The Writ Wit: A Podcast About Writing and the Creative Process: Recent Episodes
Matthew Donald and Matthew David
The Writ Wit, where two twits talk about writting. (No, those aren't typos) Hosted by Matthew Donald and Matthew David, the Writ Wit is a podcast for writers, by writers. More accurately however, it's for people dumb enough to think two idiots who are barely professional at this hobby are worth taking advice from when it comes to writing. We talk about genres, characters, character development, the writing process, and discuss other people's works we plan to rip off-uh, I mean...works we have read, watched, or played that we like. So join us on this grand adventure that these two twits started a while back, took a nine-month break purely due to procrastination, did one episode a month for a while, and now do weekly episodes like a real podcast.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a product that sells itself with just one heavily emphasized word, do multiple pushups on air just to prove a point, rag onto each other for forcing us to stay up late to record this, and talk about overly powerful characters in in the next of our set about Mary Sue-ish characters that were not calling Mary Sues because that term has been coopted by incels and can be any gender or race despite what said incels tell you. What makes a character too powerful? Does explaining said power help? What about their skills compared to others who should be more experienced? How mad is Matt David at his co-host for accusing him of making them stay up late to record this rather than breaking apart the recording time like he hates to do? We discuss it all, with phenomenal cosmic powers yet itty bitty living space, and talk about Star Wars, X-Men, and Spaceballs for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course. And you can check out the Discord for Matt David's podcast Nerds 'R' Us here: https://discord.gg/PtuCAmXnNn
In this episode, the two Matts raid what seems to be an ancient tomb but might end up being something far more mundane, go on tangents about segues and how some of us nail them and others of us steal their thunder, get a little too personal and intimate about our relationship, and talk about overly beloved characters in the next of our set about Mary Sue-ish characters that were not calling Mary Sues because that term has been coopted by incels and can be any gender or race despite what said incels tell you. What makes a character too beloved? Does every other character have to love this one for a character to be too beloved? Is a character like this worth saving or even possible to save? Will Matt Donald finally reveal the character he's been building up to while talking about this set? We discuss it all, while being overly beloved ourselves (seriously people, find better podcasters) and talk about Harry Potter, Twelfth Night, and two different Amanda Bynes movies for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course. And you can check out the Discord for Matt David's podcast Nerds 'R' Us here: https://discord.gg/PtuCAmXnNn
In this episode, the two Matts do another classic "really short ad" gag that hasn't gotten old the last three times we've done it, protest with large crowds about saving the invasive rodents, go on a tangent about Hawking radiation, and talk about overly self-insert characters in the first of our set about Mary Sue-ish characters that were not calling Mary Sues because that term has been coopted by incels and can be any gender or race despite what said incels tell you. What makes a character an overly self-insert rather than just inspired by your background? How can you improve these characters if you find yourself falling into this trap? When is a character too much like you in EVERY way? Why did Matt David rip off a big American superhero movie this month rather than some Japanese Kamen Rider-esque thingy as per usual? We discuss it all, inserting ourselves seemingly into the podcast, and talk about our old fanfics, Turning Red (as a positive, don't worry) and Moonfall for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course. And you can check out the Discord for Matt David's podcast Nerds 'R' Us here: https://discord.gg/PtuCAmXnNn
In this episode, the two Matts have to deal with another episode of the rival podcast of The Writ Wit, realize their 14-year-old edgelord friend has his own edgelord friend that actually makes him look mature, do way more puns than usual even for us, and talk about all the other different types of "punk" stories not big enough for its own episode in the last of our three-episode of the various types of "punk" stories. What are all these genres defined as? What makes an element worth its own genre? What are some new genres like this we could come up with on the spot? How badly did this episode's skit take a toll on Matt Donald's throat? We discuss it all, in the very prolific genre of podcasting known as dumbpunk, and talk about Treasure Planet, The Flintstones, Timberborn, and a few Kamen Rider shows much to Matt David's delight.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course. And you can check out the Discord for Matt David's podcast Nerds 'R' Us here: https://discord.gg/PtuCAmXnNn
In this episode, the two Matts sell a new Cerebral Stimulation product that's even grosser than the other two, compare different types of smoking in terms of which one looks the coolest, gush over old and obscure real time strategy games, and talk about the steampunk and similar subgenres of stories in the next of our three-episode set of the various types of "punk" stories. What is steampunk defined as? What are similar genres with the same idea but different aesthetics? Can it be as cynical as cyberpunk? Will Matt David ever read a real steampunk story and not just watch the other Matt play some fun video games? We discuss it all, with our finest pipes and gear-covered jackets, and talk about the words of Cherie Priest, Jules Verne, The Hobbit, and Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course. And you can check out the Discord for Matt David's podcast Nerds 'R' Us here: https://discord.gg/PtuCAmXnNn
In this episode, the two Matts work on a new studio for recording episodes, acknowledge all the stereotypes of the characters in our pre-episode skits, finally release a Writ Wit episode early for the Patreon after slacking off for at least a few months by this point, and talk about the cyberpunk genre of stories in the first of our three-episode set of the various types of "punk" stories. What is cyberpunk defined as? How did it get its name? Are the narrative or visual themes more important in terms of defining the genre? How many seconds would Matt Donald last a cyberpunk comedian? We discuss it all, while donning our cybernetic body implants and neon-blue mohawks, and talk about Blade Runner, A Scanner Darkly, obviously the game Cyberpunk 2077, and Game of Thrones for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course. And you can check out the Discord for Matt David's podcast Nerds 'R' Us here: https://discord.gg/PtuCAmXnNn
In this episode, Matt Donald and Christina Eilert release the episode late again due to issues with recording schedules, talk about the colors of feathers versus fur, mention that we might have taken insurrectionists seriously if they had better hair, and talk about some wildcard entries in the last of our set on the 2021 Writ Wit Witties. What were some of the most "eh" works from 2021? Who had the best hair? Who had the worst hair? Are these really the last of the categories, ending the Witties this year with a whimper rather than a ...slightly louder whimper? We discuss it all, while having amazing hair ourselves that you'll have to trust us on in this audio format, and talk about Raya and the Last Dragon, Fast and Furious 9, Book of Boba Fett, and a 5-minute preview to Jurassic World: Dominion.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, Matt Donald and Christina Eilert barely escape from something unknown but presumably involved birds or something, wonder if the worms in Dune might be a visual metaphor for its fans, piss off every film snob in the world by crapping on Stanley Kubrick and Citizen Kane, and talk about works we saw this year but aren't from this year in the next of our set about the 2021 Writ Wit Witties. What are the works people need to really, seriously shut up about? What stuff did we enjoy that maybe other people haven't checked out? Who's canceled, and who makes it to the next rankings? And seriously, just how many film snobs did both of us piss off? Like, all of them? We discuss it all, slowly getting more used to the at-home studio stuff, and talk about Hercules, Star Wars, Promising Young Woman, and ModNation Racers for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, Matt Donald and Christina Eilert discuss how to use pet birds' feathers for quill pens, have really bad audio quality for one of the hosts for the first few minutes but it gets better we promise, piss off a bunch of film nerds with one film's inclusion, and talk about what works we did not enjoy this year in the next of our set about the 2021 Writ Wit Witties. What works came out this year that other people should really just shut up about? What were our least favorite creators? What was our least favorite work overall? Why does Matt Donald insist no one who saw a certain sci-fi movie could tell that their creatures look like certain body parts even though it should have been obvious? We discuss it all, still learning the kinks of the at-home studio, and talk about The Suicide Squad, Mitchells vs. The Machines, Dollface, and Dune. Yeah, I said it.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, one of the Matts returns from a holiday break, brings in longtime guest co-host Christina Eilert, forgoes an intro skit for now, and talks about what works he and Christina enjoyed this year in the first of our set about the 2021 Writ Wit Witties. What works came out this year that deserved more praise? What about ones that were hated too much and need a second chance? What about our favorite works of all time? What about Christina ripping off herself rather than something else for the What Will We Rip Off This Month segment? We discuss it all, welcoming a new year in this glorious pandemic with weak, sickly arms, and talk about All the Murders in the Building, Don't Look Up, a bunch of Marvel stuff as per usual, and the 5-minute Jurassic World: Dominion prologue.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts celebrate the new year in a way fitting for the last couple of years, quote one too many Mel Brooks movies, compare the science of big red dogs versus blown-up babies, and talk about writing monsters that are allegories of real concepts, events, and people in the last of our set about allegories. Why are monsters so versatile in regards to allegories? How can you keep them from being too on-the-nose? Why would you want this versus just having smashy-laser-breath monsters with no reason beyond it being cool? Will the listeners miss Matt David next set as he finally abandons the Witties for good? We discuss it all, while unleashing the monster that is this podcast to the world, and talk about Godzilla, King Kong, Pacific Rim, and Frankenstein.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts have a conversation with 14-year-old edgelord Stuart about book deals, laugh about books having their movie adaptation's posters for covers when the movie has nothing to do with the book, speculate about the etymology of the word "Na'Vi," and talk about writing factions or groups of people that are allegories of real peoples in the next of our set about allegories. What are the benefits of having your factions be an allegory for something more well-known? How can you keep it from being too on-the-nose? Why would you want to do this versus having unique factions? How embarrassed should Matt Donald be about a faction from an earlier version of one of his stories that's a bit too stereotypical? We discuss it all, while being a perfect metaphor for the podcasting youth by being podcasting thirtysomethings, and talk about Avatar, Star Wars, and Rick and Morty for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts release the episode early for once to both coincide with the holiday and begin the transition of releasing these episodes on Saturdays rather than Wednesdays, perform another writing-themed Christmas song parody no one but us likes but is tradition at this point, deal with all three De Papier brothers at once, and talk about writing plots and events that are allegories of real or legendary events in the next of our set about allegories. What are the benefits of having your plots be an allegory for something more well-known? How can you keep it from being too on-the-nose? Why would you want to do this versus having unique plots? Why does Matt David dislike allegories so much and prefer surface-level stuff if he's a freaking writer? We discuss it all, while enacting a perfect metaphor of German expressionism like the professional auteur writers we are, and talk about Zootopia, X-Men, and The Core for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts do another really short ad to save time before their gig at a comedy club, have far worse audio quality than usual due to complications at our usual studio, threaten other writing podcasts so that we can remain number 1, and talk about writing characters that are allegories of real or legendary figures in the first in our set about allegories. What are the benefits of having your character be an allegory for someone more well-known? How can you keep it from being too on-the-nose? Why would you want to do this versus have more unique characters? What is the punchline of Matt Donald's joke in that comedy club and why will it definitely not get him cancelled? We discuss it all, while being perfect Christ metaphors because we share our name with the first book of the New Testament, and talk about Superman, Robin Hood, The Bible, and Matt Donald's own Megazoic: The Primeval Power, an equally notable work as those other three for sure.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts do a clean sweep of all their spare skit ideas they hastily came up with in one episode, compare each other's handwriting and penmanship, have a plan to ensure they don't keep releasing episodes a week late like this one again, and talk about the character archetype of The Magician in the last of our set of the first batch of twelve character archetypes. What makes The Magician, well, The Magician? What's the difference between this and our previous archetype, The Sage? Do they always have to literally use magic? Will Matt David ever do a good joke with his little "ba-dum tss!" he likes to throw out occasionally, or even really a joke at all? We discuss it all, while enacting the wizardry that is modern podcasting, and talk about Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and Doctor Who.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the list of archetypes we were talking about can be found here: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-the-12-literary-archetypes#12-archetypal-characters-to-use-in-your-writing
In this episode, the two Matts finally unleash the American De Papier brother Lone Star onto the world, complain about leaving the other behind despite not doing anything to pursue, go way too far on NaNoWriMo word count once more, and talk about the character archetype of The Sage in the next of our set of the first batch of twelve character archetypes. What makes The Sage, well, The Sage? How can they give helpful advice while still being their own character? Are their certain stereotypes you should avoid? How many more national stereotypes are there for Matt Donald to use different De Papier brothers for? We discuss it all, while giving out wonderful sage-like advice on this show, and talk about The Chronicles of Narnia, Bedazzled, 9, and a gender-bent version of Cinderella for some reason. More like Genderella, am I right?!
