Chiptune

Episode 42 – Why We (Don’t) Create

It’s no secret Tim and Nick like to create. I mean, they’ve recorded more than 40 podcasts discussing the art of storytelling! But every creative person has a reason they create. And every creative person has multitudes of excuses for why they don’t actua

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Episode 44 – Whose Outline Is It Anyway?

Look–it’s a fact. Not everyone can make diabolically elaborate plans go off without a hitch like the Joker or those guys from Ocean’s Eleven. That’s why some people use copious outlines while writing, and others…not so much. This episode, Nick and Tim

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Episode 49 – Write It Again, Sam

Writing is revision and a movie is discovered in the editing room. Or so “they” tell us. Isn’t vision enough? If not, how do we go about casting our re-vision anyway? Tim and Nick take up the topic with their usual flair in Episode 49 of Derailed Trains o

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Episode 52 – “…And I’ll Tell You Exactly How He Did It!”

“Show, don’t tell.” It’s a rule pounded into storytellers…but are there times when telling is better? After all, you can’t show everything, can you? Exposition is an essential part of storytelling, and your hosts Tim and Nick examine the good, the bad,

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Episode 55 – Why Don’t You Just Write Already?

Writer’s Block. You’ve had it. I’ve had it. Everyone’s had it, except possibly Isaac Asimov. The solution, of course, is to just start writing, but that’s like saying the best way to find patience is to wait for it. So, can podcast hosts Timothy Deal and

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Episode 56 – I Will Not Watch It, Sam-I-Am!

Can you believe people actually watch bonnet movies? You know, those semi-romantic historical dramas with female protagonists? Blech! Don’t they know their artistic sensibilities are morally inferior and seriously stunted? I mean, if you’re not watching O

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Episode 79 – A Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures

Words. Since you were knee-high to a grasshopper, you’ve been bombarded by them. Flash cards, spelling bees, Facebook comments from people who haven’t learned how to use gifs yet…they’re everywhere. Sometimes we take them for granted, and sometimes we t

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Episode 90 – The Audio-Only Episode

Sound. It’s all around us–and it plays an important, if often overlooked, role in many of our stories. So Timothy and Nick decide to give sound its due. Then, because it’s our 90th episode, we share a aurally-enhanced Bit of Story and step into a especia

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Episode 103 – Double Troubles

So, the Internet says that there’s a 1 in a trillion chance of you having a doppelganger somewhere on the planet. But that must be wrong, because characters in stories run into their lookalikes all the time. And if not their doppelganger, than their clone

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Episode 108 – Fields and Fountains, Moors and Mountains

The flowers are blooming, the trees blaze green, and the world shines in the aftermath of cool showers. Spring is here! And so, naturally (pun intended), Nick and Tim discuss the place of nature in fiction. They follow up with a short, plant-based “It Cam

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