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You run frantically through the streets. The cold winter air bites at your face, though the stinging in your eyes comes not from the frigid wind but from the tears streaming down your face. You and your companions manage to climb the ladder onto the wall and then quickly let down a rope on the otherside. Before you know it, you’re running aimlessly through the woods.

“Ulv, what happened back there?” Hipam asks.

In your mind you see you, Judir and Cojari talking to the rebel leader in his jail cell. Suddenly, you were surrounded by guards, and then your brother appeared from behind them. He mocked you and instructed the guards to take you all into custody. Then you heard a faint drum beat. Judir rushed forward and began fighting like a mad man. Utter chaos ensued. Judir fought with your brother and then the sound of a knife running through a man’s belly. Judir fell. Then it was just you and Cojari. As the guards turn on you and Cojari, you remember hearing a drum beat and then one final chant. You saw a flash of light as Judir became an orb of fiery red light. Suddenly, you were flung to the ground.

You came to and everything around you was dust and smoke and fire. Cojari was unconscious and being put in chains by a group of guards. Judir was completely gone. Your brother rose to his feet unsteadly staring daggers at you. To your left you saw a hole in the wall that hadn’t been there before. You saw a hole that lead to freedom. You jumped.

“We failed.” Was all you replied. “We failed”

Those words seem to chase you deep into the wintry night filled with smoke, snow, and tears.

What would you like to do now?

Welcome back to How to Be a Better Dungeon Master. I’m your host, Justin Lewis and together you and I are going to learn how to craft better stories for yourselves and your players as you DM sessions of D&D 5e and soon-to-be One DND.

No matter how you slice it, you have to prepare for your D&D sessions and campaigns and that means writing in some way shape or form. Well, to become a better dungeon master then, that means you’ll have to become a better writer. But how exactly does one do that? Don’t worry, today I’ll give you 5 simple tips to do just that.

But before we do that, I have some housekeeping items to go over.

Announcements

First let me give an enormous thank you to Rob, Tony, Jeff, Chaz, and Mark who joined me last Saturday for a very fun one-shot. They were excellent players, and if you’re listening to this, I want to let you know you actually discovered the secret ending to the one-shot so congratulations on that!

Remember, if you want to watch the upcoming one-shot with Bone Daddy Rob completely for free, just go to betterdungeonmaster.com/watch at the appointed time. I’ll let you know when that is via the podcast and our Instagram.

Now, let’s get to today’s topic!

Before I go on, I need to say that I am not a professional writer. I do not have an English degree. Instead, I’m like you, a dungeon master who loves the hobby and wants to improve any way I can. These are some things that have helped me over the years. There are probably a few tips out there that I’m missing. Maybe you can help fill out this list. I also want to note that I’m purposefully keeping this episode short. I have a list of tips and I’m only doing a portion of them in an effort to make the episode more digestible. I’ll come out with an extension to this list in a future episode.

Write a Lot

The first thing you need to do to become a better writer is to write, a lot. Just like any other thing in life, the only way to improve is by practicing. Having these weekly episodes to write has been an amazing exercise for me. Not only do I have to write in a way that sounds natural when speaking but I also have to think about the words I use. I also have to prepare for my D&D sessions and have the opportunity to work on one-shots for the podcast. Suffice it say, I have made a lot of progress (even though to you it might not seem like it), for me I’ve seen a lot of improvement.

Show your Writing To Others

Not only do you have to write a lot, but you should show your writing to a lot of people whose opinions you value. This isn’t an ego trip. Instead, this is a fact-finding mission. Your goal is to genuinely find information on the quality of your content. Pick two or three people that you really trust. Ask them to read through your content and then give you some advice on what could make it better. Before you send over your writing (whether for D&D or otherwise) make sure you explain to them the stakes of the situation. Make it extremely clear that this is a life-or-death situation! Well, the life of your writing skills or the death of them. Tell them that if they aren’t brutally honest they are killing your chances of improving your writing and making an impact with your words. You have to convince them to tell you how they really feel. Help them understand that their role is crucial to you becoming the best Dungeon master the world has ever seen!

Read a Lot

Aside from writing a lot, you need to read a lot. I don’t just mean reading fiction either. We’ve had several guests on the show who have touted the benefit of studying history and using real moments to inspire fictional ones. When you read you can do it for a multitude of reasons. You might read to learn about the style of one of your favorite writers, or you might read to consume content and learn the material. Still, you might just read for the fun of it. I wouldn’t neglect this last reason either because if you forget the joy of reading, that may be step 1 in forgetting the joy of writing. 

