes for hours without realizing it.

Social media provides valuable communication between us and our readers (and relatives) while also distracting us with notifications when Great Aunt Mildred uploads yet another picture of her cat, Rufus.

What Is the Attention Economy?

In How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Jenny Odell argues that disengaging from social media helps us to live fuller, more creative lives.

So how do we disengage from the evils of social media without losing what makes it helpful?

When Odell references the attention economy, she’s talking about the way that social media demands our attention and then sells it to the highest bidder.

To keep our attention, these social media corporations like Meta, YouTube and TikTok use algorithms to predict what we might like to see next and serve that up to us.

The Emotional Toll of Doomscrolling

But does that make us happier? Well, when was the last time you finished doomscrolling and thought, “Oh yeah! That made my life better?”

If your answer was “never,” then you might be considering why that is.

Odell proposes that when we get trapped in a space that doesn’t challenge our identities, ideas and abilities, we begin to descend into a spiral of boredom and anxiety.

We need the challenge and the inspiration of the unusual and the new to keep us interested.

The Power of Stillness

And, interestingly enough, that can come from simply sitting still and doing nothing but observing the actual analog world that surrounds us.

Talking to someone face-to-face.

Sitting in the park and watching the birds.

Getting curious about something and going to the library to research it rather than just doing a quick Google search.

The Need for Context

In order to keep us scrolling, social media attempts to keep us attached to a “fearful present” by requiring public knee-jerk reactions rather than allowing the time to find and engage with context around different issues.

And we seem to crave context as we move through this time, as seen by the rise of the historian Heather Cox Richardson and her Substack, Letter from an American, right after the publication of this book.

This newsletter grew to over one million subscribers within a year, and all that it does is give historical context for the current political situation.

That kind of reaction definitely gives weight to the position that the attention economy has left many folks starving for deeper meaning.

How to Break the Social Media Habit

So, how do we break the social media habit?

Or how can we engage with social media in healthier ways?

Odell suggests that to get out of a bad habit, we need to replace the behavior with something else.

Artists and Writers as Guides

“To me, the only habit worth ‘designing for’ is the habit of questioning one’s habitual ways of seeing, and that is what artists, writers, and musicians help us to do,” she says. “It’s in the realm of poetics that we learn how to encounter. Significantly, these encounters are not optimized to ‘empower’ us by making us happier or more productive. In fact, they may actually completely unsettle the priorities of the productive self and even the boundaries between self and other. Rather than providing us with drop-down menus, they confront us with serious questions, the answering of which may change us irreversibly.”

The “Third Space”

Odell suggests that one way of breaking out of this space is to start answering “yes or no” questions in a creative way as Diogenes, the great Greek curmudgeon, would.

For example, if someone asks “Do you want to go see the new Superman movie?” you might respond with “Yes, but not at that cinema,” or “No, but I’d like to see a different film” or even “Yes, but I’m going to make fun of it the whole time.”

Reframing your response in this way leads to more interesting conversations with surprising outcomes.

Very different than what happens on social media as it tries to please you in order to keep your eyeballs locked on the screen.

This “third space” of refusing to answer a question as asked represents a liminal space filled with the potential of creativity.

However, because of the focus on productivity within our capitalist economy, will, desire, and training are necessary to find, inhabit and remain in this “third space” within our lives.

But we can do it!

The Practice of Attention and Meditation

The practice of redirecting our attention from social media to something else is similar to the practice of meditation.

If you’ve ever tried meditating, you know that despite your best efforts, thoughts will arise and drift through your mind.

The trick is that, when you become aware of the thought, you clear your mind again.

By doing this over and over, you train your mind to meditate.

The same thing happens with redirecting and sustaining that attention.

We realize that we are not unwavering but rather that, in the inevitable drift of our attention, we are able to continually pull it back to the thing we want to be focusing on.

Do not judge yourself for failing.

Rather, feel the success and empowerment that comes from returning to the task again and again.

You are strong in your resilience.

The practice of paying attention to something new is a practice, not a single task to be completed.

Mindful Attention Over Mindless Distraction

So, after finishing How to Do Nothing, do I have the answer for how to balance out those two edges of the social media sword?

Well, this is what emerged for me after reading Odell’s manifesto.

My new intent is to engage with social media with as much attention as I need and, when I find myself mindlessly scrolling, to stop myself, put down the phone and instead interact with the people, plants and wildlife in my region.

I’ve turned off the notifications so I can interact with the apps as I wish.

