- 26 minutes 29 seconds21.45: Mirror, Mirror on the Plot
People respond really well to symmetry in stories. This can range from having an object from the beginning reappear at the end to having the entire plot mirrored. But why does symmetry work so well, and how can writers use it intentionally? This week, we’re trying to answer that question. We dissect callbacks, repeated images, mirrored scenes, and the satisfaction readers get from recognizing patterns. We also discuss how you can find symmetry during your revision (even if you didn't plan for it!) and why sometimes breaking a pattern is exactly what your story needs.
Homework:
Return to the beginning of a story or a scene just before a climax and look at what's already on the page: images, dialogue, settings, and other details. Then look at the corresponding scene near the end or after the climax and see what you might bring back or mirror. You can also work backward, planting something earlier that you've already written into a later scene.
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Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy8 November 2026, 9:00 am - 24 minutes 28 seconds21.44: Why Are You Stopping? You’re Almost There!
Very often, writers get to the two-third or three-quarter mark of work and get stuck, sometimes abandoning it to move on to something shinier. Why does this happen? Well, it’'s a place at which we move from raising questions for the reader to needing to answer them. This change in mode requires a different set of tools than the beginning of a story, while needing to appear part of a seamless whole. Let’s dive into how you can do this!
Homework:
Outline the second half of your novel (or revise the outline you already have). Then find two or three questions your story asked in the first half, and come up with two different ways you could answer each one.
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy1 November 2026, 9:00 am - 28 minutes 37 seconds21.43: The Not-Final Word on Endings
Today we're focusing on the mechanics of writing endings: what needs to be resolved, what can be left dangling, and how to give your reader a sense of what has changed. We talk about symmetry between beginnings and endings, giving important moments enough room to land, and how a final line can shape the feeling your reader walks away with. We also dig into epilogues, callbacks, “avatars of success,” and why the order of your final beats matters. Plus, why you probably don’t need to know your perfect last line when you start writing—or even when you finish your first draft.
Homework:
Ask yourself these five questions about your ending:
- Does it match the promises of your beginning?
- Do you have an avatar of success?
- What did your characters earn?
- Is there any symmetry with your opening?
- Does the closing line underline the tone or theme of the story?
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy25 October 2026, 8:00 am - 23 minutes 35 seconds21.42: Deconstructing the Heroine’s Journey
Psychotherapist Maureen Murdock invented the Heroine's Journey in response to Joseph Campbell's monomyth Hero's Journey. He reportedly said, "Women don’t need to make the journey, they are the place that everyone is trying to get to." This version of story structure is attempting to tell different stories. This week, we’re diving into the Heroine’s Journey! We talk about its (very) gendered origins, but also about what we can take from the structure: what happens after a character gets what they thought they wanted? Our hosts also discuss the biases built into different plot structures, layering structures on top of each other, and using the Heroine’s Journey to think about a character’s relationship to themself, their community, and the expectations placed on them.
Homework:
Pick one of three strands—your character’s relationship to community, self, or expectation—and track how it changes at each major plot point. When you get to the end, ask: is there somewhere else you can go?
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy18 October 2026, 8:00 am - 24 minutes 27 seconds21.41: Barrier Breaking- Physical Fatigue
What do you do when "take a break" isn't the answer? We’ve all ahd that feeling, "I’m just too tired to concentrate." This can be because you're worn out from work, or due to chronic fatigue or pain. This week, our hosts talk about working with the brain and body you actually have instead of expecting every writing day to look the same. We explore queuing up tasks for our tired future selves, falling back on craft, using placeholders, and shifting from productivity goals to satisfaction goals. Plus, how to recognize diminishing returns and build systems that help us stop before pushing ourselves into burnout.
Liner Notes:
Homework:
Write down five things: three writing tasks you can do when you’re really tired, and two signs that tell you you’re approaching burnout—including the lies you tell yourself that keep you pushing when you need to stop. Keep the list close at hand and see if it helps when you can’t even.
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy11 October 2026, 8:00 am - 20 minutes 52 seconds21.40: The DREAM of a Structured Character Arc
What if a character arc had a structure you could actually map? This week, our hosts break down the DREAM arc: denial, resistance, exploration, acceptance, and manifestation. We look at how characters move through these stages—and why stopping at acceptance can make an arc feel incomplete. From Casablanca and Avatar: The Last Airbender to Parasite and Kylo Ren, we explore how the structure can create heroes, villains, and characters who change in messier ways.
