Having recovered from their EPIC anniversary episode, Tim and Nick set out to discover new realms of exploration. Along the way they realize, “Hey, it’s pretty cool to keep finding new lands and creatures and characters and stuff.” So they decided to disc
Read MoreWardrobes, Deloreans, looking-glasses, ter’angreal, blue phone boxes, linking books…if you want to enter a new realm, there are ways. But, of course, someone has to make the world first. Hence, world-building. We start this episode with an interview wit
Read MoreIt’s 2018, and we’re back with Episode 84 of Derailed Trains of Thought, your premiere podcast on storytelling! The facts: Story School, simple vs. complex plots; Our Take on Tales, our 2017 reads In other words: Your hosts, Timothy Deal and Nicholas Hayd
Read MoreAs spring comes, people everyone develop wanderlust. They want to get out, to travel and see the world. Well, guess what? Plenty of fictional characters travel, too. In this episode, Timothy and Nick examine the role of the journey in stories. Then, in th
Read MoreThis December is the 20th Year Anniversary of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring movie. For Tim, this was a seminal movie in his life. Nick, on the other hand, has probably only seen it once or twice. But now, they are watching the movie together (
Read MorePOW! WHAM! The hero slugs the bad guy. Unconscious henchmen lay sprawled everywhere. The city is saved! All in a day’s work for an average action-adventure protagonist. BUT–is there another way? Why do we enjoy violent endings and are there satisfying no
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