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the list of archetypes we were talking about can be found here: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-the-12-literary-archetypes#12-archetypal-characters-to-use-in-your-writing
In this episode, the two Matts release the episode a week late again because why the hell not at this point, go on a tour at a factory where writers can get their ink in an... exotic manner, recognize the differences between one Matts' skit and the other's, and talk about the character archetype of The Lover in the next of our set of the first batch of twelve character archetypes. What makes The Lover, well, The Lover? How can they be more than the character or concepts they love? Do they necessarily have to be a love interest, or can they just be the heart of a team? Will Matt David successfully read out the name of our sponsor this week, or are we too grossed out by the product to do so? We discuss it all, while loving each other in a brotherly and platonic way, and talk about Wonder Woman, Pacific Rim, Star Wars, and Dragon Prince.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the list of archetypes we were talking about can be found here: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-the-12-literary-archetypes#12-archetypal-characters-to-use-in-your-writing
In this episode, the two Matts tune in to The Writ Wit's rival podcast hosted by two familiar voices who have always held us in contempt, discuss the importance of Oxford commas and other punctuational and grammatical elements, gasp in betrayal when one of us cleans the others' apartment without their consent, and talk about the character archetype of The Hero in the first of our set about the first batch of twelve character archetypes. What makes The Hero, well, The Hero? How can we keep these characters interesting and not so goody-two-shoes? Can these characters be the antagonists somehow? When will Matt Donald rehire Matt David after he betrayed his trust? We discuss it all, while being The Heroes in our own little podcasting worlds, and talk about Superman, Captain America, Luke Skywalker, and The Eternals.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the list of archetypes we were talking about can be found here: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-the-12-literary-archetypes#12-archetypal-characters-to-use-in-your-writing
In this episode, the two Matts release the episode a few days late to coincide the skit with Halloween (and yes, that's totally the reason), do another annual Halloween-themed skit but this time about a "story vampire," come up with funny nicknames for famous authors, and talk about writing stories without passion in the last of our set about terrible story ideas? When would writers have to write stories they're not interested in? How can you make it interesting for you? Is there a way to still make it good? How good is Matt David's Transylvanian accent and when will Hollywood call him? We discuss it all, while just about to go out for candy and creep out some kids, and talk about the works of Charles Dickens, George R.R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, and the movie Monsters University for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts record a skit that's literally nonsense rather than figuratively like all the other times, discuss the differences between Japanese driving tests versus American ones, end the episode with a terrible joke that neither of us wrote this time, and talk about writing under-researched stories in the next of our set about terrible story ideas. How can you make sure you do adequate enough research? Are there some instances where research doesn't matter as much? What are the kinds of writers that would fall victim to not doing enough research? How badly did Donald stumble when writing the ad for this week? We discuss it all, without any research on any topic whatsoever because we're professionals, and talk about Doctor Who, The Emperor's New Groove, and Banjo-Kazooie for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts have a skit that's out there even for this show, talk about the logistics of jigsaw puzzles and how their pieces align, relish in how nice it is for our friends from different social circles to be friends with each other as well, and talk about writing incompatible crossovers in the next of our set about terrible story ideas. What stories inherently don't work together? Can you make any two stories work with enough effort? Is it harder or easier to cross over three or more stories versus two? How impressed was Matt David with Matt Donald thinking of a slightly out-there crossover between Batman and a lesser known superhero? We discuss it all, with the very compatible crossover of us two twits, and talk about Kingdom Hearts, Cowboys and Aliens, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Batman like I said earlier.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a foil as in aluminum that makes foils as in contrasting characters, have some painful half-rhymes in the preceding skit, compare each other's experiences with the two different Avatars, and talk about the problems with writing in someone else's universe in the first of our set about terrible story ideas. How can you avoid taking someone's idea for inspiration when it's too close? What are some ways you can get more inspiration? Can you publish it eventually without being sued? Was Donald right about which episode he said he'd rip off of Sim Theme Park? (spoiler alert: he wasn't) We discuss it all, while keeping to our own universe of ideas like good writers, and talk about Power Rangers, Die Hard, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and James Cameron's Avatar.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. If you want to further support the show, subscribe to our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts don a pare of cool shades that make everything seem cooler and help build writing to MAXIMUM COOL, list a bunch of Z-grade supervillains, discuss going weekly versus monthly versus weekly episodes per sets with breaks, and talk about writing out your characters through their deaths in the last of our set about how to write your characters out from the story. How can a character have a fulfilling death? Must there always be a body? How often can you have them come back from the dead, if at all? Why in the world did Matt David bring up that orgy point when it had NOTHING to do with ANYTHING?! Seriously, why, David?! We discuss it all, while trying not to die in this pandemic world, and talk about Star Wars, Winter Soldier, Ratchet and Clank, and Dudley Do-Right for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts lament how uncreative movie executives are when another remake/rebootquel is announced, talk about long made-up words as well as long real words, relish in the success of one of the hosts finishing the first draft of their next big book, and talk about writing out your characters through retirement in the next of our set about how to write out your characters from the story. Why would a character who's fought for so long retire? What are the benefits and detriments to this way of writing out your characters? Can your characters return still after this without cheapening their earlier departure? Will Matt Donald's new book Teslanauts do just as GREAT cough as his Megazoic series? We discuss it all, while never planning to retire ourselves because the economy's ruined, and talk about Avengers Endgame, StarCraft 2, The Matrix, and Michael Jackson for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts tell a tale of two writers at vastly different scales, have a record number of swears in the introduction that get beeped out, come up with a new name for the famous coffee shop that shall not be named for legal reasons, and talk about writing out your characters by NOT completing their arcs in the next of our set about how to write out your characters from your story. Why in the world would a writer want to leave a character's arc unfinished? How much of an explanation do you need for a character's sudden absence? Are there instances with the writer just forgot about the character? Will Matt David ever learn to not shout "I TOLD YOU SO!" while holding up a bright neon sign saying that he told you so? We discuss it all, while hoping the arc of this podcast's existence doesn't go unfinished, and talk about Ice Age, A Goofy Movie, Friends, and Clan of the Cave Bear. What an odd collection of pop culture works this week...
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the music tracks at the beginning are Pumpkin Woods by Derek and Brandon Fiechter and Crawling by Karl Casey.
In this episode, the two Matts come back from a one week break in addition to the usual one week break between sets because we're dependable podcasters, sell a computer virus protection software that might be an allusion to something in the real world but it's too subtle to tell, lament about being an English major versus something more reliable like a business major, and talk about writing out your characters by completing their arcs in the first of our set about how to write out your characters from your story. What is the best way to ensure your characters' arc is completed? What's the difference between completing their arc versus just another day in the plot for them? How can you make it in a way that's satisfying? Why does Matt David constantly tell Matt Donald to slow down even though Matt Donald always speaks so carefully and with great intention? We discuss it all, while hoping to complete the arc of this podcast sometime before the heat death of the universe, and talk about Back to the Future, Frozen, and She's the Man for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts listen to the quarterly Captain Writ serial where this time he deals with a villain who steals writers' gumption, have a lengthy-ish physics talk about muons and moles, deal with pearl-clutching puritans in our fan mail segment, and talk about planning your inciting incident in the last of our set about pre-planning before your draft. What do you need in mind before planning your inciting incident? How long into the story can the incident take place? Can it happen far before your story begins as well? Do Matt Donald and Matt David ever reconcile when they realize they meant the inciting incident as two separate things in the story's plot? We discuss it all, while never acknowledging the inciting incident that led to this garbage podcast, and talk about Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Finding Dory and the songs of Fleetwood Mac for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts deal with Matt Donald's fierce and bizarre craving for a certain Middle Eastern food, don't quite meet our writing goals for our drafts but are really, really close, come up with a decisive answer for a classic riddle, and talk about planning your plot and genre in the next of our set about pre-planning before your draft? Which comes first, the plot or the genre? How do you know the vibe of your story before you write it? Is the plot tied directly to the genre, or can you have the same plot with wildly different genres? Why is Matt David obsessed with the breasts of birds, as opposed to the breasts of other, more worthy targets? We discuss it all, having already figured out the vibe and genre of this dumb show years ago, and talk about Edge of Tomorrow, Inception, Avatar, and Age of Mythology for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the music as the beginning is Sandstone Cliffs by Derek and Brandon Fiechter.
In this episode, the two Matts don't do an ad about a product that lets you recover lost ideas, look up facts on-air about classic authors and their works, deliberate about works in one comic book media universe versus another, and talk about planning your lead characters in the next of our set about pre-planning before your draft. What are some aspects to keep in mind? How much of yourself can you put into your character? How does planning your characters work for new writers versus experienced ones? We discuss it all, with two wonderful lead characters with actual Hollywood-worthy bods, and talk about Harry Potter, The Man Who Invented Christmas, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Arrowverse.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts begin the tradition of having a week break between segments for our sanity's sake, lament the passing of time as our years on this Earth grow longer, discuss who prescribes medication versus who gives it out, and talk about planning your concept and hook in the first of our set about pre-planning before your draft. How do you know whether you have a good idea? Is your concept better for a single installment or a huge series? How can you describe your hook? How will Matt Donald survive turning thirty freaking years old as he just did? We discuss it all, having previously planned the concept of this show years ago, and talk about Phantom of the Opera, Iron Harvest, The Secret Country, and Boy Meets World for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts make a robot look over all the previous skits and fake ads for the show and let it write a script for them, discuss dealing with your first negative review, really want to go get burgers after recording, and talk about keeping the continuity intact in the last of our set about the pitfalls of writing serial works. Who can you employ to help look over your work and ensure continuity remains intact? How can you write notes to keep track of everything? Are you able to adequately look over everything yourself? Does Matt David's metaphor about "continuity surgeons" work better or worse than his earlier one about narrative being like a checking account? We discuss it all, with perfect continuity in every shot of this audio format show, and talk about Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Prince of Persia for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts prepare to release their magnum opus that'll surely impress everyone, use a really good word in the skit that should have been a vocabulary vitamin of the month, nearly finish another one of their big story drafts, and talk about appropriately raising the stakes in the next of our set about the pitfalls of writing serial works. How can you realistically raise the stakes while not being too ridiculous? How much can you show early versus later? Do all the threats have to be related in a serial work? Is Matt Donald's idea about theater productions using actual apocalyptic threats to make the stakes real for the audience a genius idea, or the ramblings of a maniac? We discuss it all, while raising the stakes of what this podcast is really about all this time, and talk about Lord of the Rings, Dante's Inferno, Armageddon, and Space Jam for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts do a nice, friendly, totally painless bout of writer's yoga, get really excited about our metaphors, reflect on symbolism in works versus the author's intent, and talk about building up with no or little payoff in the next of our set about the pitfalls of writing serial works. How can you ensure the payoff to something you've been building up for a while is worth it? What can you do to keep the buildup interesting? Can you run into the inverse problem of not enough buildup for a big payoff? Is Matt Donald dumb for not fully understanding Matt David's metaphor about checking accounts, or is the metaphor just forced? We discuss it all, with zero buildup to the topic because we're professional podcasters, and talk about Infinity War, Harry Potter, Aquaman, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts come back after another unnecessary week-long break, do a really short ad that was meant to save time for edits but look how that turned out, compare our grades in school to how much of a frick we give, and talk about making sure serial works have in-the-moment fun in the first of our set about the pitfalls of writing serial works. Does every episode or chapter have to be plot-important? How can you have your characters grow even when the plot is set aside? Where can you add importance to an episode or chapter if it's not part of the overarching narrative? How obvious is it that Matt David came up with the premise of this set, just like the one about episodic works? We discuss it all, in an episode super-important to the narrative of the podcast so you can't miss it, and talk about Harry Potter, Harley Quinn, Merlin, and Rise of Nations for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts install an AI for their house that's incredibly overzealous and ruins everything as AIs do, compare themselves to giant fantasy books in terms of girth and children's picture books in terms of depth, talk about twists and when they work versus when they don't, and talk about writing characters with different mental diagnoses in the last of our set about inclusivity. How should writers treat these characters? Do these mental diagnoses define the characters, or can they expand beyond it? How can you handle revealing outright if characters have these diagnoses? Is Matt Donald justified in his dislike of Shane Black, or is he being overdramatic as usual? We discuss it all, with actual experience in the matter as a person on the autism spectrum or living with someone on the spectrum, and talk about Jurassic World, Big Bang Theory, The Predator, and a hilarious Donald Glover standup special for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, here's our links for guides on writing these characters:
- There’s a literal encyclopedia’s worth of information out there. To get you started though (wind up the car and let ‘er rip!), here’s a link: https://medlineplus.gov/mentaldisorders.html or from Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/symptoms-causes/syc-20374968
- To read about anxiety disorders from National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH.nih.gov):https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/
- Mood disorders, accessed at Mental Health America: https://www.mhanational.org/conditions/mood-disorders
- From the American Psychology Association, regarding personality disorders: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/personality-disorders
- Stress disorders and dealing with them, from WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-symptoms-effects_of-stress-on-the-body
- Neurodevelopmental disorders, from Dignity Health: https://www.dignityhealth.org/las-vegas/services/neurological-care/neurodevelopmental-disorders
- Somatic symptom disorders from the Cleveland Clinic: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17976-somatic-symptom-disorder-in-adults
- Neurocognitive disorders, this from MedlinePlus: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001401.htm [by the way, these typically come later in life than the developmental phase, including dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.]
- Finally, as a source for those dealing WITH said people: https://www.mhanational.org/recognizing-warning-signs
In this episode, the two Matts reflect on when natural storytellers tell stories about real life, make terrible jokes about reaching the climaxes of stories, compare the podcast to a three-act structure of death and dismay, and talk about writing characters with different physical diagnoses in the next of our set about inclusivity. How can writers treat these characters? Should they be written any differently than other characters? What are some different ailments that can happen to people that can affect the plot? Will Matt David find a way to reference a different tokusatsu show in regards to EVERY topic this show covers? We discuss it all, with definitive experience in the matter as abled men, and talk about The Lost Years of Merlin, Godzilla vs Kong, Avatar, and Greenland. The movie, not the country. Although I'm sure the country's nice.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Thank you, Welp Magazine, for adding The Writ Wit as one of your top podcasts about creative writing to listen to in 2021! You can find the link here: https://WelpMagazine.com/?p=17625 Also, here's our links for guides on writing these characters:
- [note taking re: disabilities of the body - spinal cord injury -> paraplegia (loss below chest)/quadriplegia (neck down) [a.k.a. paralysis], acquired brain injury (concussions, etc.) -> impaired thought/learning or physical/sensations, spina bifida (incomplete formation of spine in utero comes with raft of other issues), cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy (most likely caused by something brain-related), multiple sclerosis (MS), muscular dystrophy, Tourette’s, dwarfism, presumably more also]
- For those with failing vision: https://visionaware.org/emotional-support/for-family-and-friends/
- For those with bad hearing: https://www.hearinglink.org/living/partners-children-family-hearing-people/common-reactions-to-hearing-loss/ or more linked in the description [ https://www.hiddenhearing.org/hearing-loss/living-with-hearing-loss/knowing-someone-with-hearing-loss
https://bloomhearing.com/hearing-tips/18-ways-to-help-loved-one-hearing-loss/ - If your head’s the only thing that moves: https://www.flintrehab.com/caring-for-a-quadriplegic-at-home/ [or https://www.spinalcord.com/blog/supportive-after-a-loved-ones-paralysis ]
- There are sites with basic information about how these affect your [character’s] life and the family that now has to support them, like cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, and the like! Go Google them, kids!
In this episode, the two Matts work on writing under extreme pressure (and I'm talking extreme), learn new ways to fall victim to door-to-door salesmen's tactics. talk about food for an excessive period of time, and talk about writing characters of different ethnic or religious labels in the next of our set about inclusivity? How can one avoid tokenism? What can you do to learn about people's cultures and backgrounds? How can you work it into stories from in the past or present? How will people react to Matt Donald's attempts at inclusivity in his upcoming book that he will have undoubtedly messed up? We discuss it all, with absolute experience in the matter as straight white men, and talk about The Help, Hidden Figures, and The Road to El Dorado.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the music at the beginning is the Jaws main theme by John Williams, but like I needed to tell you that. Also, here's our links for guides on writing these characters:
- The North American Mission Board has a chart for the different philosophies between Christianity and Islam for instance (linked in the description: https://www.namb.net/apologetics/resource/comparison-chart-islam-and-christianity/ ). In this way, you can work from the religion you’re familiar with to grasp more of what the other one does to celebrate their faith.
- This will stand in for several others of the same ilk, but on the compare/contrast for Hinduism and Buddhism, look here! https://medium.com/interfaith-now/hinduism-and-buddhism-similarities-and-differences-in-belief-and-practice-324f7057a247
- Ethnic groups probably have some op-eds all over the place particularly nowadays, so get the right idea in mind and go to town on a search engine!
