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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
208 episodes
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...
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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...
203. Hip Hop for the Future
“I'm trying to make sure we have artists, the next generation people who can get to the open mic for the first time and learn how to hold a microphone.” - Khafre JayIn the latest How To Write the Future podcast episod...
03 Premium: On Overwhelm & Mindset
Overwhelmed by Editing Your Novel? Shift Your Mindset (Fixed vs. Growth)Beth Barany addresses how overwhelmed and confused writers can feel after a first read-through of a novel, especially when faced with lots of issues to fix and feed...
202. Read, Write, Repeat with David D. Levine
“I was a science fiction reader from the beginning, and I continued to identify myself as a science fiction writer. However, a lot of my stuff would have to be classified as fantasy.” - David D. Levine In the la...
201. 5 Upcoming Inspiring Interviews
“Oh my goodness. Sue has so much to say about research and how to use research strategically about finding conflicts and problems and learning as much as you need to know to be able to move forward. So be sure to listen to our conversation....
02. Premium: How to Use the Edit Your Novel Checklist for Your First Draft Read-Through
How to Use the Edit Your Novel Checklist for Your First Draft Read-ThroughBeth Barany introduces the Edit the Future Science Fiction and Fantasy Revision Lab and walks through how to use the Edit Your Novel Checklist, available at
200. Uncertain Times: Five Creative Superpowers
“What is creativity? Here's the short of it. For me, creativity is about combining disparate elements, elements we might not even think of putting together. For us, for us as science fiction and fantasy writers, what might this look like? W...
01 Premium Episode: Our Philosophy on Editing
Editing to Help Readers Disappear Into Your StoryBeth Barany introduces the premium Edit the Future Science Fiction and Fantasy Revision Lab and shares her and her husband Ezra’s philosophy for editing novels: revise rough drafts ...
199. Use Divination Cards to Spark Stories
“If you need help with ideas, if you want to play with randomness, to inspire you, to jumpstart your creativity, to come up with new ideas that you wouldn't have ordinarily thought of.” - Beth Barany***In this How To Writ...
198. Beginning, Middle, End — And Mess
“Life is messy. Life is unpredictable, and so is creating. Make room for that. Create compassion.” - Beth BaranyIn this How To Write the Future podcast episode, titled “Beginning, Middle, End — And Mess” host Beth Barany ...
197. Business Advice Creatives Can Actually Use
“Traditionally, at least for the last 200 years, there's been a cultural divide between being in business and being a creative, which is born out of a lot of images of the starving artist and really different movements that thought being an...
196. Fun Values Check-In for Sci-Fi/Fantasy Writers
“ I care very much about your success and I really believe that our future is in our hands and as creatives, we have some incredible skill sets we get to bring to that.” - Beth BaranyIn this How To Write the Future podcast episo...
195. Trust Your Creative Process
“In difficult days when I'm struggling with my story or I'm struggling with my creative entrepreneur business. I turn to what I know and to what I trust, which is my emotions, my breathing, my physical body, and often it's a sign I need to ...
194. Risk Taking Without Desperation: Write From Trust
“Every creative project involves risk, whether you are writing a novel, creating a play, a film, or starting your own creative entrepreneur business.” -- Beth BaranyIn the this episode of How To Write the Future podcast, tit...
193. Marketing and Selling Tips for Sci-Fi & Fantasy Writers
“Marketing and selling, especially learning how to do it in written form, is also a form of magic. It's just using words in a different way.” — Beth BaranyAre you ready to learn the skills needed to market your novel? <...
192. Level Up with Writer Feedback
“If you start asking for feedback too soon, it can really destroy the creative process for you. It can make you doubt the direction you're going in. There's all kinds of reasons why I recommend that you get feedback after you finish your fi...
191. Writing Constraints: The Fast Creativity Reset
“For me, writing fiction is a place of play. So, yeah, that Aha came to me recently and I thought, okay, I need to dedicate myself to just playing with fiction for the next few days or the next few weeks, not taking eve...
190. Ethical AI for Writers with Ana del Valle
“I think that if you sit on the sidelines and you choose to ignore these tools, you have no chance to compete in this new marketplace. You have no chance. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. These tools can help you do structure, do deep thinking, ...
189. World-Building Without Information Dumping
“ I really recommend you write your book anyway. Let it be as messy and chaotic as first drafts are.” - Beth BaranyHooking a reader in at the beginning without overwhelming them with information is essential, which is why in thi...
188. Fantasy Steampunk: Do You Need Magic?
“Do your research, read widely in the genre, and don't limit yourself to strict rules; go ahead and create something new. That would be cool.” - Beth BaranyIn this How To Write the Future podcast episode, “Fantasy ...
187. Decode The Obsidian Tower's Setting
“By setting in this case, we are getting the scope of the world. We are learning the rules of magic in this story.” — Beth BaranyIn this How To Write the Future podcast episode, titled “Decode The Obsidian Tower's Setting,”
186. How Much Science in Your Sci-Fi Stories?
“Go ahead and base your sci-fi entirely on your own imagination, whatever science that you want to integrate into your story. And make it feel real.“ —Beth BaranyHow Much Science in Your Sci-Fi Stories? That’s...