S2E14 - Not Every Episode Needs a Clever Title.

The ability to like, just get completely synced audio that like, has been recorded by Riverside is so nice. It's like, like it's not that hard to. To match everybody up manually, even though we don't use sync points, but like, it does take a minute, but. Hello and welcome to behind the Locked Doors, a, you know, conference call disguised as a podcast where we keep each other accountable for our. I am Scott Paladin. I am working on a horny werewolf audio drama called It Takes a Wolf.

And you are like working on the production part now because you're done like writing down.

I no longer stayed writing because the writing part has been.

I noticed that.

Yeah, yeah, really exciting. I mean, there's going to be revisions, but anyway, more introductions. We can get to status later.

Hi, I'm Jack. I'm working on AZ and West, a spin off of Unspeakable Distance.

Hi, I'm Interiority, AKA Mike and I am deep in the word minds on my audio drama Sunday. Not going to see the light of day from that for a while, you know, like it just.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel you. Okay, so we'll do our check ins. I. I don't remember exactly what I said, what I was doing last time. I know that I have sent out my first draft to a bunch of alpha readers and gave people heads up that, you know, please read this and give me input. So I'm waiting back on some of those still. So before I do my next draft revision, we have the virtual tabletop read coming up day after tomorrow, which. Yeah, that'll be fun. So I've done a bunch of production on that and then I have started working on the casting call. I'm probably actually going to. I was thinking it was going to come out next week, was going to do stage one of the casting call. I think I might delay that actually so I can get a couple more ducks in a row. But yeah, that's where I'm at.

Amazing. You've done a ton of stuff. I actually finished my homework for one. Well, kind of. I finished the longer draft of a episode two. What I have not done is any edits on the pilot stuff. But that's okay. I feel like good about having completed any part of my homework on any given week, so we'll take that as a win. Also, we're Sam List today.

Yeah, we are soundless today. Yeah, yeah, just one of those. They have to do something much cooler and more like worthwhile to the world than Come talk about. Come talk to us on a podcast that doesn't really need to exist. How are you doing, inner Tyrio, already? How's your homework go?

I mean, I'm trying to find a more elegant way to say I have done fuck all, but I think that's pretty much kind of like. Yeah. The way I took it. Yeah, a little bit. Like, you know, like, I did intend to do some stuff, but I've had two weekends where I had one weekend where I had someone visiting. And although the person visiting is a published author who, you know, like, is, you know, like, award nominated and has, like, an adaptation in the works with Netflix and all that sort of thing. Really spend that much time on writing. Yeah. So, yes, like, opportunity for, like, you know, like some. Some real kind of progress there. Just. Just missed because we're just socializing. And then last weekend, unfortunately, I've been having to focus on my writing for money side gig. The various ones that I've got going on at the moment because. Because I need the cash. And also deadlines are a thing.

Um, yeah.

So, yeah. So, yeah, it's personal project, back burner. That's all right. Gotta make those dollars.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you just gotta keep ticking along and. And, you know, you'll get there eventually. As long as you don'. Give up. Yeah, Ideally.

Ideally, I would like not to give up. Maybe that's my goal for next time.

Like, something despair.

Do not joke. That is sometimes. That is the goal.

That's so real. And also, I want to say congratulations for making literal human money off of writing, because that's, like, a difficult thing to do.

I realize that is a very difficult thing to get to, and the only explanation I can offer for it is cronyism. That is literally the only reason I'm in the position. I am so.

Well, still, that's amazing. Congratulations. And also, it is so fun. How many weeks in a row typically, do I go, yeah, I didn't do my homework. Like, most of them.

Yeah, that's fine.

No, that's. That's. That's life, man. Like, sometimes, you know, you just, like, stuff gets in the way. That's like. That's why we have this podcast, is to, like, keep it taking over. Because, like, I know, like, I've already said this, but, like, if we are not meeting every couple of weeks and, like, me having to, like, make forward progress, I would have given up already. Like, I would have written an episode and a half and then been like, nah, screw it, and then gone. Done something else. Yeah.