Homework:
Take the DREAM arc out to play with your current WIP: denial, resistance, exploration, acceptance, and manifestation. For each stage, write down one action your character can take to reinforce who they believe they are at that point in the arc.
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy4 October 2026, 8:00 am - 26 minutes 2 seconds21.39: Write What You Feel
Your life is probably weirder—and more useful to your writing—than you think. This week, our hosts explore how to turn lived experience into fiction, from borrowing sensory details and emotional reactions to reshaping real people and events. We dive into the feelings wheel, specificity, and the layers of belief, feeling, thought, and action that can make characters feel human. Plus, how journaling can become a surprisingly useful bank of material for your future self.
Homework:
Journal about a significant emotional moment in your life. Write down the physical sensations, specific feelings, thoughts, conclusions, and choices you made. Then rewrite it as a third-person scene, giving your protagonist different biographical details while keeping the emotional experience.
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy27 September 2026, 8:00 am - 23 minutes 31 seconds21.38: Rules, Tools, and History’s Fools
Today, we’re celebrating Erin’s birthday by talking about a topic of her choice. Which means we’re flipping “tools, not rules” its head. Our hosts revisit the Turkey City Lexicon, a snarky collection of writing “rules” that circulated widely among speculative fiction writers in 1988, and ask what still holds up—and what happens when useful terminology turns into rigid prescription. From “show, don’t tell” to white room syndrome and TV Tropes, we look at our recurring desire for an easy answer to what makes writing work. Then everyone picks a writing hill they’re willing to die on.
Homework:
Make a time capsule of who you are as a writer right now. Write down one piece of writing advice that’s working for you, one you disagree with, and one writing hill you’ll die on. Pick a meaningful future date to revisit them and see what’s changed.
Liner Notes:
“Crystallization” was correctly attributed to David Gerrold by Mary Robinette
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy20 September 2026, 8:00 am - 28 minutes 5 seconds21.37: Barrier Breaking: The World Is on Fire
How do you keep writing when the world is on fire? This week, our hosts talk about protecting our narrative energy when the news, social media, or our own lives feel overwhelming. We explore boundaries, boredom, intentional information consumption, and why sometimes the most useful thing a writer can do is log off. We also look at how writing can become a place to process what’s happening around us—giving our characters our emotions, interrogating difficult systems through worldbuilding, and making space to imagine something different.
Homework:
Log off. Put yourself on a strict social media diet (of your choosing) for the week and make the boundaries concrete. When you feel the urge to reach for your phone, sit with the discomfort for at least ten minutes. Let your boredom develop within you, and see what thoughts emerge.
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy13 September 2026, 8:00 am - 23 minutes 47 seconds21.36: Twists: How to Make the Unexpected Feel Inevitable
A great twist shouldn’t just surprise us—it should make us rethink everything that came before. This week, our hosts explore reader expectations, misdirection, and hiding clues in plain sight. We look at twists from The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, Ocean’s Eleven, and O. Henry, and ask why some twists make a story even better on a reread.
Homework:
If your work in progress has a twist, write out all the logical steps that lead to the reveal. Then start removing details until the twist stops making sense. Play with what’s truly load-bearing and what you can hide or leave out.
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy6 September 2026, 8:00 am - 21 minutes 43 seconds21.35: The Four Acts of Kishōtenketsu
This week, our hosts explore kishōtenketsu, an Asian story structure that appears under different names in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Unlike the Western three-act structure, it isn’t built around conflict. Instead, it moves through four stages: introduction, development, twist, and conclusion. We dig into how stories like Parasite and The Tatami Galaxy create tension through discovery, contrast, and changing perspective, rather than direct confrontation. And don’t worry, we find time to get delightfully nerdy about poetry, RPGs, Star Wars, and why a “twist” can be less about surprise and more about seeing the story in a new way.
Homework:
Take something you’ve already written and map it onto a kishōtenketsu structure. See what opportunities emerge when you group the story into introduction, development, twist, and conclusion.
Liner Notes
Video explaining the argument that Super Mario follows Kishōtenketsu
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy30 August 2026, 8:00 am - More Episodes? Get the App