On this very special day of the year, we clearly had to bring you a very special episode. This week, Nienna and Jalinar have joined us for a series of reviews – but, of course, this being an After Dark episode, these aren’t just any reviews. We

S3E10 – Naming a Book

Mar 19th, 2018 28m 20s

Today we’re diving into a topic that many writers struggle with. You’ve spent weeks, months or even years laboring over your story, and you’re getting ready to release it into the world – but what do you call it? We’re tackling this particular

S3E9 – Anti-heroes

Mar 2nd, 2018 24m 8s

This week, we’re continuing with the subject of characters who might not be immediately sympathetic to your reader. A few episodes ago, we talked about villains, and included some of our favourite examples. This time, we’re moving on to anti-he

S3E8 – Writing Dialogue

Feb 3rd, 2018 26m 45s

It’s time for one of our nuts-and-bolts writing episodes! Nearly all fiction will contain dialogue in one form or another, so today Chase and Amy chat about their own approaches to writing it. We talk about topics like knowing the history of yo

S3E7 – The Emperor’s Soul Review

Jan 20th, 2018 30m 28s

As promised in a few previous episodes, today we’re reviewing The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson is an author we’ve talked about multiple times on the podcast, so it was great to be able to review one of his shorter works. We ta

S3E6 – The Gift of Fan-fic

Dec 22nd, 2017 49m 7s

Quick warning: this is another of our fan-fic episodes and listener discretion is advised. Contents may be considered NSFW and at the very least will make you snort coffee out of your nose. Proceed with caution! Ah, the holidays. A time of good

S3E5 – Authors With Conflicting Opinions

Dec 17th, 2017 37m 35s

What happens when you enjoy an author’s work, but disagree with their personal opinions? In this episode, we talk about whether it’s possible to read fiction without letting your knowledge of the author colour it – and whether you even want to.

S3E4 – Villains

Nov 28th, 2017 30m 56s

This week’s episode is all about a favourite subject of many writers: villains. In this discussion, we each pick a favourite villain from literature and talk about why we particularly like them. That might be because they’re irredeemably, unash

S3E3 – Worldbuilding Science and Tech

Nov 12th, 2017 25m 28s

Today’s episode is a continuation of a theme we started way back in episode 14 of season 2. In that instance, we discussed worldbuilding the religion for your story, and this time round we’re tackling the opposite side of the coin: science and

S3E2 – Spooky Recommendations

Oct 27th, 2017 29m 48s

Chase and Amy are back this week with a whole host of spooky recommendations, just in time for Halloween. We cover books, movies, TV and games, ranging right across the spectrum from mildly creepy to downright terrifying. There should be someth

After Dark #2 – A Return to Bad Fan-fic

Oct 6th, 2017 36m 9s

We’re back from our summer break, and we’re kicking off our third season with a return to our readings of terrible fan-fiction scrounged from the darkest corners of the internet. As you might already have noticed, this is one of our After Dark

S2E21 – Twist the Cab Sav, Raven (Anchorhead Part 7)

Aug 26th, 2017 23m 47s

It’s the second of our mini episodes to tide our listeners over through the summer (and yes, we’re titling these purely to torment Raven). As you may have guessed, we’re back in Anchorhead, where it really is a miracle we haven’t yet died a slo

S2E20 – Ialda and Friends (Anchorhead Part 6)

Aug 9th, 2017 35m 29s

Our second season is now officially over, so we’d like to thank everyone who’s listened, commented, taken part in our contest and generally made running this show worthwhile! We’ll be back in September with a whole host of new episodes, but for

S2E19 – Anchorhead (Part 5)

Jul 22nd, 2017 28m 32s

We’re back in Anchorhead this week, where things are once again suitably eerie, and where our strong, independent, Amazonian character continues her journey, all whilst carrying umpteen objects in her unfeasibly large hands. If none of that mak

S2E18 – Current Projects

Jul 7th, 2017 1h 1m

We’re back, and we’re talking about our current writing projects! With April’s Camp NaNoWriMo behind us (and another in progress already), we sat down to talk about what we wrote for Camp, and everything else we’re in the middle of working on.

S2E17 – Writing Serial Fiction

Jun 4th, 2017 57m 18s

As long-time listeners of the show will know, all four of our hosts met through the Guild Wars 2 fan site, Chronicles of Tyria. As a result, we’ve all been writing serial fiction for at least a couple of years, and in this episode, Chase, Nienn

S2E16 – Anchorhead (Part 4)

May 19th, 2017 58m 49s

We’re doubling up on Anchorhead episodes this month, as we get ever closer to uncovering the secrets of this strange town. What might our new husband and his family be hiding? What’s been happening in this town for century after century? Just h

S2E15 – Anchorhead (Part 3)

May 6th, 2017 55m 51s

Fear not, listeners! We haven’t forgotten Anchorhead! We’re back there this week, continuing our adventures in this strange little Lovecraftian town. This episode is, of course, best enjoyed having listened to the first two parts of the series,

S2E14 – Moist and Pulpy Gods

Apr 21st, 2017 1h 15m

In today’s episode, we dive into the subject of world-building. This is a vast topic, so we focus on just one aspect that’s particularly important in fantasy: creating and writing fictional religions. Our discussion falls into two main parts. I

S2E13 – Life is Strange Review

Apr 5th, 2017 1h 38m

We’re back with another in our series of reviews/story chats, talking about the game Life is Strange. A story-based adventure game, Life is Strange gave us plenty to discuss, from its use of place and atmosphere, to the complications of creatin

After Dark #1 – High School Hanky Panky

Mar 18th, 2017 1h 29m

There are two things you need to know about this episode. One, that it’s completely, 100% off-topic, containing absolutely no writing advice whatsoever. Two, that it’s probably (okay, definitely) NSFW. Welcome to Words Are Hard: After Dark! In

S2E12 – Noble Pants (aka Writing Romance)

Feb 24th, 2017 55m 33s

Love is in the air! Or, more accurately, we decided we’d better make at least a small concession to the fact that February is the month of Valentine’s Day. This episode, then, is all about writing romance. As we’re a podcast full of fantasy wri

S2E11 – John Wick Review

Feb 10th, 2017 1h 18m

With the recent release of John Wick 2, we go back to the first film for an in-depth review and story chat. We cover plot, characterisation, symbolism and more in this discussion, proving that even action films – all too easily dismissed as bei

S2E10 – Starting From Scratch

Feb 3rd, 2017 1h 18m

A new year is a great time for a new start, and fulfilling a few resolutions. If your plan in 2017 is to write a novel for the very first time, this is the episode for you! This one is particularly intended for anyone who wants to write, but ha

S2E9 – Channeling Your Characters

Jan 16th, 2017 46m 30s

What do you do to make your characters feel more real? How, as a writer, can you get into the head of a person who’s never existed anywhere but your head? What happens if the emotions your character needs to feel are a long way from what you as