And instead you have a completed draft, so.

Yeah, look at what you're on now. It's.

It's bonkers. Yeah.

Getting.

Getting feedback from people is good. I. I do need. I should have picked my Alpha readers a little bit more carefully. I needed one person who would key smash whenever they read something fun.

Damn, that should have been me, because I did. Okay, so another piece of it wasn't actually assigned homework, but I did do it between last time and this time is finished. Reading all of Scott's scripts, and they fucking rule, bro. This show's gonna be so fun.

I want to say I have not finished reading all of Scott's scripts. I have started reading all of Scott scripts, and it's. I don't know. Have you ever kind of like, been in a situation? Like, you know, sometimes I find with art, like, the art that I really like, I kind of connect with. I'm like, oh, yeah, I could have written this. Like, you know, like, we're of the same mind. We're kind of following the same thing. And then there's art that you get where you're like, I like this. But there is no way in fucking hell that I could ever have written this. I do not possess the tools. I do not possess the brain to. But it's. It's a thing of beauty and wonder. Scott's writing. Cause it's very solidly in the second category. I'm reading it, and I'm like, how has this come out of a man's mind?

It's like, how'd you do that?

It's also just, like, so perfect as well. I love it. I really do. And it knows what it wants to be, and it is that thing, and it's.

It's so tonally sharp, like, so.

And just reading it on the page is so enjoyable. Like, quite often, like, there's a little bit of a mental leap, especially with audio drama scripts, to kind of go, what's this going to be like when it's finally done? And, like, yeah, yeah. I can kind of see where it is, and, you know, there's got to be accommodations made. But this. Read it for pleasure. Like, this is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm glad that.

That all of the. Forcing myself not to. What was the word? It's like, all gas, no brakes, is the thing that I kept running through my head where I'm like, every time I have an instinct to do something that seems a little bit off, just do it.

Just do it.

Which did result. The longer it went on, the more I would just paste something into the. Into the discord where I was like, I can't keep this because it's not right. But it is something I just had to, like, write and show people. But lots of that stuff stayed in, so I'm glad that it comes through. Or it's more like, how can I make this really pure Al joke work? Like, how can I save this? So that's, like.

It's funny. I want to keep it. How can I make it, like, fit into the world?

How's it.

And you've done that.

Yeah, totally fit. Well, I'm really glad that y' all are enjoying it. That makes me feel really good. The. Yeah, it's definitely something to be. There's the. There's that, like, calling it the word minds is absolutely the perfect imagery, where you're like, you're deep and you're alone and it's dark and like.

Yeah, you don't. Toiling away.

Yeah, the canary's dead, you know?

Yeah, the canary's dead. The canary's long gone. It's bones at this point. And. But you are, like. You're just toiling away. You're, like, chipping away the thing, and you're like, I don't know what I'm pulling out. If it's like or. Or if it's just, like, the. What's the other word?

Shit.

Dross. Yeah. Shit. Yes. Is this a corporal light from a billion years ago? And I don't have any idea. And then you, like, come back up, and you're like, let me show these rocks to people. And so they'll tell me if they're any good or not.

Somebody tell me if this is rocks or shit.

Okay. We mentioned canaries, though, and I this as another example of humans always being humans. And then sometimes that being a good thing is that I have learned that there are special canary reviving devices specifically for canaries.

Oh, my God.

Because you keep them in a little cage, and they had a thing where if the canary thought. They thought it was in trouble, they could close it off and flood it with clean air so that hopefully the canary could come back.

Oh, my God.

And I'm like, that's too adorable.

Like, that's really sweet.

It's so sweet.

Not a fucked up. That you're making the canary do this fucked up labor in the first place, but at least you have a contingency plan.

Well, like, the idea that, like, somebody had, like, the. The bad. Not the bad thought, but, like, the, like, the very mercenary thought of, like, well, this thing can die if it saves our lives. Like, it saves A human life by then. And then somebody else is like, but what if we save the canary too? Like, you can save parts of human nature right there.

