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How To Write The Future
The How to Write The Future Podcast offers fiction writing tips for science fiction and fantasy authors who want to create optimistic stories because when we vision what is possible, we help make it so. By science fiction and fantasy author and fiction writing coach, Beth Barany.
Episodes
231 episodes
14. How to End Book One in a Series
How to End Book One in a Sci-Fi or Fantasy SeriesIn this episode, Beth Barany explains how to end book one in a sci-fi or fantasy series when more books may follow, emphasizing that multiple arcs are in play—relationships, externa...
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217. How A Character's Breathing Reveals Their Emotion in Your Novel
“It all starts with awareness of yourself and noticing how you're feeling at different moments and how you're breathing and your emotional state, how we tie them together in our own awareness.” - Beth BaranyDid you know the five...
13. Constructive Critique Basics
How to Give (and Receive) Constructive Critique in a Writing GroupBeth offers tips for giving and receiving critique in a way that is constructive, respectful, and supportive.She recommends first asking writers what specifi...
216. How to Restart Your Writing after a Break
“Do not make yourself wrong. Life is busy. We have multiple commitments that we're juggling, all of us.” - Beth BaranyIn this How To Write the Future podcast episode titled “How to Restart Your Writing after a Break,” hos...
11. Five Plot Points and Story Grid
Four Story Structure Maps (Part 1): Five-Point Plot Structure and Story Grid’s Five CommandmentsIn this episode, Beth Barany introduces four story structure maps that have influenced her writing, noting that many more exist and that stru...
12. Hero's Journey and Virgin's Promise
Story Structures for Writers: The Hero’s Journey and The Virgin’s PromiseBeth Barany outlines the 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey, briefly defining each step from the ordinary world through the call to adventure, refusal, mentor interven...
10. Three-Act Structure Overview
Understanding the Three-Act Structure: Key Plot Points from Hook to DenouementIn this episode, Beth Barany explains the three-act structure, attributed to Plato, as a plot-driven framework with key plot points.Act One covers the h...
09. Tropes with Jennifer Hilt
Using Tropes as Story-Building Blocks: Jennifer HiltIn this episode, Beth Barany interviews Jennifer Hilt, author of several books on tropes for fiction writers, to explain what tropes are, why they matter, and how writers can use...
215. Make Your Environment Writer-Friendly
“I really like to have physical objects in my environment to inspire my creativity so that when I look at them, the story comes to mind very easily.”In this How To Write the Future podcast episode, “Make Your Environment Writer-...
214. How to Self-Coach Toward Your Writing North Star
“What you want is to be able to look at your goal, what you've written down, and have a really clear picture for what that looks like.” - Beth BaranyIf you self coached, could you be more efficient with your writing time?...
213. Editing Your Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novel: Genre, Tropes, and Character Arc
“Identify in your own book what are the tropes that you're using that are identifiable by any reader. And notice if they're all working for you.“ - Beth BaranyIn this How To Write the Future podcast episode, “Editing Your Sci...
212. How To Use Notion AI for Developmental Editing
“ My end goal is to be able to say to the writer, "Here's where you're weak, here's where you're strong.” - Beth BaranyIn this forward thinking How To Write the Future episode, titled “How To Use Notion AI for Developmental E...
211. Write the Future: Our Five Themes
“Writing craft is about meaning and the reader experience. I really don't teach rigid rules because language is evolving constantly, and it's all about choices.” - Beth BaranyIn this How To Write the Future podcast episode, titl...
08 Editing Your Beginnings, Middles, Ends
Editing Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Genre: Hooks, Builds, Payoffs, and TwistsIn this episode, Beth Barany explains how to revise novels by analyzing beginnings, middles, and ends at the book level, focusing on genre expectati...
210. Crafting a Compelling Villain: Goals, Motivation, Conflict
“In addition to your villain's goal, they need a motivation. They feel like they're the hero of their own story. They have a good reason for wanting what they want.” - Beth BaranyIn some stories long after the final page is clos...
209. How To Find the Right Illustrator for You with Anna Leitensdorfer
“Since it was my first book cover there, I learned a lot. There was a big process involved. Lots of figuring out, print lingo, making sure things are where they should be. So it was definitely a learning process.” - Anna Leitensdorfer<...
208. Turn Your Wish Into Story Fuel with Brownell Landrum
“That ties into your whole theme — because the theme of my novels is ‘Lose yourself in the fiction. Find yourself in the truth.’” - Brownell LandrumDo you know what sciences we use in making a wish? When blowing out the candles ...
07 The Writer’s GMC: Goal, Motivation, Conflict (and Strengths) for Creative Projects
Today Beth Barany shares about the writer’s GMC—goal, motivation, and conflict—adapted from Deb Dixon’s book "GMC: Goal, Motivation, Conflict" as a self-coaching tool for writing and other creative projects.She describes choosing a speci...
207. Edit Your Novel Checklist: First Read, No Edits
“Read through the checklist, put it in your mind, and let it just float there. Don't be so restrictive about it. You can always revisit it whenever you want.” - Beth BaranyIn this episode of How To Write The Future, Bet...
06 Premium; Editing Your Novel: Identify Genre, Tropes, and Reader Expectations
The episode focuses on considering genre and tropes during the editing phase, emphasizing that revision is about editing for readers and managing their expectations rather than writing only for oneself.Beth frames editing as refining the...
206. AI Content Licensing for Authors: Julie Trelstad
“Amlet AI creates a tool that allows authors to make it known to machine to developers that their work can be licensed and is available and that they expect to be compensated.” - Julie TrelstadIn this How To Write the Future pod...
205. Goal-Based Sci-Fi Research With Sue Burke
“One thing I recommend is that if you're really sure about something look it up cause you're probably wrong.” - Sue BurkeIn this How To Write the Future podcast episode, titled, “Goal-Based Sci-Fi Research With Sue Burke,...
05 Premium: Identify Your Learning Style to Edit Your Writing More Effectively
What is your learning style? (5 senses)Identify Your Learning Style to Edit Your Writing More EffectivelyThe episode explains how understanding your learning style—how you take in information through sensory channels—can improve y...
204. Alex Kingsley: Writing Speculative Futures
“Fiction is a wonderful arena for dealing with some really complex topics and some difficult issues in a safe space.” - Alex KingsleyIn the latest How To Write the Future podcast episode titled, “Alex Kingsley: Writing Specul...
04 Premium: Options vs. Procedure: Find Your Preferred Novel-Editing Process
The episode explores a preferred mental process for approaching novel editing, drawn from an NLP “options vs. procedure” spectrum. On one end are procedural thinkers who prefer step-by-step rules and editing from beginning to end; o...