Basically, I’m opting for a mindful attention rather than a mindless distraction.

What has worked for you to balance social media’s persistent call and the needs of your real life?

What thoughts arise as you consider working with social media mindfully?

After all, there are many, many ways to do nothing.

Next Month’s Read: Margo’s Got Money Troubles

If you’d like to read How to Do Nothing; Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell, pick up a copy at your local library, indie bookshop, or online.

***

Our next Book for Thriving Creatives is Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe.

This hilarious and heartwarming novel takes you on a journey with Margo Millet, a new single mother whose father moves in with her as she teeters on the verge of eviction. Her solution? Start an OnlyFans.

What no one else will tell you about this book is that this trip with Margo reveals the good advice and terrifying lessons of starting a creative internet business.

Read along with me at The Thriving Creative, and then comment on next month’s post where I’ll share my thoughts on this fun and instructive novel. Grab your copy online, at the library, or by dropping by your favorite indie bookstore.

***

ABOUT LA BOURGEOIS

LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois is a Kaizen-Muse Certified Creativity Coach and author who helps clients embrace the joy of their creative work and thrive while doing it.

Get more of her creativity ideas and techniques by subscribing to her newsletter at https://subscribepage.io/unlockyourcreativity.

The post How Can Writers Resist the Attention Economy? Learn How to Do Nothing by LA Bourgeois appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

https://writersfunzone.com/blog/2019/05/13/how-to-build-an-epic-rivalry-between-your-hero-and-your-villain-by-bonnie-johnston/

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Published on July 25, 2025 03:00

July 21, 2025

How to Build Epic Rivalries Between Heroes and Villains

How to Build Epic Rivalries Between Heroes and Villains – How To Write the Future podcast, episoed 162

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“ Four essential elements of what does it take to build this epic rivalry between your hero and the villain.” – Said by Beth Barany, quoting Bonnie Johnston

Would you like to know how to build epic rivalries between heroes and villains? In this How To Write the Future podcast episode, host Beth Barany reads an article written by writing mentor and award-winning author Bonnie Johnston, in which she shares an in-depth breakdown of the four essential elements of epic rivalries, with step-by-step worksheets, available by signing up to Bonnie’s “Arch Enemies” class

Platforms the podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts | Buzzsprout | Spotify | Amazon Music| YouTube

RESOURCES

Support our work for creatives! Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

Read the article: How to Build an Epic Rivalry Between Your Hero and Your Villain by Bonnie Johnston

Epic rivalries make for memorable stories — the kinds of stories that are worth re-reading so we can immerse ourselves in the emotional intensity of the hero’s multi-layered relationship with the villain.Get the course “Arch-Enemies” here: **https://bethbarany.com/archenemies [AFF link]**

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

Get support for your fiction writing by a novelist and writing teacher and coach. Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers, too, if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

ABOUT BONNIE JOHNSTON

Bonnie Johnston is a writing mentor and award-winning author with a passion for teaching fiction writers how to increase the emotional impact of their stories to turn readers into fans.

She blogs at Write Smarter, Not Harder, where you can download her free ebook, Editing for Story.

She’s also the author of The 30 Day Novel Workbook and The Writer’s Guide to Getting Organized.

Transcript for episode 162 How to build epic rivalries between heroes and villains Introduction and Overview

Hey everyone. Beth Barany here with How to Write the Future Podcast, Tips for Writers, and today I have a special share for you. Today, I am going to share with you a friend and colleague’s wonderful course and material about how to build epic rivalries between your hero and your villain.

Essentially, we are going to look at four main points- four essential elements of what does it take to build this epic rivalry between your hero and the villain. We’re gonna look at chemistry, the dark push pull dynamic that gets under both characters’ skin. We’re gonna look at the psychological opposition, how the characters should fundamentally frustrate each other through opposing traits. And we’re gonna look at the point of connection. That’s number three, showing how they could have been allies in different circumstances. And lastly, number four, we’re gonna look at the resonant relationship dynamics, how their relationship dynamic is somehow familiar to real life relationship patterns.

The benefit to you as the writer and actually the ultimate benefit to your reader is when you combine these four layers the conflicts between the hero and the villain become more emotional, meaningful, and can be incredible reveals of character. By the time we’re done with this podcast today, I hope you will have some real takeaways that you can design really dynamic and compelling rivalries between your hero and your villain.