Justice once everybody lives, canary included.

Yeah. Yeah.

So I don't. I don't have a topic for our, like, discussion today. The thing I wanted to talk about, I wanted to have Sam here for. So that's gonna last next time around.

Was that Kickstarter stuff.

It was. I want to. I need to figure out how much I get. I'm gonna pay people. And I know, yeah, Sam makes a bunch of money with. Or not a bunch of money, but makes Has, Has. Has. Has the most experience amongst us. Has the most experience amongst us about making money with their voice. So therefore, I thought that full point of view. So that'll. We'll talk to them later about that or maybe I'll just call them because I do need to move. But did you guys have anything you wanted to discuss or talk about?

Because I wanted to discuss Sam's outrageous wealth and the fact that he just flaunted at every corner. But, you know, Sam has a custom.

Not custom, but has, like a specially built voice studio now. Like.

I love that for him.

Yeah.

I went to do an actual voice recording I cared about the other day, and I had to go in my closet for the first time ever did and like, record like a little hermit in the. Amongst all of the hanging coats and drying laundry at.

The coats are very sound insulating, though.

That's why you. That's why you want to do that? Yes. Because a small closed closet with full of soft materials. Yeah, it's the cheat. For a long time. Ever since, like, home recording started, people have been like, yeah, go in your closet. And it works great. But I haven't had. I hadn't previously had to do that. I had like an office before that was like, somewhat treated. And now I'm like, not in.

But yeah, I still need to treat the other two, like, surfaces in this room because I have, like, sort of blankets hanging along two of the walls in here. And then there's just this hard wall with nothing on it and the door behind me. And I feel like those both bounce sound pretty bad. So I need to do something to them.

And you can. You can mitigate that somewhat with where you place your mic. So I can see that you've got. Just from. From where it is, you've got your mic sort of in the corner with the two treated walls behind it. And that's broadly speaking, like, if you're only gonna do Two, that's the way to do it. Because your voice is gonna be going out from there and getting absorbed, and there's gonna be less reflections than coming back and hitting those walls behind you. So that is the way to do it. They even make. I know Vic. Our friend Vic Collins really swears by. He's got a. One of those little, like just a. Like a. Like a. Like a foam thing you put around your mic so that it blocks all the reflections from the back and it comes just from your. From your mouth. And he.

And his audio always sounds good.

Yeah, he gets great quality out of that. And he's otherwise, I believe, in an untreated room. So, yeah, you can get really far with just, like, sort of minimal treating. Back in the. Like, I recorded maybe 100 however many episodes we did of Monster Mechanics. Almost all of those were recorded in the middle of a giant untreated living room. But we built a moving blanket tent every time that we wanted to record. Me and my co host, we'd, like, sit a little round table, and then I'd set up these light stands with bars across the top of them and then cover the entire thing with moving blankets. So it's like me and my. And my. And my friend, like, crouched over this table with like. And I had to, like, bring in, like, lights because, like, little, like, twinkle battery powered twinkle lights because that's the only one I had that would, like, light the room. So it's like. It was strangely intimate. Like, you're, like, in this little, dark, warm space.

Warm, humid space you're crouched in with your best homie.

Yeah. Talking about centaurs or whatever.

Oh, my God.

Yeah. Yeah, we through all of that. That was. That was fun.

That's adorable.

So, but yeah, every time we wanted to record, I had to haul all this stuff out and build. Build a. Build a blanket for it.

Yeah.

That's so funny. Were you doing that for your Mass Effect to re replay podcast also?

No. By then, the pandemic had hit and we were doing everything remotely. So then I switched back to the office. Yeah, I should finish that one. I don't think I'm ever gonna get Zach back for it, but I should get, like, rotating people or something for it because it would be fun to finish that one out.

Put me on it. I'll do it with you.

You and I have too many podcast things.

I know. In my.

What?

Spare time.

Yeah, I know. And I've already got to get, like, four people to record out, three different people to record for. I will Fear no evil.