Revise and Edit (Even Other People’s Work)

If you’ve listened to the show before, you know that I love the youtube channel called Pitch Meeting. The owner of the channel pokes fun at massive plot holes in movies and TV shows in a very comical way. You also should practice spotting these plot flaws and even simple ways your work can be better. You should even do it for other peoples’ work too. Though, a small pro tip, don’t give them “advice” unless they ask for it. No one wants that. Instead, do mental exercises of what you’d do to improve other people’s work and why.

More importantly, though, you should be going over your own work multiple times. Admittedly, this is where I most often fall short. It’s been a failure my entire life. I’m a discovery writer which is OK, but I tend not to revise and edit, which is not OK. If nothing else, read what you write out loud and you’ll spot a lot more errors than you would otherwise.

Learn the Basics of Writing

When I was 19, I went to Italy on a mission for my church. My friend’s dad gave me a book on English grammar to prepare for learning the language. He explained that to learn another language, I’d need to understand how English and language in general work. He was right. You too need to do the same thing. To be able to speak the language of good writing and therefore good DMing, you’ll need to learn a little more about the basics of the English language (or whatever language you DM in I suppose). You’ll also need to learn the basics of writing as a whole. Dive into conflict, setting, character, voice, and other aspects of good story writing. You probably already know this, but my go-to is the podcast Writing Excuses because honestly, it is so good. I’m not an English major as I’ve already said and Writing Excuses cuts story writing down into manageable chunks.

Conclusion

No one is going to randomly become the greatest writer ever tomorrow. In fact, there’s a good chance you and I won’t even be decent writers tomorrow, but I promise you this: by practicing these tips, we will become better writers, and that means better Dungeon Masters. That’s all we need.

Thanks for listening to today’s episode. If you have any thoughts you’d like to add, send them over to us on our Instagram at @howtobeabetterdm.

Most importantly, start practicing. If you haven’t been a dungeon master quite yet, what the heck are you waiting for?

We’ll be back next week for another amazing episode of How to Be a Better DM. Until then, let’s go ahead and roll the initiative.

Mentioned in this episode:

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Listen to Our New Podcast

As a listener of this show, you obviously love story. Now that you’ve learned how to craft your own story on this show, wouldn’t it be nice to have some inspiration? Or maybe just a moment of immersion and escape? Then come join us in our new Actual Play D&D 5e show, Pact and Boon. Enter the World of Calignos where our characters, Jolly, Wolfgang and Alon will meet each other in Hell. Enjoy our troublemaking and near-death experiences wherever great podcasts are heard. Just go to session0studios.com/pactnboon and start listening today.

let's see how is this is this too good is this good enough yeah that's

great all right let's get to it

yeah

you run frantically through the streets the cold winter air bites at your face though

the stinging in your eyes comes not from the frigid wind but from the tears

streaming down your face

you and your companions manage to climb the ladder on to the outer wall of

the city and then quickly let down a rope on the other side before you

know it running aimlessly through the woods of what happened back there he asks in

your mind you see yourself huger and kajar talking to the rebel leader in his

jail cell you snuck into the prison suddenly we're surrounded by guards and then your

brother appeared from behind them he marked you and instructed the guards to take you

all prisoners then you hear faint drum beat crischendoed to a loud war cry as

hugo rushed forward and began fighting like a madman chaos ensued huger fought with your

brother and then everything still as the sound of a knife going through a man's

belly slit through the air huger fell it was just you and coja as the

guards turned on you you remember hearing

a faint drum beat then one final chant saw a flash of light as huger

himself became an orb of firy red light suddenly you were flung to the ground

you came to and everything around you was dust and smoking fire jerry was unconscious

and being put in chains by a group of guards who had remained conscious huger

i was completely gone you see your brother rise to his feet unstabily staring daggers

at you he commands guards to take you to your left you see a hole

in the wall that hadn't been there before you see a whole at leads to

freedom so you jump yeah we failed is all you can reply to heap failed

and those words seem to chase you deep into the wintry night filled with smoke

snow tears so what would you like to do now welcome back to how to

be a better dungeon master better d m i'm your host justin lewis and together

you and i are going to learn how to craft better stories for yourselves yeah

and your players as u d m sessions of d and d five and soon

to be one d n d no matter how you slice it have to prepare

for your dandy sessions and campaigns and that means writing stuff down in some way

shape or form well to become a better dungeon master then that means you have

to become a better writer but exactly how does one do that well don't worry

because today i'm going to give you five simple tips to do exactly that but

before we do i do have some housekeep iding but before we do i do

have some housekeeping items oh but before we do i do have some housekeeping items

