Author, wanderer, enthusiast

Category: Writing

The Great Plot VS Pants Debate, Round 1

Stuart says you’ve got to plot your stories. Cullen isn’t so sure! Maybe you can just fly by the seat of your pants? We lay out our arguments in the (timeless?) Pants vs Plot debate. Also featured: Joseph Cambell was a moron; is Save the Cat worthless?; the creativity of David Lynch; and examples of stirring scenes from Dune Part II and The Fellowship of the Ring.

00:00 The Plotter vs. Pantser Debate

02:15 The Plotter Opening Statement: The Importance of Plotting in Speculative Fiction

05:29 The Pantser Opening Statement: The Joy of Discovery in Writing

10:56 The Utility of Knowing Your Story’s Themes

14:59 The Simplicity at the Heart of Complex Stories

20:40 Navigating Plot Structures

28:41 Exploring the Themes of ‘The Lord of the Rings’

40:29 Exploring David Lynch’s Creative Process

45:30 Dune: Themes of Power and Revenge

52:27 Stuart’s Pathos, Ethos, and Logos Toolkit

57:16 Closing statements: The Balance of Plotting and Discovery in Writing

Stuart’s Examples:

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien Interpreted by Peter Jackson, screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Stephen Sinclair

DUNE by Frank Herbert Interpreted by Dennis Villanueva, Screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Dennis Villanueva, Eric Roth.

Referenced in this conversation:

The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joseph Cambell

Seven Basic Plots, by Christopher Booker

Save the Cat, by Blake Snyder

The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler

The Heroine’s Journey: Woman’s Quest for Wholeness by Maureen Murdock

Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes

Aaron Sorkin Teaches Screenwriting

Date Record: Oct 14, 2025

Date Publish: Oct 15, 2025

Music by Cullen McHael

Edited by Cullen McHael

Produced by Cullen McHael

Hosts: Stuart J. Tanner, Cullen McHael

Follow us!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InkingNeon

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Cullen McHael: https://cullenmchael.com

Stuart J. Tanner: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08XW3G4WG/ https://www.amazon.com.au/Art-of-Story/dp/B08JL6GJBR/

2025-10-24
Great Antagonists, From Nurse Ratched to Big Brother
Stuart J. Tanner and Cullen McHael trade examples of compelling antagonists in speculative fiction from Sci-Fi to Fantasy, deconstruct the role of the antagonist, and offer advice from hard earned lessons about how and when to consider your antagonist in your writing process. Cullen lists nine kinds of antagonist, which one are you?

0:00 Intro
5:28 The Role of the Antagonist
8:40 Antagonist Example: The Joker in the Dark Knight
15:41 The Antagonist Letdown
24:32 9 Kinds of Antagonist: Which One Are You?
30:46 The Complexity of Antagonists
33:01 The Bully: from Nurse Ratchet to Big Brother
41:23 Antagonists Beyond Ideologies
48:26 Cullen’s Final Comments: Lowering the Bar and Escaping Inflated Expectations
53:04 Stuart Final Comments: Joys of Speculative Fiction

Questions of the Day:
1. When do you decide on an antagonist?
2. Great Antagonists—what makes them great?
  1. The Joker from The Dark Knight
  2. Roy Batty in Bladerunner
  3. Sauron in The Lord of the Rings
  4. Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
  5. Johan from Monster
3. Failed Antagonists—why?
4. Types of antagonist?
  1. Fallen hero
  2. Competitor hero
  3. Evil mask
  4. Bully
  5. Corrupt priest
  6. Unstoppable force
  7. Grand shadow
  8. Wild beast
  9. Hostile environment
5. How might you fit an antagonist into the narrative, especially at the first third of the book?
6. How does your choice of antagonist shape your narrative?
7. How do we set out to decide what kind of antagonist to use in a given story?
Follow us!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InkingNeon

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inking-neon-light-up-your-stories/id1838329557

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1qSplbBX4oYmd2pYoSAzOF

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/c7826f91-085a-4509-9c69-d90fef1bdb5b/inking-neon-light-up-your-stories

iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-inking-neon-light-up-your-294206954

PodBean: https://inkingneon.podbean.com/

Cullen McHael: https://cullenmchael.com

Stuart J. Tanner: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08XW3G4WG/ https://www.amazon.com.au/Art-of-Story/dp/B08JL6GJBR/

Music by Cullen McHael

Edited by Cullen McHael

Produced by Cullen McHael

Hosts: Stuart J. Tanner, Cullen McHael
2025-09-30
The Fight for Compelling Fight Scenes

Stuart J. Tanner and Cullen McHael share hard-earned lessons about getting your fight scenes right.

0:00 Intro
1:34 What are Fight Scenes For?
10:00 The Fun Element
11:00 Problem Solving
14:39 Scaffolding, Worldbuilding, and Playing With Rules
24:22 The Great Challenge: Clarity
28:25 Examples of Compelling Fight Scenes
32:52 4 Things a Fight Scene Can Do
34:56 Establishing Stakes: Costs, Risks, and Invincibility
40:17 Reading: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
45:10 Analysis of Altered Carbon’s Effectiveness and Choices
55:18 Final Thoughts

Edited by Cullen McHael
Produced by Cullen McHael
Hosts: Stuart J. Tanner, Cullen McHael

Questions of the Day:
1. Why are fight scenes important in speculative fiction?
2. Examples of compelling fight scenes?
3. What makes a fight scene compelling?
4. Why have fight scenes?
5. Where do authors sometimes go wrong with fight scenes?

Book Recommendations
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

2025-09-23
Discovering Characters With Stuart J. Tanner

On this first episode of Inking Neon, journalist, author, and teacher Stuart J. Tanner is sent to Baghdad at the height of the Iraq occupation and discovers that and other strange worlds. We discuss what makes for compelling characters, the process of investigation in writing, and read from Stuart’s book Devas: A Sci-Fi adventure in which a serial murder case spirals out of control when a detective discovers an alien civilization.

2025-09-07
Beamed Up, Up and Away

It’s been a bit of a month. First, there’s this bit of excitement:

The other Beamed Up authors and I will be hosting a little online release party https://www.facebook.com/groups/IndieReadersPartyRoom/ on Sunday the 24th starting at about 3 pm Eastern. Drop in for fast and furious jokes, memes, and whatever questions you want to ask!

I’ve also got a short story featured in the Enter The Rebirth anthology edited by Thomas Gondalfi, who put in quite a lot of good work.

Keep writing my lovelies!

2018-06-23
How To Finish Your First Draft: Four Rules for Survival

A first draft is a battlefield of ideas tearing themselves apart. As you charge for the objective, injured ideas beg for your attention, plotting errors lead to landmines going off seemingly at random, research fox-holes beckon you to take a break and dive into something safe and intriguing, and critics (internal and external) direct bullets of self-doubt and flamethrowers of fear.

You want the shiny ribbon they hand out with a finished piece of writing (there is no ribbon, but sometimes there’s money)? You want to repose in the comfortable fields called ‘draft revision?’ Here is the best advice I know how to give to get you across that tormented murder-land called a first draft.
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2018-03-23
Eight Poor Words, and How to Enrich Them.

I see these words used frequently by my students. They seldom improve a sentiment. Some muddy clear water. Others waste opportunity. Editing for them provides eight ways to improve the next draft.

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2017-04-11