Writers and Readers: The Timecrest Podcast Sneaky Crab

Three key mistakes that writers make resulting in flat characters. One silver bullet. Breaking down the character writing flaws of Kate Austen from Lost, Dr. Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory, and everybody in Season 8 of Game of Thrones. The motivations and stakes of Luthor Timecrest. Timecrest Q&A on writing Timecrest characters.

Intro


The reason your character is flat, is because you don't love them.

Writers and Readers


Mistake #1: Not giving your characters a motivation with stakes
Mistake #2: Over-reliance on "freebies"
Mistake #3: Your character is inconsistent
A silver bullet: Love your character. [Ender's Game quote]

Bi-Annual Evaluation Survey


Narnet: As a perfectionist, how do you give your characters interesting and believable flaws?
Grace Lama: How did you make the characters' personalities come across clearly?
Stickup Leashes: What was it like creating the Memory Oracles.

Archive Oracles


Which characters underwent the most changes from early to final drafts?
Which characters were the easiest and hardest to write?
Which character is your favorite to write?

Credits:

Timecrest is a young adult fantasy where you are the main character. It was featured in Apple's App Store Best Of and The New York Times, and has won Best Game & Developer of the Year, AppleVis Golden Apples.

Email us at ⁠podcast@sneakycrab.com⁠, we love hearing from you.

Unofficial Fan Discord: ⁠

https://discord.gg/jE43dFEw8P

Get Timecrest for iOS and Apple Watch in the ⁠App Store⁠.

Five key mistakes that writers make when beginning their stories. Breaking down the openings of Timecrest, Dark, and Harry Potter. Timecrest Q&A on choices we made while rewriting of Timecrest 1.

Pre-show


Introducing our hosts, Cai, Bennett, and Justin!

Writers and Readers


The openings of Timecrest, Dark, and Harry Potter.
Mistake #1: Not hooking the reader
Mistake #2: Demanding emotion too early
Mistake #3: Not setting up character motivation
Mistake #4: Not setting up the stakes
Mistake #5: Not making a promise for the genre and world

Timecrest Q&A


Timecrest 1 was rewritten. What were you trying to establish or convey in the rewritten prologue?
Why was the default fate of Lyall reversed in the rewrite?
What happened to the original Ash in the prologue who was able to make it to Mount Asura without the pocket watch?
Why was chapter 6 rewritten?
What was your favorite scene in the rewritten Timecrest 1?
Who tells us the rules of time at the beginning of the story? Or is it a omniscient narrator fyi sort-of-deal?

Credits:

Timecrest is a young adult fantasy where you are the main character. It was featured in Apple's App Store Best Of and The New York Times, and has won Best Game & Developer of the Year, AppleVis Golden Apples.

Email us at podcast@sneakycrab.com, we love hearing from you.

Unofficial Fan Discord:

https://discord.gg/jE43dFEw8P

Get Timecrest for iOS and Apple Watch in the App Store.

After eight years of writing Timecrest, we’re ready to share what we’ve learned about writing a good story. They say a story is written twice. The first time is when you put the words down on paper, and the second, when the reader reads them. 

So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy a casual chat between me and our co-hosts, Cai and Bennett, between writers and readers, as we take apart writing principles and talk about some of our favorite stories. We’ll also give you a behind the scenes look at how we approached writing Timecrest.

Download Timecrest for iOS and Apple watch here!