In this episode, the two Matts sell a device that auto-generates giant door-stopping encyclopedias about your fantasy worlds no matter how scant the details, learn a new grammar term and define it sort of for the listeners, mercilessly mock each other for the works we're going to rip off this month, and talk about writing characters of different genders and sexualities in the first of our set about inclusivity. What are some ways we can include these people in non-token ways? How can we portray them accurately and positively? What are some good examples of these characters done right? What will happen to Matt David's reputation after that terrible joke about burning the witch? We discuss it all, with incredible experience in the matter as straight white men, and talk about Glee, John Wick, Star Wars, and Captain Marvel.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, here's our links for guides on writing these characters:
- For being an ally of these people (inevitably there’s some support system in place for your LGBTQ+ character!): PFLAG.org/allies has plenty, along with the Human Rights Campaign (main site is hrc.org). An article for younger listeners: https://engage.youth.gov/resources/being-ally-lgbt-people
- Finding resources that your characters may have access to informing them about coming out: https://www.glsen.org/activity/coming-out-resource-lgbtq-students or visit The Trevor Project’s page and go to Support Center (it’s under “Resources” on the top bar), where you can download a guide
- There are several advocacy groups for the queer community, like PFLAG, GLAAD, and more. Regarding gender identity struggles, the HRC also has resources for this on their web page.
In this episode, the two Matts retell the origin story of the conceptualization of the Writ Wit podcast, chuckle at the MPAA rating description for a certain live-action remake, read out a listener's passage where they actually used one of our Vocabulary Vitamins of the Month, and talk about writing for adults in the last of our set about different age demographics. What are the benefits to having nothing be off limits? How much potential is there? Is there anything younger audiences tolerate more than older ones? When will Matt Donald get over his obsession over a specific kids-oriented juice product? We discuss it all, while broke and starving like most adults are in this economy, and talk about the works of Clive Cussler, Dean Koontz, the book Anonymous Rex, and another Tokusatsu show. A dinosaur and a Tokusatsu work? With these hosts? Say it isn't so!
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this week, the two Matts release the episode a week late for no discernible reason, sell a writing tip handbook alongside something helpful in, uhh, other ways, talk about character growth versus audience expectations, and talk about writing for young adults in the next of our set about different age demographics. How can writers connect to teenagers with developing minds? What's the difference writing this versus adult or middle grade? When are certain things too much for this audience? How long will Matt David rank sports players instead of doing something actually creative? We discuss it all, with swears and dirty jokes up the wazoo because teenagers think that's cool, and talk about Eragon, Twilight (begrudgingly) and all of Matthew Donald's books so far because he loves writing this genre. Buy them on Amazon.com! ding!
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the music at the beginning is "Ain't No Sunshine (When She's Gone)" by Soft Jazz.
In this episode, the two Matts go on a flashback to the first writters of the Paleolithic era, mispronounce the Vocabulary Vitamin of the Month, go into long tangents about intellectual property ownership, and talk about writing for middle grade in the next of our set about different age demographics. What can you get away with when writing for this slightly older audience? What is the difference between this and young adult? When is the right time to bring up certain issues? When will Matt Donald implement the title and cover changes for his Megazoic books? We discuss it all, with backwards hats and loose-fitting pants because that's totally how middle grade kids nowadays dress, and talk about Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dinoverse, and Thomas the Tank Engine for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a fancy voice recorder to help writers remember their ideas wherever they are, realize that what other people like or don't like should have no bearing on what we like, compare riding dragons and horses to riding motorcycles, and talk about writing for kids in the first of our set about different age demographics. What kinds of books keep kids' interest best? How short or how long can the books be? What topics can you get away with versus what should you avoid? When will Matt David write his children's book about daddy sea horses and how they give birth instead of the females? We discuss it all, with no kids present because we're not creeps, and talk about Where the Wild Things Are, Zootopia, the Bionicle chapter books, and And Tango Makes Three.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a narrative excitement espresso to get one of us out of our doldrums, ramble about our future stories to those who probably don't care, talk about the impossibility of stereotyping the name Matt, and bring in Los Angeles Times bestselling author, magician, and composer extraordinaire Dr. Matt Cook to talk about the gist of good storytelling. What does Dr. Cook think makes a compelling protagonist? How do themes work in the process of writing? Are tropes and storytelling devices important or not when coming up with a narrative? Will the universe implode with three Matts all in one podcast episode? We discuss it all, with the utmost professionalism and proper etiquette for our distinguished guest, and talk about Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Matt Cook's books Sleight of Mind, Good Little Marauder, Sabotage, and so on.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Dr. Matt Cook for his time in this episode. Find out more about him at http://visitmatt.com/
In this episode, the two Matts record their other podcasts after switching bodies, tease something special to come next episode, berate endangered animals for not trying harder in their own conservation efforts, and talk about urban fantasy stories in the last of our set about slightly fantasy stories. What are the benefits of writing urban fantasy compared to other subgenres? How close to the real world can it be despite all these fantasy elements? When does a magic realism story become an urban fantasy one? How dare Matt Donald reveal that the De Papier brothers are not real and are just silly voices? We discuss it all, in the fantastical urban realm that is our recording studio, and talk about Harry Potter, Supernatural, Twilight, and a more fantastical version of Groundhog Day where the town is cursed and Phil Connors is replaced with Phil Collins.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a product that's bar none the grossest thing we've ever sold, have new best friends on standby if the other doesn't do what they want, imitate broken pianos because we're one note, and talk about surrealism in the next of our set about slightly fantasy stories. What constitutes as surrealism exactly? How abstract should the definition be? How can you get into the kind of headspace to write surrealism without resorting to things your body shouldn't? What kind of messed up dreams did the two Matts have that they so readily share on the podcast? We discuss it all, while wearing spiral shirts and 3-D glasses because that's surreal man, and talk about 300, Inception, Alice in Wonderland, and our two weird dreams, one of which is way weirder than the other.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts gaze upon the Best Dang Story Ever(TM), wonder if rotten tomatoes could still make a good salsa, proudly proclaim our crimes while running from the government, and talk about magic realism stories in the first of our set about slightly fantasy stories. What are the benefits in writing magic realism versus other subgenres? How real can it be? How many fantasy elements can you introduce before it stops being magic realism and becomes full-on urban fantasy? What crazy coasters will Matt Donald ride next time he goes to a theme park once everything's safe again? We discuss it all, with a hint of magic in our very real voices, and talk about A Hundred Years of Solitude, Groundhog Day, Bruce Almighty, and Brave New World (the latter is not magic realism, but it's a classic book we talk about so it makes it sound legit)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the music at the beginning is "The Miracle of the Ark" By John Williams from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Obviously.
In this episode, the two Matts listen to another excerpt from the quarterly serial about Captain Writ, make an intro joke that works as a double for another one of our shows, talk about a villainous political figure that in no way will make any of our listeners upset, and talk about how to get your readers to root for the villains in the last of our set about motivating readers. What do you have to do to get your readers to root for the villains? Why would you want to do this? Do these villains have to be antagonists, or can they be protagonists? Did Matt David have a happy birthday, as this episode releases on his birthday? We discuss it all, with such devilishly charming voices that listeners can forgive our evil ways, and talk about Joker, Cabin in the Woods, and The Emperor's New Groove (yes, really)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a product that's as handy as a crab with tweezers, realize they've been friends for twenty years this year, don't see references to old school literature and instead compare it to sillier modern things, and talk about how to get your readers to root against the heroes in the next of our set about motivating readers. Why would you want your readers to root against heroic characters? How can this help the narrative get more complex? How do you do this if the heroes are protagonists or antagonists? Will Matt Donald ever get the fame and fortune he wanted to be a writer for? We discuss it all, while hosting this terrible podcast and thus making people root against us, and talk about Noah, Captain America: Civil War, and Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time. One of those works is slightly more high-brow than the others. (Hint: it's not the one with the Lombax)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts show off their Master Writting Computer that inevitably doesn't work, confuse the actions of rodents versus others acting off of said rodents, marvel the use of language in old cartoons, and talk about how to get your readers to root against the villains in the next of our set about motivating readers. What are some evil things you can make your villains do to achieve this? What are some ways to still make them kind of entertaining still? How can you balance that entertainment while still making them worthy of rooting against? Will Matt David put any of his own money into the production of this show other than for gas for driving to the studio? We discuss it all, with stinky armpits and long nose hairs that'll repulse people and make sure they root against us, and talk about The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the Berenstain Bears for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a pesticide that wards off cliches, nearly cause a device detecting cliches to blow, claim superiority over one another as co-hosts in different ways, and talk about how to get your readers to root for the heroes in the first of our set about motivating readers. What are some classic ways to let your readers know your hero's a good guy? What are ways that aren't so cliched? Is there any room to break new ground in this regard? Will Matt Donald ever forgive himself for forgetting to write a joke he's come up with so far for every episode? We discuss it all, with such dashing smiles and charming personalities it's impossible not to root for us, and talk about Star Wars, Aladdin, Captain America, and Huckleberry Finn.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts only have three minutes left to defuse the contrived plot device bomb before it blows up the narrative facility, take shots at classic writers that were so influential that they directly started modern English, lament the decline of the mid-budget rom-com, and finish hosting the luxurious sorta-annual awards show The Witties by covering works we hope to see in 2021 should everything go according to the schedule (which it won't). What works initially from 2020 were we most disappointed got delayed to 2021? What works are we looking forward to the most? Which works are we dreading the most? How will this wondrous awards show be the same if Matt David refuses to return for them in the future? We discuss it all, with shiny new suits and ties in hopes of a better tomorrow, and talk about Black Widow, Godzilla vs. Kong, Cruella, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a creative muscle massage chair in an ad that gets real kinky real quick, brag about how one of our other shows actually ranked in the podcast charts for its category, offend each other by comparing our writing to something more scatological in nature, and continue hosting the glamorous sorta-annual awards show The Witties by covering creative works we saw not from 2020 due this pandemic keeping most stuff from coming out and being trapped in our homes with nothing to do but watch old stuff. What works from years past did we like the most? Which ones did we not like? What works should others have really watched by now that they haven't? How many people will we offend in our next shallow physical-body award we keep changing every year? We discuss it all, with old, barely fitting suits we scrounged up from events past, and talk about Community, Zyuranger and Power Rangers, Inception, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the music at the beginning is "Ain't No Sunshine (When She's Gone)" by Soft Jazz.
In this episode, the two Matts partake in a fiercely competitive auction of story elements, have two seamless segues that you barely notice due to how seamless they are, continue the high seas piracy joke that's very funny and no one can tell us otherwise, and continue hosting the prestigious sorta-annual awards show The Witties by covering creative works we did not like from 2020. What works were the ones we liked the least? What were the most overrated? What creators are bad and should feel bad? How can anything bad media content-wise that's come out this year be bad compared to this year in general? We discuss it all, with fine suits and champagne for an extra dose of irony, and talk about Tiger King, Tenet, the Disney live-action Mulan, and Cyberpunk 2077.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts return after a brief holiday break, sell a writing-themed product that's even grosser than usual, reflect on how much money this show makes us, and begin hosting the esteemed mostly-annual awards show The Witties by covering the stuff we liked from 2020. What were our favorite works from this historic year? What works needed more love? What works got too much hate? What books should we have read rather than watching more superhero movies? We discuss it all, with ripped suits and slashed apparel as a metaphor for the last year, and talk about Soul, The Last of Us Part 2, Extraction, and Wonder Woman 1984.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts celebrate finally reaching the end of the absolute cluster-poo of butt-heck that was 2020, mention fan-mail that one of us got for real about our books, rag on our favorite non-ending author punching bag a bit longer, and talk about concrete endings in the last of our set about resolutions. How can you relay to your audience that this is really, truly the end? How happy or sad do they have to be, if they have to be anything? Does everything about every character need to be absolutely resolved? Did Matt Donald and Matt David time this right to be the last episode of the year on purpose, or was it a dumb accident? (hint: it was a dumb accident) We discuss it all, sticking a fork in this year and set and calling it done, and talk about The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and Captain Underpants for some reason.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sing yet another Christmas song parody in our "proud" annual tradition, realize they're further along in what we have writ than we initially had in our notes, mention a new potential podcast for one of our co-hosts, and talk about cliffhanger endings in the next of our set about resolutions. What are the best ways to make this type of ending feel earned? How can you make stories satisfying when they're by definition unfinished? Can you resolve any of the conflict offscreen between installments? Will Matt David actually be able to write a certain thousand number of words each month in 2021 to make up for not doing NaNoWriMo this year? We discuss it all, while leaving the set unfinished in a classic cliffhanger scenario, and talk about Star Wars, Avengers, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the works of George R. R. Martin.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts listen to the hottest daytime soap opera about writers, gush over certain children's juice drinks, congratulate an actor for his recent personal announcement, and talk about ambiguous endings in the next of our set about resolutions. What's the benefit of leaving something deliberately ambiguous or unresolved? What kind of stories would this work best? How much should you leave off the table versus how much you explain? Why does Matt Donald have such a seething unreasonable hatred for these types of endings? We discuss it all, while remaining ambiguous as to why we bother continuing this stupid podcast, and talk about The Fountain, Inception, Cast Away, and The Birds.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts return after a brief hiatus due to increased COVID-19 restrictions in our area, sell plotline seeds that grow into branching plotline plants, release another fairly short episode because recording a bunch together is a lot of work, and talk about endings that are only mostly resolved in the first of our set about resolutions. How can you leave enough stuff dangling for a sequel without comprising the completion of the narrative? Do all endings like this need sequels? How big can these hooks for later installments be? How big of a shock is it that Matt David was the one that did the forced segue joke rather than Matt Donald? We discuss it all, resolving this topic but keeping it open for later installments in the set, and talk about Earth's Children, Watership Down, The Road to El Dorado, and The Avengers.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this second not-an-episode, Matt David releases a statement about how we're unable to record new content for a few weeks, tells listeners to stay safe and keep listening to our show, has a couple of Captain Kirk-style pauses, and explains the details of what happened and why we have to have this break. Why can't we record at the studio? What are the technical difficulties that plagued us this time when trying to record from home? Will this break be as long as the one earlier this year? (Probably not, but you never know with 2020) How can there be a second not-an-episode like it's an actual episode episode? We discuss it all, or at least Matt David does in his precious Matt David way, and talk about The Writ Wit, the pandemic, lockdowns, and washing hands.