Yeah, seriously. Ari's about halfway through. She's trucking.

Yeah. Yeah. My wife finished her read through, so. Yeah, we can get that. I'm going to wait till after this weekend.

Was she mad?

She came away with it actually better than I expected. She was able to say.

Interesting.

Some positive things about it, which is remarkable for context. Readers, there is a book called I Will Fear no Evil written by a man named Robert A. Heinlein. And it is the premise of this book and the execution of this book is wild enough that I have described it to several people and they have all gone, well, I guess I'm reading that now.

I have to. It's crazy.

It is very much a let's dissect the author like a bug kind of thing. So that'll come out on a different feed than this one. I was not planning on recording on that one. We were just like.

No, we just like the more people heard about it and read it, we were like, we have to talk. I. I will explode if I don't speak about this with someone.

Yeah, it's. It's. It's good. Is it? It's interesting. I. I went in with such low expectations that my reaction was actually relatively positive expectations. Okay. Actually, I do have something I want to. But I would love to get Yalls input on. Mike, you talked about how sometimes in your reading you like, there's the version of where you're like, I could never have made this. Like, I watched Sinners the other day and I'm like, sinners is amazing. And like. But again, not. There's just nothing about this that I would have made. Right. Like, it is so different in its point of view on a subject that I am already in that sort of in sort of in the weeds about. But like the point of view is so clear and so different that I love this and it has nothing to do. I wouldn't have done it. It. But the other version of it where you're like, oh, this is really close to what I would have done. Does anybody else read that and get mad? Like, it makes you angry that you're like, I could have done.

Oh yeah, yeah, that could have been me. Yeah, yeah. There's anger, there's. There's jealousy. There's just, you know, like. Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Yeah. A lot of negative emotions can fold up into one. Like, you know, like just, you know, like just a lot of introspection about kind of how much I've wasted my life and then a run through of all the, you know, Decision points in my life where I should have made the right decision but didn't just play as a montage, probably for about 48 hours at least. Yeah, yeah.

So, yeah, yeah.

It's an interesting journey. Yeah, yeah.

Conversely, I find often that I, like, read or watch something that has a premise that I feel I could have executed better. Which I don't know what that says about me or the media that I consuming. But, like, sometimes I do, like, I just like, you know, read something and I go, well, shit, I could tell you, like the five or six, like, minor to major scale changes that you could have made that would have made this piece of media fantastic instead of kind of mid or actively bad. Yeah, yeah, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Well, I feel like you and I did that with Sucker Punch. Like, we went through and we were like, we should have let Scott make this movie. I feel like this could have been a really dope movie.

Don't bring that movie back up to.

Me instead of Zack Snyder.

You can't bring that movie up to me.

We can't talk about Sucker Punch anyways.

Yeah, no, yeah. It's interesting because when you, when you see something that you have, like, you. You feel like you've got a distinct point of view on, and I know how to fix this. Sometimes you're like, yeah, you get that. Like, I'm going to go in there, I'm going to see how I could. What changes I could make, how I could revitalize it, how I could subvert the things that it does wrong things like that. And that is sort of creatively rejuvenating the corollary I was talking about, where it's something really close to what you do, and it makes me mad. I'm like, why didn't I do this? I know that part of that is that the point of view of whatever I'm seeing is close enough to my own that now I feel that I can't touch this. Like, oh, they did it as good as I could do it or better. And like, I couldn't even bring some of my own. My own personalness to this because they did. They told my point of view better than I would have told them.

Right, right, okay, yeah, I see what you're talking about.

Yeah, yeah. Like, it kind of. Kind of robs you. But, like, yeah, when you, when you see something like, oh, that's, that's. There's something there, there's juice there, there's meat on those bones. Like, we could, we could gnaw on this and figure something out. Better like that.

Yeah.

That I find like the opposite sort of almost exciting.

Guys, in his werewolf bag right now, he's like, I need a gnaw some bones immediately.

I've been using that image or that imagery for a long time. But then again, I. Yeah, you've been.

