It could also be that a few false tasks make them seem to run in circles, but could simply be a spiral, that only you know about, that gets them to the part you need them to be.

Hope that helps a little.

I understand the need to keep the reader interested and on their toes.. but something I struggle with is midleading my characters. It kills me to fabricate wrong turns for my characters along the way, even though I know what’s *really* going on, because I never feel like I can back up the red herring with solid reasoning. Is it just a matter of giving them limited pieces of information along the way? How can I keep the characters and the readers guessing wrong, while at the same time having the answer under their noses the whole time? (It’s always amazing to go through a book/movie the second time and realize that the answer was there all along, like Diane Setterfield’s “The Thirteenth Tale.” I want to be able to do that.)

Now that I’ve listened to them, let me give a big thank you for providing such an informative and entertaining podcast.

There are few topic ideas that I’d love to hear you do that I thought I’d throw out there: the horror genre (I’m really interested to hear about this in terms of fantasy, as in horror with magic systems, etc.). I’d also love to hear you guys chat about writing sci fi/fantasy/horror in an historical setting.

Thanks again — Loving this! I hope you don’t get bored of this project anytime soon, I found this through being a fan of Brandon Sanderson’s but I will definitely be reading Dan Wells and Howard Tayler now. It’s really neat that you are bringing your fan bases together here.

Eliyanna

I think if the work is good enough, people will let others know. Plus, it is FREE, so if it sucks, you are out nothing. Cory Doctorow (Boing Boing) releases all his stuff for free, and in print. The ways to distrubute media is changing, so yeah, there is a load of poo out there, but the good stuff can really shine if it is great, and if the author takes the time to market themselves.

Explains why so many authors like to write about broken or flawed heroes. If you start with a protagonist who is broken, it makes all sorts of things easier.

I tried clicking “download” but that seems to open a streaming window. I will listen online if I must, but my podcast time is usually the subway ride through NYC I take in the morning and home from work again, so I’d love to get 1-10 on my iPod somehow.

Thanks,

Eliyanna