Have any feedback or questions, like why I'm doing a normal-length description again for this second not-an-episode? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. And you can buy Matt Donald's books on Amazon I guess, but the links are in the other episodes, and I'm feeling lazy this week.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a variety of spices designed to enhance stories that seem plain in comparison, discuss the character alignment of certain fonts, go on tangents about nineties sitcoms, and talk about balancing long-term consequences with episodic fun in the last of our set about the pitfalls of writing episodic works. What are the ways to balance the drama of long-form storytelling with the humor of episodic stories? How can you manage these two different paces of narrative flow? What are some examples of this balance being done well? How hot of a take is Matt Donald's theory about why George R. R. Martin hasn't released the final installment of his book series? We discuss it all, while balancing the fun of our episodes with the equal fun of lore-building skits, and talk about Black Panther, Friends, Game of Thrones, and Bionicle.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts accidentally beam a signal to an alien planet's transmission spires, discuss the recent US election, finally disqualify a type of work as NOT "writting," and talk about making changes to a show's episodic formula in the next of our set about the pitfalls of writing episodic works. What are some ways you can change the status quo? How can certain changes come across as forced or unnatural? How do you avoid making contrivances that make the story unfulfilling? How many vehicles or other forms of locomotion will Matt David use as metaphors for writing? We discuss it all, while remaining exactly the same drivel we've been for the last hundred episodes, and talk about Marvel movies, Power Rangers, and Matt Donald's next new book Teslanauts, coming soon to Amazon.com! ding!
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts promote the Character Assassination Squad to help writers kill off characters they really don't want to kill themselves, do the forced segue joke even earlier than usual, use the term "goosing" sales despite one of us never hearing of that term before, and talk about episodic vs. long-form storytelling in the next of our set of the pitfalls of writing episodic works. When should certain stories be one-offs versus building up a larger story? How should writers bend the formula they've made for each episode? What are the dangers of writing long-form storytelling for a longer and longer period of time? When will Matt Donald finally be able to do multiple forced segues in one episode? We discuss it all, in this long-form story that is our podcast, and talk about Phineas and Ferb, Marvel movies and comics, Bionicle, and Power Rangers.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts tell the tale of Dr. Writtenstein after forgetting to do a Halloween-themed skit last year, mourn the loss of the greatest Halloween ever that we can't celebrate properly because of COVID-19, reveal one of themselves as a desperate tryhard, and talk about retreading the same ground in the first of our set about the pitfalls of writing episodic works. What are the problems with having to keep to the status quo? How often do characters need to learn their lesson? Does it matter the type of story or demographic? How hard was Matt David hamming it up in this episode's intro skit? We discuss it all, while retreading the same ground as a podcast like we've done for 104 episodes, and talk about Power Rangers, Spongebob Squarepants, Borderlands, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts bow to the glory of an edgelord teenager's writing, fight over who does the awkward segues, accidentally turn the volume up a bit too high, and talk about writing populations affected by whatever large event happens in your story in the last of our set about incredibly minor characters. What are ways to effectively show what an incredibly large group of nameless characters are going through? How can you work with such a large population that it might as well be a statistic? What are the ways to condense it into smaller pieces to simplify it for your readers? Who will tell Matt Donald that he's using the word "compartmentalize" slightly incorrectly? We discuss it all, while afflicting a vast population of podcast listeners with our nonsense, and talk about Infinity War, Mulan, and Cats and Dogs for some reason.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the muffled song in the background of the skit is the main theme of Shadow the Hedgehog "I Am All of Me" by Crush 40. Because what else would it be?
In this episode, the two Matts sell a special device that zaps the procrastination out of you to an unhealthy degree, relay all the back-breaking work it took to write, edit, and arrange the 100th episode skit, relish in the prospect of a seven-year season for a TV show, and talk about armies and mobs as characters in the next of our set about incredibly minor characters. What are the ways armies can be more than featureless blobs for the heroes to churn through like butter? What are the different personalities you can give a nebulous mass? How can the writer show the traits of so many characters without bogging down the narrative? How many years/decades will it take Matt David to write Star Burst Season 2 with his co-writer? We discuss it all, with a real mob of listeners every week I assure you, and talk about Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Mulan, and Jurassic World.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts tune into a special clipshow/recollection of the various adventures of Captain Writ, examine the prospect of being an inch high, don't check the time and therefore record the shortest episode of the show by far, and talk about characters' offscreen social circles as we return to our set of incredibly minor characters. What can these unseen circles bring to a character's development? How are they important to the story? How can you show these circles' effects on the main characters rather than tell? When will Matt Donald get his revenge for all the bullying he endured as a kid? We discuss it all, with the heavy burden of our own offscreen social circles on our minds the whole time, and talk about Star Wars, Phineas and Ferb, the One Inch Boy, and Chuck Norris for some reason.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts take on the evil Professor Von Bildungsroman, unite writing heroes from our earlier skits, bring back all our previous guest co-hosts (and all that in just the opening skit!) and talk about how this blasted podcast has somehow reached one hundred episodes. What are some of our favorite episodes we've done? What are some of our favorite running jokes? What do we want to accomplish in the future? What madness will Matt Donald have to edit if we ever get to our two-hundredth episode? We discuss all, while breaking out the champagne and thanking all our listeners for their support, and talk about The Writ Wit episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4, episode... Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course. Special thanks to Allen Brooks, Sydney Chapin, Jake Chapman, Christina Eilert, Christina Franklin, Laura Owsley, and Lexi Ryan for helping with this episode. Music used for the intro skit is Dangerous Roads by Argsound, BrutForce by Argsound, Survival Race by Argsound, Crawling by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio, Triumph by MUSIC4VIDEO, Triumph of Light by Max Tune, and Archangel by Two Steps from Hell
In this episode, the two Matts have finally reunited once again, celebrate Matt David's return from Japan, bask in the glory of their new and fancy recording studio, and talk about one-off characters in the first of our set about really minor characters. What makes a character impactful in such a short amount of time? How much can they contribute? Do they always have to be plot-relevant? Has Matt David watched anything non-tokusatsu for his "What Will We Rip Off From This Month?" segment? We discuss it all, with two hosts that aren't one-off at all since they've been in almost every episode (or flat-out every episode in Matt Donald's case) and talk about Clive Cussler, Asura's Wrath, Big Bang Theory, and Dinotopia.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, Matt David is gone for one more week so Matt Donald and Christina Eilert can finish our weird grab-bag set about nothing, in this instance talking about fallacies and how one could use them in writing. What are ways to use fallacies that make other characters seem unsympathetic? How about ways that give other characters self-reflection? What about ways to avoid them altogether? Why does Christina not like different food items smushed together when all of cooking is just different food items smushed together? We discuss it all, as no true podcast would ever not discuss their topic, and talk about Zootopia, Cast Away, political stuff, and a brief self-indulgent tangent about one of the Megazoic books.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Eilert for helping out with this episode.
In this episode, Matt David is still not present and is dealing with international relocation shenanigans, so Matt Donald brings in recurring guest co-host Christina Eilert for the third week in a row, and this time we're talking about our favorite tropes in fiction and narrative storytelling. What is a trope specifically? What are different ways a trope can change a narrative? What makes certain tropes satisfying? What kind of funky magazines does Christina write at? We discuss it all, while barely going into all the various tropes we COULD go into (that would be a multi-day episode) and talk about Spider-Man, Shrek, Corpse Bride, and Hercules.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Eilert for helping out with this episode.
In this episode, Matt David is still dealing with moving shenanigans from a foreign country in the middle of a global pandemic, so Matt Donald brings back recurring guest co-host Christina Eilert and her obnoxious pets at the place she's house-sitting at, and we talk about all the different creative works we've consumed and will somehow rip off for our writing during quarantine. What are the movies and TV shows we've watched? What about games we've played? What about books we've read, if any? (Of course not; what do you think we are, professionals?!) We discuss it all, while social distancing during quarantine by staying more than six feet away from each other making our voices really echo-y, and talk about Community, Shaun the Sheep, Metal Gear Solid, and Spider-Man PS4.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Eilert for helping out with this episode.
In this episode, one of the Matts (Matt David, who else would it be?) is taking a break due to preparing to move back from overseas, so Matt Donald wrangles in frequent guest co-host Christina Eilert. We deal with an overly excited dog, edit out a lot more noise and commotion than usual, bring up details about teenagers that some people would rather not know, and talk about the what writers wear while writing in our most alliterative episode title ever. What types of "uniforms" help writers get in the mood? What types of writing work best with what types of outfits? What are some examples of famous creators' outfits? How terrible was the stuff with the dog Matt Donald edited out considering the stuff that was left IN? We discuss it all, wearing our finest workplace pajamas while recording, and talk about Christopher Nolan (yay), Taika Watiti (yay), J.K. Rowling (boo), and Drew Barrymore's character in Music and Lyrics for some reason.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Eilert for helping out with this episode.
In this episode, the two Matts do a skit about Haikus that goes from goofy to creepy surprisingly quickly, remember the old classes we took in high school English, compare the conclusions of two big Disney-owned properties that are the exact opposites in quality, and talk about satisfying readers at the ending of stories in the last of our set about keeping readers' interest. What kinds of endings work best for certain kinds of stories? Does everything have to be completely resolved? Does the ending have to be satisfying for the story as a whole to be satisfying? When will Matt David stop talking about The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and treating it like it's a movie ever worth discussing ever? We discuss it all, putting a cherry on top like the writing culinary professionals we are, and talk about The Chronicles of Narnia, Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and BIONICLE.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the music at the beginning is "Valley of the Springs" by Derek and Brandon Fietcher.
In this episode, the two Matts showcase a clip from the highest-rated writing sitcom on television, switch the normal positions of whose written the most out of the two of us, keep forcing a metaphor about roller coasters or some junk, and talk about keeping readers' interest in the climax of a story. What are some ways you could potentially lose your reader during such a pivotal moment in your narrative? What are some things the characters can do to keep them active? What about stories with or without big battles? What kind of liver does Matt Donald have that makes him tipsy after just a few sips of hard lemonade? We discuss it all, reaching the peak of perfection in such a climactic moment, and talk about The Lord of the Rings, Stephen King's It, The Andromeda Strain, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 for some reason.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a special, highly unstable formula that will turn people into writing MONSTERS, talk about the value of excerpts, mention how little we actually edit out of these podcast episodes, and talk about keeping readers hooked throughout the middle of the book now that you've kept them after the first five pages. What are ways to keep reader's interest? What can draw people away? How quick does the pacing need to be? What did Matt David mean by that joke of "half-asking" something? We discuss it all, keeping listeners' interest with our endearing and cringey senses of humor, and talk about Harry Potter, Titanic, Hadestown, and those annoying but effective "will they or won't they" moments in television shows.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts play an exciting match of Writer's Chess, try to one-up each other on segues, call out a certain director for trying to release their movie during a pandemic, and talk about hooking readers in the first five pages in the first of our set about keeping readers' interest throughout a book. What are things that turn off readers right away? What can you do to intrigue them? What are some good examples of books with great openings? Why is Matt Donald so bad at holding his liquor? We discuss it all, with such captivating voices we pique listeners' interests right away, and talk about the works of Clive Cussler, Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, and Christopher Nolan.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts threaten to do an intro that'll ruin the intro skits/fake ads forever, go four-for-four on seamless segues into the topic, let one of the co-hosts dabble on way too much and practically take over the episode, and talk about drama in a contemporary setting in the last of our set on stories in the real, contemporary world. What kind of real world drama can work great for a story? How much can you pull from your own life experiences? Are there any topics you should avoid, or should you brave the fires? How much does Matt David talk compared to Matt Donald who is clearly tired during recording and lets Matt David do all the work? We discuss it all, with all the high-stakes drama expected of this show, and talk about Remember Me for some reason. Remember Remember Me? No one remembers Remember Me.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a retreat themed around the Bechdel test and making sure your story passes it, remember writing school papers longer than the short stories they were about, think of a modern day Robin Hood armed with creative accounting instead of a bow and arrow, and talk about crime fiction in a contemporary setting. What kind of crimes could characters commit? Where should the readers' sympathy lie? How morally gray can you make your police or criminals? How long will Matt Donald go between the segments of his favorite Heroes quote "You both....have power!" to torment his fellow co-host? We discuss it all, over a completely legal server to not arouse any suspicion, and talk about Gotham, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Watchmen, and the aforementioned Robin Hood, the O.G. crime fiction!
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts take part in a WW2-style battlefield to fight the Trendy Young Adult Genre Command, go on many a tangent despite us trying expressly to do less of them, mention reactions to internet memes that make us laugh our butts off, and talk about contemporary romance stories in the next of our set about stories set in the modern-day, non-sci-fi-or-fantasy world. What makes a good contemporary romance compared to in more fantastical settings? How can you keep it current to modern day trends? What about romances beyond the straight ones, like gay, bi, or polyamorous? Why does Matt David mention Harry Potter as his favorite contemporary romance even though that's clearly in a magical, non-contemporary world? We discuss it all, with hearts in our eyeballs and love in our souls, and talk about Music and Lyrics, You've Got Mail, Matt David's story Shattered Creek, and VeggieTales for some reason.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a high-tech device that manipulates space-time beyond anything a writer should be allowed to handle, deal with one of our co-hosts' tipsy state, woe about technical difficulties with one of our video game consoles, and talk about comedy in a contemporary setting in the first of our set about stories said in the modern, real-life, non-magical-or-sci-fi world. What makes stories "contemporary" anyway? What works in contemporary comedy? How can one avoid making the comedy seem dated? How cute is Matt David's bearded baby face? We discuss it all, with the sharpest wit expected for a show with "wit" in the title, and talk about Friends, Modern Family, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Heroes for some reason.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts once again listen to an old-timey radio to follow the adventures of Captain Writ, officially run out of ideas for episode intro statements, look up the names of German longswords, and talk about character physical appearances in the last of our set about character features. What are the most important features for a character? What do certain features like clothes or physical traits tell readers about your character? How often do you have to remind your readers about these features? How fired up does Matt Donald get during his rant about a certain physical feature that he thinks isn't nearly as important as some people insist? We discuss it all, sporting the best physical features a podcaster could ask for, and talk about Harry Potter, Final Fantasy, Overwatch, and Mortal Kombat. A lot of video games this week, I guess.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts open with a statement about the protests and how black lives matter, talk about having dreams from when you're a kid and sticking to them, wonder about how old certain comic characters are, and talk about character backstories in the next of our set about character features. What kind of backstories work best? How much of a backstory should you reveal? How much of the backstory should you plan? How mad was Matt David at Matt Donald for one-upping his statement about childhood dreams? We discuss it all, giving our support to our friends protesting injustice, and talk about Joker, Solo, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Megazoic: The Primeval Power (buy on Amazon.com!)