In your werewolf bag for a long time. How long have you been making the show? Two years.

No, I've been. I've been using gnawing the bones for, like, ever. But then again, I have been. I have been. Thankfully, my Internet history. Yeah, I've been. I've been both pilled forever. So thankfully, my Internet history is. Has been wiped by username changes. Changes. So there's no longer available on the Internet. But. Yeah, no, that's not.

That's not you either.

I have been. I have been in the wolf hole for a long time.

Yeah. You know. Oh, yeah. Really quick circling back to your untreated space that you recorded. So my one downside, the reason I need to treat my other two walls is because I have a terrible habit of turning my head to the side when I laugh, which means the loudest sound I make bounces off of my hardest wall every time.

Yeah. Yeah.

Anyways, Werewolf hole.

Okay. Is there. Let's see if there's anything I wanted to talk about with the virtual table read. We were splitting that up into two groups. So I got to play who gets to go where. They got a bunch of guff about people being like, hey, why wasn't I in Mike's group?

How come we all can't read with Mike? What the hell?

I'm surprised about that. Cool kids. And then everyone was like, I want to read with Mike.

And I'm like, officially, both sets are the cool kids table.

They are. The lineup you've got are excellent people, top to bottom.

It's so good. I'm so excited.

Okay, well, since we don't, I think we've kind of ranged over a couple of little topics and that's probably enough for an episode. Anyway, let's set our goals. So two weeks from now, maybe Ish. Something like that. I don't know if we have a. If we have. Yeah, probably that will be mid August. I would. This is the thing I don't want to make. I don't want to. I'm pushing back my casting call. I was going to start it like next week, like Monday. I want to push it off another week, but that means that by the time we meet, it would be out. But I don't know if I want to make that call. I don't know if I want to make that call just yet because like I said, I want to have a couple of more ducks in a row. Specifically, I want to be able to say, here's how much these roles are.

Going to be, for sure. You want to have, like, payment information available.

Yeah, yeah. So that people know what they're getting into and break it up. You know, here's what the pilot's going to be, here's what it will probably be later, blah, blah, blah, all that stuff. But yeah, so, okay, I'm going to make significant progress, progress on that, and I'm going to work on some other background production stuff. And then maybe if. If I get my. My Alpha readers all back, I'll start working on some revisions. I already know that there's, like, I don't know, at least a thousand words need to be added to, like, episodes seven and eight. Probably got to figure out what that would be, but I'm waiting for feedback for before I do that. So, like, my, My, My goals start worrying about other people or not. They start being reliant on whether or not other people, like, give me feedback and stuff. That's where. Yeah, but that's where we're at. I want to be the next thing is the. Is the casting call for episode one so that I can get some of those principles in. And then. Yeah, then we start doing, like, real production, recording and stuff.

Oh, my God. Very exciting.

Yeah. How about you, Jack?

My goals are to touch base with Sam about what we want to do next. I believe I have more stuff I need to upload to organize the Google Drive that Sam has so nicely put together for us. And I need to do dialogue revisions for Azariah on the pilot episode.

Okay.

And then I don't know whether I'm drafting the next episode or Sam is drafting the next episode. We'll discuss that. It'll probably be Sam because it was me on the episode two, and we're trying to go back and forth, but that makes sense. Yeah, I'll touch base with Sam. My big job is touch base with Sam. See where we're at.

How about you and Tori? Already?

Well, so I guess like two weeks time, given the people involved, I think it's probably a realistic goal to say, hopefully have the table read finished by then. Just like, given the amount of kind of crimes that will probably be committed and the ad libs and just the endless jokes.

Yeah, we're gonna be stuck there for two full weeks.

I think anything less is probably Just a little bit out of the realms of possibility. I think we're gonna be responsible. Like two weeks.

How long does YouTube let you stream at a time?

Yeah, I don't know. We've never pushed. I've never. I haven't used.

Never pushed the envelope on that one, have we?

I think probably Riverside might cut us off before YouTube does.

So.

Yeah.

