Writing Roots

Fairy tales have been one of the go-to ways to teach children about the world for centuries. Though the stories have changed greatly since their origination, we can recognize titles such as Snow White, Thumbelina, and The Little Red Riding Hood.

When it comes to the history of storytelling, fairy tales and bedtime stories cannot go ignored. While they had a surge of popularity in the 1700s to 1800s, parents had already been reciting these tales for centuries. Most have some kind of moral or warning, teaching children to avoid very real dangers even if the objects in the story were fairies and witches.

Most importantly, though, are the impacts these types of stories had in developing fiction as we know it today. Many fantastical works have some kind of basis in the extraordinary fairy tales told centuries ago to children falling asleep for the night. The magic and mystical elements of these tales helped spawn the fantasy genre.

For more about how fairy tales helped shape fiction, listen to this episode below.

First aired September 20, 2021.

We’re still buying your books to celebrate our two-year anniversary and thank all of you listeners for your support! Hosts Leigh and Ley are buying self-published books from our listeners and followers. We’ll keep buying until our fund runs out. Find out more on our Facebook or Instagram. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter (found on our homepage) while you’re here.

The post S24E6 – Fairy Tales and Bedtime Stories appeared first on Writing Roots.

From the other players at your table to the vast cultures available within the worlds, there is a lot to learn about diversity from engaging in TTRPGs. You can explore different experiences through your characters and their interactions. You can learn about team balance, where everyone has their unique role and contributions. All of this you can translate over into your own storytelling through writing.

One of the main jobs an author has is to immerse their audience in the story. One of the most effective ways to do this is to engage all of the reader’s senses – or at least their memories of those senses. We need to use sights, sound, smell, touch, and taste as we craft worlds and scenes. But that can be difficult. Books are limited in what they can actually show. Most of us tend to focus mostly on the sights of the world since it’s easiest to paint that mental picture. True worldbuilding involves so much more. That’s why we wanted to address this question.

Listen to this episode for a breakdown of how to include sensory details, both as you write and as you edit.

First aired December 15, 2022.

The post S38E5 – How Do I Add Sensory Details to My Writing? appeared first on Writing Roots.

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use.

Not all writers write books. Some write poems, speeches, scripts, or articles. In this episode, Ley and Leigh discuss the differences for different mediums and what you need to expect when you branch out of the book business.

First aired November 25, 2019.

The post S4E7 – Writing Other Media appeared first on Writing Roots.

Ernest Hemingway is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century, his influence expanding beyond just his works alone. His writing is as straightforward as his advice for writers. We review some of that advice and break down how it applies to modern writers.

First aired January 28, 2021.

The post S18E8 – Pearls from the Masters: Ernest Hemingway appeared first on Writing Roots.