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts do a crossover event with Matt Donald's other podcast Paleo Bites, stumble with our words because we're tired but actually because we're dumb, add in a new sound effect that represents our Patreon, and talk about character personalities and quirks in the second of our set of character features. What constitutes a character quirk? How many boxes should you tick when coming up with character traits? What are some quirks you should avoid? How did Matt Donald manage to do a perfect G note off the cuff despite being a terrible singer and not musically trained in the slightest? We discuss it all, with all our own quirks on full display, and talk about Big Bang Theory, Gods of Egypt, and Magic School Bus.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts air a very serious update in the world of writting news, discuss the dissonance in our moods versus the weather while recording, celebrate the soon-to-be new unclehood of one of our co-hosts, and talk about naming characters in the first of our set on various character features. What are the things to keep in mind when naming characters? How does a name's meaning work with coming up with a character? What about names that are of completely fantastical origin? How many relatives of exotic lands does Matt David have in his mutt blood? We discuss it all, with the benefit of sharing our first names to keep things simple, and talk about Harry Potter, Spider-Man, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and BIONICLE.
Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content here. If you have any feedback or questions for our hosts, you can email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also, you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a writing robot that quickly and predictably goes rogue, list their favorite and least favorite historical explorers, point out all the times fans forgive an evil character because they're good-looking, and talk about third-person omniscient writing in the last of our set about point-of-view. What constitutes third-person omniscient compared to other types of POV? What are some of the benefits of writing this way? What are some of the things writers should avoid? What lengths will Matt Donald go to profess his love of third-person omniscient writing? We discuss it all, with the most proper etiquette and poise, and talk about Star Wars, Spirited Away, the works of Christopher Nolan, and Clash of the Titans.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts discuss the woes of social distancing for such obvious extraverts and social butterflies like writers, mention a key difference between golfers and skydivers, mention big fancy studios we now have access to that we can't use thanks to this danged virus, and talk about third-person limited perspective and how to write it. What defines third-person limited versus the other third-person perspective? How does it help the narrative? What limitations does it have (I mean, it is third-person LIMITED, after all)? When will Matt David have more than violin practice to mention for his part of "What We at the Writ Wit Have Writ?" We discuss it all, hoping to turn people's frowns upside-down, and talk about Harry Potter, Eragon, the Dinoverse books, and mistakenly Hunger Games, which actually isn't third-person limited, or is it? Eh, who can be bothered to check.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts dwell on working at the various story food shops by the Papier brothers, wonder how a second person video game could work, pad out the episode length due to the lack of examples about the subject, and talk about the oft-forgotten second-person perspective and how one could write it. What benefits does having the prose say "you do this" or "you did that" bring to a story? Why is it so rare? What examples are there other than those Choose Your Own Adventure books from back in the day? When will Matt Donald ever do that skit about the characters from The Magic School Bus meeting up with the world of Megazoic? We discuss it all, keeping an acceptable distance of ten thousand miles between us to do our part in social distancing, and talk about the aforementioned Choose Your Own Adventure books, Animorphs, the Revenge of the Sith novelization, and Ratatouille for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts are back (BAAAAAAAAACK!!!!), explain the necessity (or lack thereof) of the lengthy break, check in with everyone about COVID-19, and talk about first-person perspective writing in our first of a set about point-of-view. What are some famous examples of first-person writing? Is there a limit in what genres can be written in this perspective? How does the story benefit from writing it in this way? Why does Matt David still have lesser audio quality and will the show EVER get back to our smooth-as-silk quality we consistently had months back? We discuss it all, washing our hands and wearing masks like the good folks are doing now, and talk about Sherlock Holmes, The Lost Years of Merlin, Great Gatsby, and Community.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts release the episode a week late to space out the time between episodes (there's a big break coming here for reasons Matt Donald discloses at the beginning), come up with some crucial details for things on the spot, make plans to work on future stories that we'll surely never even come close to starting, and use all the tricks and methods we've discussed on world-building the last month for the WORLD WE'VE BUILT! What type of world is this? How did we use each method of world-building, such as chance, random inspiration, pre-planning, or planning ad hoc? How can we use such a world later? Why did Matt David name his character something that's completely different from the style of naming from the other characters? We discuss it all, while putting our money where our mouth is with our world-building, and talk about our world, whatever it's called. I forgot.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts go to court for murdering the momentum of a story through excessive wordiness, get interrupted by a dog's barking numerous times, discuss the varied definitions for "moon" as a unit of time, and talk about world-building via as you go along, or "ad hoc," in our second-to-last episode in our extended set about world-building. What are the benefits to building the world of your story as you go along? What are the things that can go awry? How much of the style of the story can you change, or how much do you have to stick to the standard theme? When will the audio quality ever be normal for either Matt Donald or Matt David for an extended length of episodes? We discuss it all, while continuously building up the lore of the show as we go on, and talk about Star Wars, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, and more about Matt Donald's mysterious old story, Wildlife of Tomorrow. What is it about? What, WHAT?!
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts advertise a dating app meant specifically for writers, destroy any remaining credibility we could have possibly had with a single joke, go on a journey across multiple fictional worlds we love, and talk about world-building via preplanning like certain fantasy giants do it. What are the benefits to planning everything out beforehand? What are the traps writers could fall into when doing this? How much should you plan out before starting? What the heck is Matt Donald's world of "Groth" and why did it not pan out? We discuss it all, having carefully preplanned every last word of this episode like the professionals we are, and talk about Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillian, Harry Potter, and guess what you think the last one is. Go on, guess. That's right, BIONICLE!
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, then two Matts sell a virtual-reality console meant to make writers experience things they never would otherwise to aid them in their writing, talk about the world of difference between M&Ms and Skittles, enjoy having a simple button to press for cheap plugs rather than having to painstakingly edit it in each time, and talk about world-building via unexpected inspiration from things you see or experience. What different things can inspire you? How can you force the inspiration when you're feeling particularly dry creatively? How different from giant fantasy worlds can the things be that inspire you to world-build? Why is Matt David's story Starburst inspired by a different candy other than Starburst? We discuss it all, while talking a walk outside to take in the sights and inspire us (yeah right) and talk about no other pop culture. At least, I'm fairly certain we don't. Go listen and find out!
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts open a therapy program right up Matt David's alley, finally fix the gain level of Matt Donald's new microphone, recognize our main contribution to writer's podcast is dumb jokes about farts and stuff, and talk about world-building via chance in the first of our set about various world-building means. What can writers do with dice, coins, and generators to help create worlds? How much should they plan beforehand? How much should writers use these methods versus their own creations? Why does Matt Donald sound like he has minimal enthusiasm for most of this episode? We discuss it all, stopping every five seconds to throw dice (it made it a pain to edit) and talk about Dungeons and Dragons, Animorphs, the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, and geometry for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts air an episode of a classic writing-themed show from the early 90s, tiptoe around how under-qualified we are to host a show like this with all the stealth of a steroid-ridden grizzly bear, make incredibly hypocritical comments about people not watching stuff before expressing their dislike of it, and finish off hosting the Witties with our picks of the worst or most overrated works and creators from 2019. Which work was our least favorite? Which one got way too much praise or attention? Which creators deserve to be blacklisted by our dumb standards? What kind of horrific feedback are we gonna get by expressing our dissatisfaction with an eleven-time Oscar-nominated movie from this year? We discuss it all, hanging up our tuxes as we finish the ceremony at last, and talk about Anthem, Joker, the Disney live-action remakes, and The Rise of Skywalker.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts still deal with Matt Donald having the gain on his new microphone turned up far too high, sell a spellbook simplifier for any writers of incantations, lament on how we use the word "writ" to kid ourselves about making actual progress on our writing, and continue hosting the Witties by talking about the stuff we liked in 2019. What were our favorite works of 2019? What were the most underappreciated works? Did we actually read any books this year, or is it just movies and video games again? Will Matt David ever come around to liking hosting the Witties despite how woefully unqualified we are? We discuss it all, with a glass of champagne to celebrate the winners with class, and talk about Avengers: Endgame, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Captain Marvel, and Glass for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts advertise some totally real and not at all made-up summer camp about audiobook narration, give out another big word of the month in our monthly "vocabulary vitamin" set, relish in the honor of being the only sponsor of the esteemed Writ Wit Witties awards, and continue hosting said awards by talking about the bad things of 2018. What was our least favorite work of pop-culture from 2018? What was the most overrated? What creators should be blacklisted from creating stuff, or something less severe? How many fans of certain works is Matt Donald gonna piss off by saying they're overrated? We discuss it all, in our finest tuxes and formal wear which you can't see because it's audio format, and talk about Venom, Solo: A Star Wars Story, A Star is Born (yep) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (YEAH I SAID IT. WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT, HUH??!?!?! ...please keep supporting the show...)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts return from their holiday break of one week and one day, celebrate the start of a new decade by asking the hard questions about the future, use the power of orbs of foresight to see what lies beyond, and host the mostly-annual award show, the Witties, after missing it last year and covering two years to catch up, starting with the good of 2018! What were our favorite movies/TV shows/video books/books (yeah right) of 2018? Which ones were the most over-hated? Which ones were the most underrated? What are the parts of characters we creepily would like to combine to form our own giant Frankenstein's monster? We discuss it all, with fireworks and booze as a backdrop, and talk about Black Panther, Aquaman, Jurassic World, and Dragon Prince.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sing holiday song parodies of wildly different voice qualities, recoil in disgust about how dad bods are in despite both hosts having said bods, sing praises about certain cartoons and their amazing writing, and talk about references and when and how to use them. What is the difference between homage and plagiarism? How much of one story can you reference before it just becomes a rip off? What makes a comedic reference or a dramatic one? How accidentally spot-on was Matt Donald's potshot at a certain director after the influx of bad reviews for their movie out this week despite this episode being recorded weeks earlier? We discuss it all, while referencing the greats of podcasting (except not really) and talk about Joker, Phineas and Ferb, the works of Mel Brooks, and other references that we masterfully use and integrate into our work.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sell a revolutionary new computer while sacrificing a beloved old one, talk about the benefits of being an English major versus the many, many detriments, cry a fit and smack each other like good friends always do, and talk about using active verbs versus passive ones in our most boring yet practical topic. What are the passive verbs and what makes them bad? How can writers easily switch from passive to active voice? What makes active voice so much more immersive for readers? How is it that Matt David can constantly complete his 50,000 word NaNoWriMo stories in such inhumanly fast time?! We discuss it all, using no passive verbs whatsoever because we are professionals, and talk about bad fanfiction, some decent canon fiction, and Matt Donald's new podcast Paleo Bites, which you can find here.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts tune in to the latest Captain Writ serial using an old-timey radio, talk about word plays with the term "status quo," go on rants about certain characters again while ranting about rants about certain characters again, and talk about writing characters who seem flawless and how to successfully make them progress in the narrative and conflict. What makes a character plot exciting in this case rather than just boring? How can you make characters like this interesting? How can you avoid characters like this being Mary Sues? Will Matt David's word for Vocabulary Vitamin of the Month next month be better than the one Matt Donald did this month? We discuss it all, while progressing the podcast plot despite being such flawless characters ourselves, and talk about Power Rangers (of course), Marvel movies (of course), Star Wars, and Wonder Woman.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts use a SUPER Thesaurus Machine, make up a new annoying character for future skits, realize that this dumb writing podcast actually has somewhat of a lore, and discuss writing comic relief in both comedic and dramatic works! When is the proper time for comic relief after a tragic moment? When should comic relief be set aside? How can comic relief and dramatic moments enhance each other? How many times does Matt Donald jump in with a fake Italian accent? We discuss it all, with plenty of laughs and zero dramatic moments, and talk about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lord of the Rings, a new Ultra series, and the works of Christopher Paolini for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts are cut in half by Matt David not being present (not as in their bodies literally being cut in half), bring in one of Matt Donald's friends from the theater/theatre business, woe about the lack of financial support society has for creative minds, and talk about theater management and all the tricks and trade in the field. What are the job specifics of a theater manager? How much of an active role do they have? How do they utilize their creative minds for the job? How many angry fan letters will the show get for daring to make fun of certain fans of the new Joker movie? We discuss it all, before giving a company bow at the end for a cheering audience, and talk about A Christmas Carol, the Drowsy Chaperone, a bit on Beauty and the Beast, and the aforementioned Joker (which isn't a stage play... yet. Don't give Warner Brothers any ideas!)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Laura Owsley for helping out with this episode.