So, yeah, realistically. Table read Dundustard. I mean, like, you know, don't give in to despair. Always a good one. Write a sentence of the next episode of Sunday Dust.

Any old one.

Yeah.

Oh, really quick, Mike, have you. Did we speak about while you've been on the. The pod, like the skip around technique where if you haven't done progress on a project in a long hot minute and you're like, my God, I don't even like, remember where I was or what I was doing or what I wanted to add and then being like, okay, I'm just going to like go further ahead into the story and pick sort of a buoy mark of a thing I know I want to hit in the future and plop something down like a buoy in the water, like way out in the distance. And then you can kind of go back and start moving toward the buoy that you. You put down.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I recall you kind of talking about that. But yeah, I wasn't around during that point.

I don't think you were here for it. But we did talk about. And I feel like, especially for me when I'm in a project, like, deep in it and being like, God, fuck, going chronologically is not working out for me right now, sometimes, like skipping ahead to something that I'm super hype about that I know I want in there. And I don't want to forget the juice of what I was going to put there in the future. Plopping that down, like, excites me to go back and puzzle out how I'm gonna get there. You know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like inspiration, I think. Yeah, that might be a good thing to do. I mean, my problem is more so that the time that I have and the energy that I have to write is gonna be taken up by doing stuff for someone else. Yeah, unfortunately, that's tough. But cool stuff. Cool stuff and stuff I'm interested in.

Right. But still not stuff for this project.

No, that's the thing. So it's just feeling like I'm doing like at least a little bit of something towards it would actually kind of like make the world of difference. Yeah, yeah.

Just that little steady progress is so different than not doing anything. Like, doing anything at all over the course of a month is like a world of difference from being like, well, I didn't do anything for. I didn't do anything for X period of time.

Yeah. One sentence is a good goal. Write one sentence on your project between now and next time.

And if you, if you can, again, if you're, if the, if the problem's momentum, then that one sentence thing also works. If your problem is time, sometimes there's just nothing for it, you know, but if you, sometimes, if you just say, I'm going to write anything today, it's easier to like, you write like, I'm just going to write a sentence. It's easier to get that sentence, second sentence than you might think, you know?

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

But if you're limited on time and like, of creative energy and stuff, then, you know, that may, there may just not be. That may not be as useful for you. So. Yeah, okay.

At least once a year. Yeah, good luck. At least once a year I try to do the like micro nanowrimo where like, you pick a month where every day you write 250 words or like some tiny, tiny amount. And there are days where I just miss it and there are multiple days in a row I will miss it. But then some days you write your 250 words. The next thing you know you've written a thousand words and you're like, whoa, that was easy. Okay. And by the end, you have more words than you started with. Even if the amount is not large, it's more than zero.

Yeah. Yeah. I kind of wish I didn't have a job which required writing as well because like, any given single day I'd be going, I'm going through like 6,7000 words easy anyway. So I get to the end of the day, it's like, well, how much is left in the tank for this?

Yeah, it's like the tank got spent on the working for money. Damn.

Yeah, so, yeah, but, yeah, like the, the current jobs I've got are all due by the end of August, so I'm hoping like, at least by mid August I can get some of them out of the way and I can, I can then divide the time a bit more evenly. But next couple of weeks it's going to be tough, but I'll make it through. Yeah.

Okay.

All right, cool.

We're thinking thoughts that you. Positive thought to you.

Sending. Sending you energy.

Yeah, yeah. Beaming it.

I think the exchange rate's terrible between you. Right. It's an efficient use of energy.

Yeah. I mean, you blame it on Trump, but, you know.

Yeah, I blame most things on him. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

All right. Well, in that case, we will catch y' all in a couple weeks. Bye.

Bye. All right.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of behind the Locked Doors, where I have just discovered that I think our Patreon page hasn't been, like, live this entire time. So I'll have to double check on that. But, you know, you could try it at patreon.com curseknowledge if you want to find more about our projects, go to www.library.horse. and other than that, we'll see you in a little bit. By.