[01:50] Introducing Bonnie Johnston

All right, so today I’m gonna read this article that Bonnie wrote for us about her class. And, so to start off, I’m just gonna tell you a little bit about the teacher and the author of this material, Bonnie Johnston. Bonnie Johnston is a writing mentor and award-winning author with a passion for teaching fiction writers how to increase the emotional impact of their stories to turn readers into fans.

She blogs at Write Smarter Not Harder, where you can download her free book, “Editing for Story”. And she’s also the author of the 30 Day Novel Workbook, The 30 Day Romance Novel Workbook, and The Writer’s Guide to Getting Organized.

Alright, here we go.

[02:35] The Importance of Epic Rivalries

Deepen characterization, intensify conflicts, and write stories readers crave. JK Rowling did it. Victor Hugo did it. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did it. It’s one of the reasons that all three of these authors were massively successful.

Rowling, Hugo, and Doyle created epic rivalries between their heroes and their villains.

Deep multi-layered relationships that locked good guys and bad guys together in high stakes conflicts that couldn’t be easily resolved. Not only do these rivalries generate compelling conflicts, powerful enough to drive big stories and big series, they also take the reader on a deep dive into the psychology of both hero and villain.

[03:27] Epic rivalry

We get to know Harry Potter better through Harry’s struggle to understand how Voldemort became an evil wizard. We love Sherlock Holmes more when we see him resist the temptation to join Moriarty in using his genius for personal gain. And our hearts ache both for Valjean and Javert when we realize they’ve been set at each other’s throats by the tragic social inequities that shaped their lives.

Epic rivalries make for memorable stories, the kinds of stories that are worth rereading so we can immerse ourselves in the emotional intensity of the hero’s multilayered relationship with the villain. In other words, what lies between them is complicated and we love it.

[04:16] Your story’s epic rivalry

How do you create this kind of relationship between your hero and your villain?

You already know that you need to give them mutually exclusive goals to make sure that they have a compelling reason to oppose each other. You might assume that you need to tie your hero and your villain together closely through their backstory. But while that can be a great foundation for the hero villain relationship, Voldemort’s attack on the infant Harry and his parents is at the heart of Harry’s saga, a childhood connection is not essential. Batman didn’t know the Joker before he started committing crimes, and Holmes didn’t know Moriarty before he became a criminal mastermind either.

[5:00] Essential elements in creating an epic rivalry

What are the essential elements in creating an epic rivalry?

[05:07] Four Essential Elements of Epic Rivalries

First, you need to create chemistry between your hero and villain.

Their relationship needs to have the same kind of push and pull that the hero and heroine of a romance have albeit in a much darker way. When your villain calls your hero to taunt him, your hero isn’t just staying on the line because he is hoping for a clue to what the villain has done, he is also continuing the conversation because the villain has gotten under his skin.The conflict they’re engaged in is intense because they’re both viewing it through their deeply personal connection.

Second, you need to add a layer of psychological opposition to their relationship. Something in the psychology of each that is fundamentally frustrating to the other. The most common way to do that is to make them opposites in some way, emotionally, ideologically, or in terms of their abilities and skills. But it’s not the only way.

Third, you need to give them a point of connection. Some way in which they understand each other deeply and perhaps even agree with each other. Some of the greatest epic rivalries are ones where you can see how in different circumstances the hero and the villain could have been friends or lovers or teammates.

If you’re creating a rivalry where you want the reader to root for the villain to be redeemed by the hero, that point of connection becomes incredibly important. That point of connection serves as a tool that the hero can use to bring the villain over to the side of good.

Fourth, you can add yet another layer to the hero villain relationship with what I call resonant relationship dynamics.

Dynamics we see all the time in our real life relationships that are separate from the personality dynamic.

For example, your villain might treat your hero like an annoying little brother, triggering your hero’s childish or bratty tendencies, even if your hero never had an older sibling during their own childhood. Or maybe your hero sees himself in the villain, recognizing he’s one misstep away from becoming just like the villain. Or maybe your villain acts as your hero’s conscience, giving your hero exactly the advice he needs to hear, clearly identifying your hero’s flaws and mistakes with brutal honesty. This one’s my favorite.

Four layers of epic rivalry.

When your hero’s relationship with your villain contains these four layers: chemistry, psychological opposition, a point of connection, and a dynamic that resonates for readers– every conflict in your story becomes meaningful, more emotionally charged, and more likely to trigger character revelations.

[07:54] Deep Dive into Bonnie’s Course

If you are interested in learning more about mastering the art of creating a memorable epic rivalry for your characters, please do check out her course “Arch Enemies”, and that link will be connected to this podcast, whether it’s in the show notes, below the video or in the article that we post on our blog.