In this episode, the two Matts deal with serious friendship and insecurity problems but in a funny way, celebrate the fabled 64th episode in a series that jokes a lot about the number 64, woe the fact that they had to record this episode twice, and talk about having a massive amount of characters in a story. What are the benefits to having such a ginormous cast of characters? What kinds of genres work best for a cast this size? What do you have to give up to write a story with this cast? Will Matt David's new friend Fred be a mainstay on the podcast? We discuss it all, once again without an appropriately-sized cast because we have no friends but each other (and Fred) and talk about Harry Potter, Tolkien's Silmarillion, Game of Thrones, and Bionicle (of course of course)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts release the episode a day late and are very sorry, sell a setting switch that's sure to suffice for any successful storyteller, talk about publishing fanfiction and working with marketing agencies, and discuss having medium-to-large casts of characters in a story. Why do so many stories have this size of a cast? What makes it better than having too many characters, or too few? What can writers do to best capitalize on this size of a cast? Will anyone buy Matt Donald's book if it does the things he claimed that would hypothetically cause bad publicity? We discuss it all, without any friends to boost this cast because we're all each other has, and talk about Power Rangers (of course), Megazoic (of course), and I think we mention Thanos and Goldilocks at some point, I dunno.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts stop a story-train from going off the rails, forget to do a skit themed around Halloween like we have for the last two years, reminisce on old theater productions Matt David was once in, and talk about minimalist casts in stories and shows. How many characters is the maximum in a minimalist cast? What are the advantages and detriments to writing such a small cast for a story? Are you limited on what kinds of stories you can tell? Will Matt David ever get back into trick-or-treating and scare off little kids with his grown-man-doing-a-child's-activity antics? We discuss it all, with a minimalist cast of two, and talk about They're Playing Our Song, Urinetown, Zombieland, and a potential future story idea of Matt Donald's called Io. Will anything come of it? Probably not.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts forgo a skit in line with the episode's theme, organize the whole thing a little differently in line with the episode's theme, do the "What We Have Ripped Off" segment separately in line with the episode's theme, and talk about monologues or one-character shows, in line with the episode's theme. What are the benefits to having only one character in a scene or a whole show? What should writers avoid when doing these? How much of the writer's personal beliefs should the monologue inject, or how little? How many times can Matt Donald fit "in line with the episode's theme" into the episode description? We discuss it all, starting off solo in line with the episode's theme, and talk about the Anno Domini video games, Ultraman, Dirk Pitt novels, and Atlas Shrugged for some reason. Oh wait, because there's a big filibuster in the middle of that book that functions like a monologue! So of course we bring it up...in line with the episode's theme.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts get bored on a rainy day and play with action figures, make fun of each other about certain shows they watch as per usual, spout some really long numbers at the end, and talk about shipping fanfics in the last of our set about fanfiction. What kind of ships, or relationships between characters, are the most appealing? How similar or different do the characters have to be? Is there such a thing as "unshippable" or not? How many nautical puns can both Matt David and Matt Donald make before the whole show sinks? We discuss it all, providing plenty of fodder for listeners to ship the two co-hosts, and talk about (deep breath) Glee, Friends, Marvel, Merlin, Rock Raiders, Batman, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pokemon, My Little Pony, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Alice in Wonderland, Megazoic, and, to top it all off, Bionicle and Power Rangers (again again again)!
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts recite a poem with barely a beat to be found, apologize about the "short" length of a normal-length episode, bicker with one another about timeliness and punctuality, and talk about crossover fanfics where writers combine two or more stories into one fanfiction. What is the best kind of combination of original stories? Should it always be fifty/fifty in terms of content from each? How different can each story be from one another? Did Matt Donald actually find a Land Before Time/Titanic crossover fic, or was it just from a wild fever dream? We discuss it all, without a crossover with another podcast because we have no other friends, and talk about the aforementioned Land Before Time, Titanic, Bionicle (yet again) and Power Rangers (yet again).
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts do yet another skit about yet another type of story cooking as if it hasn't gotten old yet, define a super-specific word that we'd like our audience to use, test how far we can push the content without having to use the "explicit" tag, and talk about original character fanfics as well as a little bit about new-setting-same-character fics. What kinds of characters should fanfic writers put into existing stories? How can they make these characters feel like they fit? How much new stuff can you add, and how much old? When will Matt David ever work at any of Gaston Crayon de Papier's shops? We discuss it all, as existing characters in an existing work that is this podcast, and talk about Star Trek, Star Wars, Bionicle (again) and Power Rangers (again).
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts go waaaaay overboard on the alliterations at the start, make fun of one another about the shows we watched, reflect on old fanfics we used to write, and talk about continuation fanfics in the first of our set about writing fanfiction. What defines a "continuation" fic? Does it always have to be a sequel to a canon work, or can it be something else? What are the different methods fanfic writers could use to continue a canon work? What will the internet do after finding out Matt Donald's true age (true, TRUE! Except not at all) We discuss it all, with the utmost professionalism and respectful demeanor, and talk about Marvel Comics, Star Wars, Bionicle, and Power Rangers.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts play another excerpt of the serial detailing the wondrous adventures of Captain Writ, drone on about how tired they are again, reminisce on old guest co-hosts/friends of ours, and talk about adding new content in our final episode of our set about revision. What are particular reasons to add more content to an existing draft? How much or how little should be added when this happens? At what point does it just become unnecessary padding? Will Matt David ever get off of Matt Donald's case about a certain scene in a certain older story of his? We discuss it all, while desperately and ironically trying to add content to make up for the episode's short length, and talk about old versions of Megazoic, current versions of Megazoic, and some of Matt David's stories that I forget the name of. Because I'm such a good friend.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts go on a wacky time-traveling adventure, compare this episode's topic to getting a haircut, write a hypothetical story about a villain defeated by blackjack, and talk about clipping sections of a draft in our set about revising. What makes a scene so unnecessary that it needs to be clipped? How much or how little should be clipped? At what part of the draft should the author decide to clip sections out of the story? Why does Matt Donald have such an annoying sense of humor? We discuss it all, ironically clipping out none of the episode's content because it was all gold, and talk about older versions of Megazoic, newer versions of Megazoic, and some of Matt David's stories I guess.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episodes, the two Matts release the episode almost a day late and humbly apologize, sell tickets for a paintball prose tournament to help listeners splatter stories across t-shirts and walls, leave in an aside comment in said ad because Matt Donald thought it was funny, and talk about rewriting individual scenes in a story draft. When should writers decide to revise said scenes? Does rearranging the order of scenes count as rewriting them? How big or how little of a change should writers make when rewriting scenes? Will listeners appreciate the new segment of the show Matt David introduced about vocabulary? We discuss it all, with a twinkle in our smiles that you'll just have to trust is there due to the audio format, and talk about no other pop culture. Seriously, none! Unless I forgot and Matt David does a whole spiel about some other Tokusatsu show that I missed.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts finally get back to the podcast after a bit of a delay of game (see last not-an-episode), sell a product that's ridiculous even for our standards, dwell on vacations and their pros and cons, and talk about redrafting stories in the first of our set about revision. Why should writers start a story from scratch? What are the things writers must do to prepare for such an endeavor? When is too soon to start the story over, or too late? Why did Matt David rage-quit from the ad at the beginning even though he stayed for a TON of crap we've done in the past? We discuss it all, making sure to remain flawless so we won't have to start again, and talk about older versions of Megazoic, Matt David's story Shattered Creek, the life of Nikola Tesla, and more damn Tokusatsu shows. Seriously, David, try watching something else sometime.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this not-an-episode, one of the Matts (Matt David) records a message explaining why we're not releasing an episode this next couple of weeks, rambles on a bit as he does, doesn't actually explain the full reasoning as it's complicated (but everything's fine, it's just scheduling conflicts) and talks about how to get a hold of us. Why is there not an episode this week, or last week, or the week after? When will there be one again? How can our listeners help the show in the meantime? Why is there this normal-length description for an "episode" that's barely over two minutes? We discuss it all (or Matt David does), with a tit, a tattle, and a bit of a prattle, and talk about The Writ Wit, the show where us two twits talk about writting.
Have any feedback or questions...yeah, I'm not really gonna do this part for this episode. The joke's worn thin. But seriously, email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. And you can buy Matt Donald's books on Amazon, but get the links yourselves you lazy bums.
In this episode, the two Matts perform yet another parody of a famous ship-sinking movie, discuss the odd names of certain comic book characters, laugh too hard at really childish jokes (as always) and discuss anti-heroes and how to write them. What makes these characters so awesome? How can you best contrast them with more traditional heroic characters? What makes them more dubious morally and how can you keep it from going too far? How much of Matt David's laughing fit at the end had to be edited out for time? We discuss it all, with shady looks and a sneaky demeanor, and talk about Deadpool, Han Solo, Batman, and Osmosis Jones for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts celebrate the publication of Matt Donald's final Megazoic book, sell and test a writing procrastination hypnosis tape, lament about certain examples picked when so many better options exist, and discuss leaders and how to write them. What makes these characters so awesome? How can their sense of leadership be best shown? What are the best situations to write for a leader? What methods can Matt David employ to get him to actually write something for once for the "What Have We Writ" segment? We discuss it all, with such charisma and bravado that listeners have no choice but to follow our lead, and talk about Captain America, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Sydney White for some unfathomable reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here, or its final installment "Megazoic: An Era's End" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts somehow make it to FIFTY episodes of this dumb thing, reflect on the origins of the podcast through hillbilly-laden flashbacks, sell a service that provides pets to help with writers' struggles, and talk about manipulators and how to write them. What makes these characters so awesome? How can the reader be the most impressed by their efforts? How can they believably pull the strings of other characters? Will Matt Donald's neighbors ever stop with their 4th of July celebratory fireworks despite it being WELL past the 4th? We discuss it all, with no strings to hold us down, and talk about Sherlock Holmes, V for Vendetta, How I Met Your Mother, and Music Man again for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts deal with a symbiotic goop from outer space, reflect on imitatable behavior from certain family movies, get onto each other for not watching certain things as per usual, and talk about badasses and how to write them. What makes these characters so awesome? Do they have to be awesome twenty-four/seven? What are the most effective ways to write a badass? How many books does Matt Donald have left to read before the world ends? We discuss it all, while holding our guns sideways like true gangsters, and talk about Lord of the Rings, George Mann's Ghost series, Power Rangers (of course) and Tangled for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts go way overboard with their childish humor in the opening skit, think every story should end with a massive battle regardless of genre, compare metaphors we've made to flypaper, and talk about writing more "cinematic" scenes in the decidedly non-cinematic format that is prose. How can a writer utilize the techniques of film in their prose writing? What are the benefits to a more cinematic style of storytelling? How can one write an action sequence with the fluidity and fast pace of a movie? Will Matt Donald ever grow up, or will he be a child for the rest of his life? We discuss it all, with plenty of flips and kicks you can't see due to the audio format of podcasting, and talk about Megazoic (of course), Power Rangers (of course), and other stuff I'm forgetting I'm sure.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts celebrate Matt David's long-awaited return, advertise a zoo housing writers of various kinds, misspeak and dig ourselves in deep, deep holes, and talk about the suspense/thriller genre and how to write it. How many subgenres are there in the thriller genre? How can a writer build good tension? What are the ways the characters can remain constantly on the edge? What the heck is "romantic thriller" and can we please get some examples?! We discuss it all, racing down the street in a high-octane chase, and talk about the works of Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, Dean Koontz, and Clive Cussler. (it seems a lot of suspense/thriller writers have surnames beginning with a hard "C" sound. Maybe that's the trick?)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the jungle-sounding track at the beginning is "Inca Empire" by Derek and Brandon Fiechter.
In this episode, Matt David has one more week left before his glorious return, so Matt Donald invites the other Christina of the show Christina Franklin to do another episode in his absence. There, we try our best to work around baby noises in the background, reminisce on recording the episode yesterday before we had to re-record today, congratulate Matt Donald for encountering a guy in an online game with a username named after Megazoic's main character (true story), and talk about inspirational works. What are the best ways to inspire people? What are the different types of writing one can use for such an endeavor? When is it inspirational and when is it just preachy? And seriously, how in the world is someone's username on an online game named after a Megazoic character already?! We discuss it all, with spirit-lifting voices to truly encourage our listeners, and talk about Redeeming Love, Left Behind, Eyes of the Past, and Megazoic again.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Franklin for helping out with this episode.
In this episode, Matt David is still taking care of personal matters we mentioned in Episode 43, so Matt Donald brings Christina Eilert back again for another episode. We sell a product that lengthens or constricts story length, get caught up with semantics about certain monster characters, compare significant others to Hugh Jackman, and talk about horror and why it's so pants-wettingly, scream-bloodily, teeth-chatteringly hard to write. What makes an effective scare? How broad or specific of fears should horror writers cater toward? What other emotions other than fear are good ones for readers of horror to feel? How is Christina not permanently psychologically damaged after the prank her husband did to her once in the shower? We discuss it all, looking over our shoulders in dread the whole time, and talk about Jaws, Frankenstein, Jurassic Park, and Van Helsing for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Eilert for helping out with this episode.
In this episode, Matt David is taking a break due to stuff we mentioned in the last episode, so Matt Donald invited Christina Eilert back on the show to do the next episode in our set of "why is [blank] so hard to write?" We bring back a favorite character from a previous skit, get interrupted by a dog a few times, get a surprise call near the end and have the caller participate, and talk about romance and why it's so dang difficult to write. What are the traps romance stories often fall into? What makes a romance good and healthy, and what makes it destructive? What are some of our favorite fictional romances? How much did Matt Donald say he'd edit versus how much did he ACTUALLY edit? We discuss it all, with hearts in our eyes and butterflies in our stomachs, and talk about Outlander, The Office, Friends, and Harry Potter.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Eilert for helping out with this episode. Also, the mystical-sounding track that plays at the beginning is "Runaway" by Sergey Gol
In this episode, the two Matts take a whole different turn due to several tragic, unforeseen circumstances that have hit both of us in the past week, keep some tissue boxes on the ready just in case, still joke around a bit because that's who we are, and talk about grief and how to best write during it and about it. What are the best ways to describe grief, now that both of us have recently experienced it? What are the best ways to channel one's own grief while writing? How can people deal with their own grief in other, non-writing ways? How the heck did Matt Donald get drunk off of chocolate milk once WITHOUT it being spiked? We discuss it all, with a more somber tone than usual, and pay our respects to William Seivert, Allen Hall, Penny the Cockatiel, and Dani the Golden Retriever. May all of you rest in peace.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts host an open-mic standup gig, confuse the term "Florence Nightingale effect" for something else, watch a crap-ton of shows during a break, and talk about comedy and why it's so gosh-dang hard to write, like we're somehow experienced to talk about such a thing. How can one make comedy come naturally to them? Are there any hard-and-fast rules about what's funny and what's not? How can one refine their humor techniques? Why is Matt Donald's audio ever-so-slightly grainier than usual, despite using the same microphone and audio setup as always? We discuss it all, while wiping away tears of laughter the whole way through, and talk about Ultraman again, older versions of Megazoic again, Horizon Zero Dawn, and standup specials on Netflix and Hulu.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
SPOILERS for Horizon Zero Dawn from 14:40-17:40
In this episode, the two Matts advertise an instant-author-experience sweepstakes that's totally not a thinly-veiled excuse for Matt Donald to rant, learn a little bit about Shakespeare's role in the history of the English language, edit in bits from the future during the editing process, and talk about epilogues and how to best use them. What can an epilogue bring to the conclusion of a story? When is it an epilogue and not simply the falling action? When are they necessary, if ever? How long would Matt Donald have gone with that purple kumquat joke if Matt David hadn't incessantly told him to shut up and stop? We discuss it all, capping off this series of episodes like a good epilogue should, and talk about Harry Potter, the works of Tolkien, and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts realize the recurring pattern of favoritism present in our opening skits, wonder if books should have blank pages specifically meant to be cut out for origami, talk about Matt Donald's StarFest venture that was recorded before it happened (spoilers: it went well) and talk about ancillary materials in books, such as forwards, appendices, fanfics, adaptations, and such. What is the best way to insert these into books? What makes them good rather than unnecessary? What can be learned from other examples of these? Will Matt David ever let Matt Donald talk, even though he didn't have much to say about this? We discuss it all, with an explanation of how we did it in the back pages, and talk about the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Dean Koontz, J.K. Rowling, and Matthew Donald. Hey, that last one sounds familiar...
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts relax at a pub and play a simple and completely accessible game of Mischancism, recall all the various other professions they tried before settling on writing, save the world from a giant space-face, and talk about interludes and how one might weave them into the narrative of their stories. What exactly defines an interlude? How different should they be from the rest of the story's structure? When are they necessary, and when can they just be replaced with a perspective change? How many interludes can Matt Donald force into the episode just to beef up the episode's runtime? We discuss it all, with a pace and focus as straight as an arrow, and talk about Man of Steel, Iron Man, BIONICLE, and an older version of Megazoic that our listeners undoubtedly haven't read nor have any idea of what we're talking about when referencing it.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts sing praises to a legendary writer who wrote a 50k-word story in less than ten minutes, gush about dinosaur anime, slowly build up hype for the final Megazoic book, and talk about writing prologues in the first of a set about outside-of-narrative sections in stories. Are prologues really necessary most of the time? When do they add meaningful content? When would they be the most useful to the narrative? Will Matt Donald recover after his random coughing fit at the end of the episode? We discuss it all, after thoroughly explaining the origins of the fantasy universe before the story even begins, and talk about Lord of the Rings, Ultraman, Sim Theme Park for some reason, and Megazoic: An Era's End, soon to be released! (foghorn sound effect)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts are even MORE tired, recall another one of Captain Writ's legendary adventures, wonder what the point was bringing dinosaur fossils to space, and talk about writing nonfiction, scientific journals, research papers, and other informational texts in the most fun manner possible for such a dry topic. How do you keep your readers interested? Should you still research even if you're confident you know all about the subject? Can a nonfiction piece be too dry even for people already interested in the subject? Will Matt Donald get a good night sleep after recording this marathon of the last four episodes? We discuss it all, with the most goofy and charming wit one can muster for this kind of topic, and talk about space, music, dinosaurs, the 1920s, and other non-pop culture stuff.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts are really tired, sell an exposition generator to any unprepared souls who actually want it, lament about the numbers of OREOs they've eaten, and talk about lyrics and songs and a teeny, tiny bit more on poetry that we didn't cover in Episode 22. ding! What comes first, the lyrics or the melody? Does it matter what comes first? How should you measure flow for writing lyrics? Will Matt Donald say much more in this episode other than "yep" and "uh-huh" because he's really tired and doesn't know much about lyrics and thus lets Matt David do most of the topic? (nah, he won't) We discuss it all, practically slurring due to how tired we were when recording, and talk about Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, and Music and Lyrics (the movie, not just the concept, although obviously we talk about the concept too)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts reminisce about school and old professors, work as masters at a plot ninja dojo, wonder about the order of the alphabet, and talk more about less mainstream works of writing with this episode about blogs and essays. What should one's mindset be when starting a blog? How should one arrange an essay? How many sources or citations should an essay have? How mad will Matt Donald's college professor be when he stumbles across this podcast and hears Donald talk about how much he hated his class? We discuss it all, with excellent, peer-reviewed quality, and talk about Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, various stand-up specials, and Matt David's incident in Japan where he contributed to the construction of a safety railing.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, the action-packed ninja-sounding track at the beginning is "Dark Ninjas" by Derek and Brandon Fiechter.
In this episode, the two Matts go on an adventure to recover the Golden Pencil from the Temple of Quills, reflect on how busy they've been lately, encourage each other on weight loss goals, and do the first episode on less-mainstream styles of writing by talking about script-writing. How is writing scripts different from writing prose? How much should you describe versus how much you should leave to the director? What formatting should you use during the writing process? When will Matt Donald ever finish his Megazoic movie script he's been threatening to do lately? We discuss it all, with quick cuts and smiles for the nonexistent camera, and talk about Kamen Rider, Love Death and Robots, and other stuff I'm forgetting I'm sure.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts finish up their set about the alignment system, discuss Valentine's Day/Singles' Awareness day, try desperately not to make certain things recurring segments, and list off a bunch of characters that fit in each part of the alignment system. What characters are Lawful Good, True Neutral, Chaotic Evil, and the rest? What seemingly totally different characters exist within the same alignment? Do any of the characters change their position as their franchise goes on? Will Matt David ever accept his defeat and let "Matt Picks His Nose" be the recurring segment of the show it has always been destined to be? We discuss it all, extra-exhausted by this point due to recording these four episodes all at once, and talk about Star Wars, Marvel, Lord of the Rings, and Megazoic (if you wanna buy it, check the links below! I mean, you can see them, right? They're totally there)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts read stories with special shades that alter the emotional context, get onto each other about broken YouTube promises, have more cheap-plug-ding-noises than ever, and do part three of four of our character alignment episodes by talking about writing Chaotic Neutral, Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, and Chaotic Evil. What are the best ways to convey these characters' alignment? What are their personalities or motives like? How rigid or fluid do the characters have to be when categorizing them into certain alignments? When did Matt David EVER call Matt Donald "Mr. Waffle-maker"? (Answer: never. He'd remember that) We discuss it all, with the most devious twirl in our mustaches, and talk about Batman villains, Disney villains, other non-villainous characters, and other works in general.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts do the second part of a four-episode series about character alignment, sell an incredible machine that replaces the Tolkien ripoffs from fantasy stories with more original elements, pick their noses in a riveting new segment of the show, and talk about writing characters from the Lawful Good to True Neutral Alignment. What's the difference in writing a Lawful Good character from Chaotic Good? What makes someone "good" and what makes them "neutral"? What words can describe the motivations of each alignment? How many listeners will come at our doors with torches and pitchforks due to not having either the "What We'll Rip Off" or "What We Have Writ" segments? We discuss it all, with distinguished professionalism that rivals the classiest businessmen, and talk about Superman, Iron Man, Robin Hood, and Noah.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, the two Matts start the conversion of the show from monthly to weekly, literally fish for ideas in a creek, make a metaphor about crossing the street that goes off the rails VERY quickly, and do the first episode of four based on the character alignment system. What do Lawful Good, Chaotic Neutral, or Neutral Evil even mean? What are the differences between the definitions? How different can characters be within a single alignment? How much of Matt David screaming in shock had to be edited out when he heard about Matt Donald reading a nonfiction history book that wasn't about dinosaurs? We discuss it all, with a jolly demeanor and a plucky attitude, and talk about Superman, Deadpool, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Ultraman again (seriously, David, watch new Japanese shows!)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Helpful links:
easydamus.com/alignment.html
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterAlignment
Originally recorded: January 2019
In this episode, the two Matts comment on made-up previews before watching a made-up movie, reveal the title and premise for the final Megazoic book, reveal how cringe-y their contemporaries feel about the podcast, and talk about writing tear-jerking moments in stories. What's the difference between writing happy emotional moments and sad ones? What are effective ways to convey emotion? What are our personal favorite emotional moments in our own writing? Who will win the Character Who Nearly Turned Us Gay award in the nonexistent Witties ceremony this year? We discuss it all, with a box of tissues at the ready, and talk about Aquaman, October Sky, The Phantom of the Opera, and Fant4stic for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Originally recorded: December 2018
In this episode, the two Matts invite another longtime friend Christina Franklin (not to be confused with Christina Eilert), parody another holiday song for the season, celebrate the release of Matt Donald's third Megazoic book, and talk about how to get around the issues of writing characters of different genders from your own. What are the easiest methods to getting yourself in the mindset of someone different? How do you get around awkward scenes? Is there anything you should actively avoid? Is the thing mentioned about the sleepovers Matt David and Matt Donald had accurate, and if so, will the listeners ever get the image out of their minds? We discuss it all, with the helpful aid of a woman to add a separate mindset to the topic than that of two straight white men, and talk about Cinderella, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Proposal, and Megazoic: The Hunted Ones (buy now on Amazon.com! ding!)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here, or its third installment "Megazoic: The Hunted Ones" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Franklin for helping out with this episode.
Originally recorded: November 2018
In this episodes, the two Matts don't give a frick, discuss the value of certain countries' dances for fighting, keep going on about not giving a frick, and categorize the types of heroes like we did almost twenty episodes earlier about types of villains probably. What morality types define a heroic character? How many flaws can they have? Can they be perfect and still be interesting? How many different times can Matt Donald announce not giving a frick before it becomes clear he really DOES give a frick, and probably too much of one in fact? We discuss it all, without a single frick to give, and talk about Superman, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and VeggieTales for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Originally recorded: October 2018
In this episode, the two Matts bring all their friends to a retreat in the woods before getting promptly picked off, reflect on each other's legal expertise, casually talk about how Matt Donald's third Megazoic book will be out soon like it's no big deal, and give advice on how to write darker stories. What themes and moods should darker stories go for? How much darkness is too much, if there is a limit? How much contrast should writers of dark stories strive for? What constitutes as a butt if it's on somebody's chin? We discuss it all, with our finest leather jackets and skull masks on while recording (it's audio format, so you can't tell) and talk about the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Don Bluth, the Princess Bride, and Deadpool.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, one of the Matts (Matt Donald) edits together all the various skits and advertisements the Writ Wit has ever done throughout its long and illustrious run sorta. In the vain hopes of using this as some sort of portfolio that shows all his great work, Matt Donald presents to you all...the Writ Wit's Skits! Notice the possessive form of Wit? Yeah, that's to make it less awkward of a rhyme. Now you know the REAL secrets of an English major's work. You can thank me at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com
NOTE: There's still a new episode coming out this month, don't worry. This is just bonus content (again).
Originally recorded: September 2018
In this episode, the two Matts celebrate the show's momentous episode count of 25 by not even mentioning it, appreciate how hardcore salamanders are, play a fun on-air game of Mad Libs, and talk about how to spice up one's vocabulary for areas where writers might be more droll. How many different variants are there for "said"? What are some more vibrant descriptors for color? How many different ways can a writer describe movement? How did Matt Donald forget what microphone he was using when he bought his new computer and compromised his audio quality? We discuss it all, with such time-stretching detail and jokes to further inflate the episode's length, and talk about Monster Hunter, Power Rangers, Harry Potter, and The Music Man for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Helpful Links:
Speech verbs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lYA0nh5JV1ZJSj-5KPFMSYMZmqAkKrrZEPQIZdFMfFU/edit?usp=sharing (our list)
https://www.nownovel.com/blog/dialogue-words-other-words-for-said/
https://owlcation.com/humanities/400-Alternative-words-for-said
Groups of animals:
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/99-strange-collective-animal-names
http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Pointless/AnimalGroups.html
Colors:
https://louisem.com/29880/color-thesaurus-infographic
http://mentalfloss.com/article/53121/11-colors-youve-probably-never-heard
https://www.canva.com/learn/color-meanings-symbolism
Verbs:
https://jerryjenkins.com/powerful-verbs/
https://www.nownovel.com/blog/descriptive-verb-list/
https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/strong-verbs/
Originally recorded: August 2018
In this episode, the two Matts invite one of Matt Donald's longtime college friends Lexi to the show, note the number of times characters Sean Bean portrays have died, offend each other multiple times about not watching/knowing certain specific nerdy works or references, and talk about super-popular works like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and how to emulate them. What makes them special compared to other, smaller works? What makes them click with so many people, and how can one emulate that? Why do so many others who try to imitate this success fail? How god-dang long will it take before Matt David gets over Matt Donald sending ONE missile over to his place in Japan?! (seriously, get it over it already! It was just ONE missile!!!) We discuss it all, with 33% more laughs and funny-ish comments due to the extra guest-host, and talk about Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Star Trek, and the aforementioned Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Lexi Ryan for helping out with this episode.
Originally recorded: July 2018
In this episode, the two Matts visit a writing-themed amusement park, argue about who the monster is in Frankenstein, consider getting back into programming games (or guilt-trip themselves into it later) and talk about writing villainous characters after a 14-episode break. What ways can you make the reader root against them? How can they be potentially sympathetic? How far can they go before they become irredeemable? Why do people think Kylo Ren can turn back to the good side after wearing such high-waisted pants in The Last Jedi, the WORST crime humanly possible?! We discuss it all, with the exact amount of charm and wit you expect from us (whatever that entails) and talk about Avengers: Infinity War, Wicked, Black Panther, and a sneak peek into the third Megazoic book!
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Eilert for helping out with this episode.
Originally recorded: June 2018
In this episode, the two Matts discuss dropping themselves in the Serengeti to strengthen their friendship, translate hundreds of Japanese letters, laugh/groan at Matt David's awesome pun, and bring in co-worker of Matt Donald and actual poet Sydney Chapin to discuss poetry. What is the best mood to write poetry in? Is it better to write in small sessions, or bigger ones? How wide is the definition of poetry? How long does Sydney silently listen to the two Matts' prolonged banter while inwardly groaning at our craziness? (spoiler: a long time) We discuss it all, with such rhyme and emotion that it could only come from true poets, and talk about the works of Homer, Dante's Inferno, Young Justice, and Jurassic World (PSA: The latter two are not poems)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Sydney Chapin for helping out with this episode.
Originally recorded: May 2018
In this episode, the two Matts wonder about the concept of time, introduce a foghorn as a new sound effect for the show, groan at each other's jokes more than usual (if you can believe it) and talk about the different ways dialogue can work with the number of characters in a scene. How does one justify a character talking to himself? How much banter is too much? How do you make every character in a scene of over ten talk without forcing it? How will Matt David recover from seeing Matt Donald record this episode shirtless? We discuss it all, in our always-professional demeanor (David: "So professional...") and talk about Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Icarus Agenda, Buddy Thunderstruck, and Star Wars. No one can escape Star Wars. NO ONNNNNNNE...
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Originally recorded: April 2018
In this episode, the two Matts gush about tapestries and cat-shaped doorstoppers, wonder why certain co-hosts like Power Rangers more than others, spend way too long on an elaborate ruse that'll fool nobody, and talk about what it takes to write a good mystery. How rigid should your plot structure be in comparison to other genres? How many red herrings are too many? How elaborate can your mystery be without getting too complicated? How many references to Clue or Guess Who can we make in one episode? We discuss it all, with magnifying glasses zeroed in on all details, and talk about Sherlock Holmes, Encyclopedia Brown, the Time Machine, and Big Hero 6 for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Heads up, "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" spoilers from 45:44 to 48:25.