In this way in her course “Arch Enemies”, you will not only get an in-depth breakdown of these four layers with step by step worksheets, you’ll also discover the number one must-have trait of villains that readers love to hate. Also, the six characteristics of truly terrifying villains; the three types of stakes you must establish for your hero and stakes are very important; 10 tricks for creating powerful chemistry between your hero and villain; and 12 resonant relationship dynamics that you can use to intensify your hero’s internal conflict. So be sure to check out this class by Bonnie Johnston and dive deeper and master the epic rivalry of your characters at the link that will be in the show notes.

And I’ll also put the link on the screen here. And yes, this is an affiliate link.

[09:16] Conclusion and Contact Information

I hope you like this episode on the four layers of building your epic rivalry by Bonnie Johnston. If you have any questions about it, let me know. You can also connect with Bonnie directly via her website, Write Smarter Not Harder. Uh, That’s it for this week, everyone.

Write long and prosper.

That’s a wrap.

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ABOUT BETH BARANY

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

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Email: beth@bethbarany.com

c. 2025 BETH BARANY

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The post How to Build Epic Rivalries Between Heroes and Villains appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on July 21, 2025 04:26

July 18, 2025

When Can I Use Quotes in My Book? by Kelley Way

Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Kelley Way as she shares with us “When Can I Use Quotes in My Book?” Enjoy!

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Let’s face it, we all love using quotes in our writing.

Not only does it save us the trouble of coming up with our own words, but it’s also fun to insert some famous lines, and sometimes there’s just no way to improve on greatness.

However, those pesky copyright laws make quoting problematic, and we don’t want to get in trouble for using someone else’s words.

So, when is it okay to use quotes in your book?

When You get Permission

Permission is the gold standard.

If you get permission from the copyright owner, you have a green light to proceed.

However, be aware that getting permission can be tricky — not all copyright owners are easy to track down, and it’s not uncommon to get no response from your request.

They may also reject your request, or demand a fee that’s higher than you’re willing or able to pay.

When the Quote is Not Copyrighted

You can’t have copyright infringement when there’s no copyright.

So if the work you’re quoting from is not copyrighted, there’s no issue.

In the U.S., anything published before 1930 is in the public domain, meaning the copyright has expired and it’s free for anyone to use.

So go ahead and quote Shakespeare in front of every chapter, you won’t get in trouble.

When the Quote is De Minimis

If the quote is a tiny fraction of a bigger work, the courts may declare it “de minimis,” meaning it’s such a small piece the use can’t harm the copyright owner, and therefore it’s not infringing.

But be aware that your definition of small may not align with the copyright owner’s definition, so it’s a shaky foundation to rest your case on.

When It’s Fair Use

Fair use is an exception to copyright infringement rules.

The idea is that your use serves a public benefit that outweighs the harm to the copyright owner, so there’s no infringement.

But fair use is probably the trickiest of all these options, because there are no hard rules for when something is or is not fair use.

There is a test that can serve as a guideline, but the court’s decision is often subjective.

So fair use should be a last resort rather than a first option.

Conclusion and About the Author

As much as we all love quotes, using them is much like walking through a minefield.

You’ll need to decide if you want the quote badly enough to make the trek.

If you would like help determining how risky it might be to use quotes in your next book, you’re welcome to reach out to me at kaway@kawaylaw.com.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelley Way was born and raised in Walnut Creek, California. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.A. in English, followed by a Juris Doctorate. Kelley is a member of the California Bar, and an aspiring writer of young adult fantasy novels. More information at kawaylaw.com.

The post When Can I Use Quotes in My Book? by Kelley Way appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on July 18, 2025 03:00

July 14, 2025

Interview with Kathryn Nelson, Fantasy Novelist

Interview with Kathryn Nelson, Fantasy Novelist – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 161

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“So you see that the main characters’ relationship develop. You see how their country’s changing, their themes of mental health and women’s rights, social justice, there’s magical gems. There’s Ice Giants, elves, yeah, all of the good things.“ – Kathryn Nelson

From Ice-giants, fantasy worlds, to the power of fantasy in addressing real-life issues. In this How To Write the Future episode, host Beth Barany talks to fellow fantasy Novelist Kathryn Nelson, where they discuss writing about matriarchal societies within their novels, including why there is a need for strong character role models. Plus, Beth and Kathryn explore positive futures through storytelling.

Platforms the podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts | Buzzsprout | Spotify | Amazon Music| YouTube

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