Originally recorded: March 2018
In this episode, the two Matts use a more epic and serious intro song than usual, have the same work they want to rip off as each other, get incredibly eager and forced with their segues (even more so than usual) and talk about how to improve secondary characters as part of a writing workshop. What's the difference between a secondary character and a co-protagonist? What differences are there for improving one type of secondary character versus another? Does every individual character need to be fully three-dimensional to be useful? Will Matt David FINALLY get out of his damn writer's dry spell? (Seriously, Matt Donald is THIS close to firing him...totally serious...not joking...maybe) We discuss it all, flawlessly linking all our segments with a confident, non-forced "and SPEAKING of which..." and talk about Black Panther, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Originally recorded: February 2018
In this episode, the two Matts wonder how undead trees would work, have a live and unedited reaction from pulling a muscle, celebrate Matt Donald's successful publication of Megazoic: The Primeval Power, and tie it into the month's subject matter as they discuss sequels. What are the different types of sequel or follow-up? What are the benefits and detriments of each? What are good and bad reasons for writing a follow-up to your story? How many emails will it take for Matt David to get off his kabuki and write some more? (Japanese play-on-words for ya) We discuss it all, with all our bad jokes and screechy voices that make babies cry, and talk about Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Star Wars.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here, or its sequel "Megazoic: The Primeval Power" by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Originally recorded: January 2018
In this episode, the two Matts celebrate Matt David's long-awaited return, advertise cerebral-stimulation beans, pitch a future story idea about kick-ass geologists, and host the annual awards show "The Witties" once again. What work will we rip off...I mean, did we enjoy the most? What works should others experience who might not have otherwise? Which shirtless scene, out of Chris Hemsworth's or Adam Driver's, will potentially cause the hosts to go gay from their, ahem, hotness? We discuss it all, with all the prestige expected from such an award show, and talk about Thor Ragnarok, The Last Jedi, Power Rangers, and Titanic for some reason.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
DISCLAIMER: This podcast was recorded a few weeks ago, but technical difficulties kept us from uploading it right away, because of course they did.
Originally recorded: December 2017 (again)
In this episode, Matt David is still lost in the woods, so Matt Donald has another helper and lovely all-around gal Christina Eilert to help co-host. They talk about German princes and dictators, marvel at stop-motion AA cannons, repeatedly ask Christina's husband in the background for facts and comments, and talk all about holiday stories in this joyous season of festivities. What entails a good Christmas story? What are some of our favorite holiday classics? What is the origin of some standard Christmas traditions? Why are men like waffles and women like spaghetti in terms of conversation? We discuss it all, going over the fields and laughing all the way, and talk about The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Grinch, Elf, and a Christmas Carol.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Eilert and her husband Jake for helping out with this episode.
Originally recorded: December 2017
In this episode, Matt David has abandoned Matt Donald for the month, so Matt Donald calls in their mutual friend and true science geek Allen Brooks to fill in until next time. They talk about asteroids hitting the Earth, complain about the constant barking of Matt Donald's dogs (yet still love dogs, don't worry), roll their eyes at their fellow co-hosts' pathetic attempts at humor, and explain the concept of hard sci-fi, AKA "realistic" sci-fi. What is it compared to soft sci-fi? How much research should you do? What are some common misconceptions about space and physics you should avoid? Why do the two hosts rant about Star Wars for like five minutes despite that not being hard sci-fi in the slightest? We discuss it all, with such knowledge of the topic it puts Carl Sagan to shame, and talk about 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Martian, Star Trek, and Matt Donald's book MEGAZOIC, which is not hard sci-fi at all, but cheap plug! ding
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Allen Brooks for helping out with this episode.
Originally recorded: November 2017
In this episode, the two Matts talk about their mutual non-drinking of coffee, reveal that one of the hosts is a reincarnated Pharaoh, play a clip of one of Matt Donald's promotional events, and explain the concept of plot ninjas to get out of writer's block. When could one be so stuck to resort to this method? Do they have to be literal ninjas? Do you have to stick to them, or edit them later? What exactly is this Japanese Thanksgiving that Matt David claims to celebrate while in Japan? We discuss it all, with all the dignity of a pooping pigeon, and talk about Power Rangers, Titan AE, a bit of Star Wars, and Final Fantasy (for the third episode in a row for some reason)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Originally recorded: October 2017
In this episode, the two Matts go camping while ensuring they have Wi-Fi, fear how unlucky this thirteenth episode could possibly get (spoiler alert: pretty unlucky), don't have enough experience in Halloween-esque topics to do a Halloween-esque episode, and instead reminisce about their embarrassing old stories to the listeners. What junk did we once write to get to where we were? Are we proud of any of it, or should it stay deep in the garbage disposals of our past? Will Matt Donald's cockatiel become the new co-host as Matt Donald hastily records an ending due to technical difficulties? We discuss it all, with our palms in our faces the whole time from all the horrifying memories, and talk about Arrow, Sunshine, BIONICLE, and way too many different versions of Megazoic (before the "good" one that got published)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Special thanks to Christina Eilert for her contributions to this episode.
Originally recorded: September 2017
In this episode, the two Matts dwell on their year's worth of podcasting, reflect on Matt David's statistically-generic face that also somehow looks like a dinosaur, shoot metaphorical missiles through each other's hearts, and discuss the concept of Mary Sues and how to avoid them. What exactly defines a Mary Sue? What's the difference between a Mary Sue and a normal escapist character? How powerful or special can your character be without falling into the Mary Sue trap? How can the two Matts decide on what color bow to put on their podcasts' forehead if they don't know the gender? We discuss it all, with the calm and reserved tone throughout you'd expect, and talk about Eragon, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Wonder Woman (who Matt Donald specifically states is NOT a Mary Sue, so don't grab your pitchforks, listeners! Save them for next time we inevitably screw up a Tolkien reference or something)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, click HERE for the Mary Sue test at springhole.net
Originally recorded: August 2017
In this episode, the two Matts reveal the title of Matt Donald's Megazoic sequel, dine on stories cooked by the great Gaston Crayon de Papier, take a stance against the bigotry and hatred in present-day America, and talk about what makes a bad origin story along with a little about what makes a good one. Does realism factor into what makes a bad origin story? Do you have to follow the classic Hero's Journey paradigm to the letter? Is it okay to follow cliches or totally subvert them? Will Matt David's pride ever recover from Matt Donald's interruption of his EPIC intro song? We discuss it all, with all the blatant immaturity our listeners expect from us at this point, and talk about Star Wars, Spider-Man, Harry Potter, and some hilarious new characters in Marvel's Inhumans. Seriously, they're amazingly terrible.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
In this episode, one of the Matts (Matt Donald) edits together a bunch of random clips from the show that display the sheer ineptitude and imbecilic nature of the two Matts in this podcast, so you can all point your fingers at us and laugh accordingly. Since we made it to 10 episodes, and our monthly schedule means we'll for sure never make it to 50 or 100, Matt Donald thought some sort of celebration was in order, although what there is to celebrate here is a question for the ages.
NOTE: There's still a new episode coming this month, don't worry. This is just bonus content.
Originally recorded: July 2017
In this episode, the two Matts sponsor a writers-only workout program to make writers' creative muscles burn, root for aliens to destroy the Earth as long as dogs are spared, get one of our hosts replaced by a robot for the last segment, and do some serious writing by the seat of their pants using a random-plot-element-generator. What kind of brainstorming can be done on the fly? What kind of ridiculous stories will be imagined? Will Matt Donald ever emotionally recover from his 50-second rant about his pathetic career at the very end of the episode? We discuss it all, with even more uhhs and ummms than usual due to having to be creative on the fly, and talk about Anonymous Rex, Wonder Woman, and some Kamen Rider-esque show about warriors with fruit. Because Japan.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Also, in case you're curious, the words available in our random-plot-element generating program were Romance, Zombies, Robots, Comedy, Gritty, Western, Time Travel, Tragedy, Dogs, War, High School, Dragons, Workplace, Revenge, Holiday, Spy, Horror, Musical, Swashbuckling, Post-Apocalypse, Aliens, Sports, Thriller, Treasure Hunt, Wedding, Desert, Giant Monsters, Vampires, Superhero, and Steampunk.
Originally recorded: June 2017
In this episode, the two Matts advertise their special ink solution made from deadly squids, exploit young relatives to make a theme song, reveal Matt Donald as the 64th clone of Matt Donalds seeded throughout the world by our future alien overlords, and categorize the different types of antagonists present in a story. What ways can a character oppose another? Do they even have to be characters, or can they be abstract concepts? Can we all agree the ultimate antagonist of this episode are the construction workers hammering away at Matt David's end that Matt Donald tried in vain to edit out? We discuss it all, with clearly fake and half-witted enthusiasm, and talk about Narnia, the Mummy (both the Tom Cruise and Brendan Fraser ones), Jurassic Park, Armageddon, and a worryingly-large amount of romantic comedies.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book "Megazoic" on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Originally recorded: May 2017
In this episode, the two Matts forget to do the usual "Welcome, fellow nerds" intro until the very end, celebrate Matt Donald's successful publication of his book, reflect on all the death threat jokes, and discuss their experiences with co-authoring and how it works. Who does what part of writing a collaborative story? What happens if one author quits? How can perimeters be set for each co-author? When will Matt David's voice be back up to snuff after being a bit sick for the last week? We discuss it all, with wondrous grandeur and reverence, and talk about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ultraman, Injustice 2, and a new book called Megazoic that you all should totally check out! Up to you, of course. We can't make you do anything. Live your lives, dudez.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Also you can purchase Matt Donald's book on Amazon by clicking here. If you'd like, of course.
Originally recorded: April 2017
In this episode, the two Matts open with a dumb game show instead of a theme song, perform flawless edits of mistakes during recording, have difficulty naming segments of their own show, and info-dump their thoughts about world-building. What defines "world-building" for a story? How much overwhelms or bores the reader? What ways can you make it easier for you as a writer to world-build? What weapon will listeners use when storming the houses of the hosts when they bash beloved stories or make blatant errors when talking about them? We discuss it all, with our trademark super-annoying voices and stutters, and talk about Tolkien's the Silmarillion, Harry Potter, Kong: Skull Island, and the best and most beloved franchise in human history, LEGO's BIONICLE. Deny it all you want, you know we're right.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. Please email us! We have no friends! :(
Originally recorded: March 2017
In this episode, the two Matts gush about the Backspace key, read a bunch of fake reviews, tell stories about trains that are also Power Rangers, and inform the listeners on how to deal with criticism. What are the different types of criticism? How can you accept feedback without feeling attacked? How can you keep blatant, biased hatred from bringing you down, or rapid, fanatical love from going to your head? How can Matt Donald ever forgive himself for crushing a fellow college student's work with brutal criticism that was merely a deflection from his own dumb issues? We discuss it all, in a calm, collected, and mature fashion like always, and talk about Moana, Ferngully, ToQGer or whatever it's called, and simultaneously the best and worst book ever, The Kerfuffle of Blah (listen to episode for context...wink)
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email us at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. We remembered to mention it this time!
Originally recorded: February 2017
In this Valentine's Month episode, the two Matts wallow in self-pity for Singles' Awareness Month, accidentally spoil everything to kingdom come, plan to shoot one another across the Pacific, and discuss what constitutes a lighthearted story. Are they always kid-friendly? Do they have to have happy endings? Can they go dark later? Will Matt David live to see the next episode? We discuss it all, with our upbeat and cheerful demeanor others should definitely try to emulate, and talk about (and accidentally spoil) Harry Potter, Ratchet and Clank, The Amazing Spider-Man series, and some Pixar movie about balloons.
Have any feedback or questions for our hosts? Email me (Matt Donald) at mattd@matthewdonaldcreator.com. I said I would discuss it later in the episode, but I forgot because I'm a goldfish.
Originally recorded: January 2017
In this episode, the two Matts celebrate the new year, potentially offend multiple demographics of the show, try and one-up each other in a singing contest (spoiler alert: Matt David wins), and host the annual award show "The Witties," celebrating all the great and not-so-great works of the previous year with an odd amount of overlap. What works are we gonna rip off-uh, I mean...did we ENJOY the most last year? What was we gonna try and read/watch/play more of? Whose butt is the best out of Deadpool, Scarlett Johansson (either as a snake or a movie that came out five years ago), or Chris Evans's bulging biceps that aren't butts but are legendary anyways? We discuss it all, with true awards-level reverence, and talk about Percy Jackson, Overwatch, Warcraft, and Hidden Figures for some reason (it's a great movie, but we can't write anything like that, so it's in "Works we won't rip-off," obviously)
Originally recorded: December 2016
In this episode, the two Matts take an almost nine-month break for some reason, brag about finished writing projects, gush/face-palm about super-cheesy disaster movies, and give out tips for starting, continuing, and finishing writing projects. What makes a good hook? How can writers motivate themselves to keep going? How can you naturally build to a climactic finale? How did Matt David not collapse with exhaustion getting here in the States from Japan in a rowboat? We discuss it all, as formally and professionally as you would expect, and talk about Star Wars, Captain America: Civil War, the Core with Hilary Swank for some reason, and more of Matt Donald's old works in more shameless self-plugs.
Originally recorded: April 2016
In this episode, the two Matts sing a mercifully-censored theme song, go on tirades about old roommates, accidentally give out spoilers for Harry Potter (don't worry, I edited in a warning ahead of time) and discuss the different relationships characters can have with one another. What's the difference in writing friends and enemies? What about characters that dislike one another but must work together for the greater good? How can one write convincing chemistry? What was Matt Donald thinking saying that joke about jobs/friends with benefits? We discuss it all, with our signature charm and musical voices, and talk about Harry Potter, Marvel, DC, and Matt Donald's own book in a shameless self-plug.
Originally recorded: March 2016
In this first episode of The Writ Wit, the two Matts introduce themselves, sing a garbage theme song on the spot, talk way too much about superheroes, and do their best to talk about fantasy and such. What is fantasy? How does one write fantasy compared to other genres? What are the different sub-genres of fantasy? Why does Matt David bash Groundhog Day even though he hasn't seen it? We discuss it all, in the great and intricate detail expected from this show, and talk about everything from Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Twilight for some reason, and the ultimate fantasy book, the BIBLE!!! (Just kidding...or AM I?!)