to go over so first let me just give an enormous thank you to rob

tony jeff chas and mark who joined me last saturday for a very fun one

shot they were excellent players and if you guys are listening to this i want

you to let you know that you actually discovered a secret ending to the one

shot so congratulations on doing you guys are all awesome and again thank you so

much for playing with me next remember if you do want to watch the next

one shot upcoming with bone daddy rob as our guest host you can watch that

for free all you got to do is go to better dungeon master dot com

slash watch at the appointed time and i'll let you know when that is via

the podcast and our instagram and you can watch that there now i think that's

enough item so let's get back to today's show and talk about today's topic of

becoming a better writer

now before i go on i do need to say that i am not a

professional writer myself i do not have an english degree instead i'm just like you

gen master who loves the hobby and wants to improve any way i can and

these are just some things that have helped me over the years get even just

a little bit better and there are probably a few tips out there that i'm

missing and in fact you can help me fill this list out by sending me

ideas and things like that but i also want to let you know i'm purposefully

trying to keep this episode short in order to make it more igestible and easy

to consume so i have a bigger list of tips but i'm only going to

share a few of them and actually come out with an extension to this list

in a future episode for more tips m so let's go do it tip number

one is to improve your writing you need to write a lot the first thing

you need to do to become a better writer to right a lot just like

any other thing in life the only way to improve is by practicing and having

these weekly episodes to write for me has been an amazing exercise in doing this

that because not only do i have to write in a way that sounds natural

when speaking but i also have to think about the words i use as i

write down and that starts to train your brain to do that any time you

write things down like when you prepare for your dandy sessions and in fact i

also have to prepare for my dandy sessions oh oh as well as the occasional

one shot for this podcast both of which provide excellent opportunities to practice the writing

art and that's one reason why i say authors and writers should play role playing

games because it helps them home their craft and i've made a lot of progress

through the years because of these exercises and i'm lucky enough that i get to

keep doing it and for me i've just seen a lot of improvement though you

can say otherwise possibly number two though is show your writing to other people not

only do you have to write a lot but you should show your writing to

a lot of people whose opinions you value and whose name is always mom sometimes

you can show it to her but often you will want to show it someone

who does not have a stake in making you feel good about yourself because this

is not an ego trip instead it's a fact finding mission so your goal is

to genuinely find information on the quality of your content so pick two or three

people that you really trust and then ask them to read through your content and

give you some advice on what could make it better and before you send it

over to them make sure

m and before you send it over to them whether for d n d or

otherwise make sure you explain to them the stakes of the situation you have to

make it extremely clear that this is a life or death situation the life of

your writing skills or the death of them tell them that if they aren't brutally

honest with you they are killing your chances of improving your writing and making an

impact with your words you have to convince them to tell you how they really

feel

oh ah he you could have your feelings spared from being hurt and realize that

you're no take that out this is the only way you will know what people

like and what is consistently good in your writing so you can keep that and

what is consistently bad and you get rid of that number three read a lot

aside from writing a lot you need to read a lot oh

and i don't just mean fiction either we've had several guests on the show who've

actually touted the benefit of studying history and using real moments to im by fictional

ones when you read you obviously can do it for a multitude of reasons for

just just for fun or trying to emulate the style of one of your readers

or to learn and consume content in i would not neglect any one of these

because they're all useful and important i actually have one specific example of a time

when i should have read and researched a little bit more in fact this last

one shot there were two specific times when i was talking about wood cutting and

being a black smit when i mentioned that i had no idea what i was

talking about so if i said something wrong just kind of go with it as

a d m i would recommend not having to do that in fact refrain from

doing that spend some time researching how wood cutters cut trees into lumber and how

blacksmiths shaped metal that because those are two topics that often come up in indian

d but that's just an example of times when you really need to know your

stuff and reading can help make that happen number four is revise and edit even

other people's work so if you've listened to the show before you know that i

love the youtube channel pitch meeting the owner of the channel pokes fun at mat

have plot holes in movies and t v shows and try to do it in

a very comical way i recommend that you also practice the same exercise of finding

plot holes in your own work but also in the work of other people uh

now if you do it for other people little pro tip don't give them that

advice unless they ask for it because most of the time unless the student is

ready the master should not appear and you understand what i mean the next time

you try to do that but anyway this is just a mental exercise to think

about the story line and say hey what would i do if i is in

the director or the writer's position to improve the story and in fact i do

this all the time personally thinking about specifically star wars how disney has ruined it

that's probably an unpopular opinion but i will go to my grave with that but

anyways you just need to look and dissect pieces of work and find how it

can be better and i would say more important than doing it to other people

is doing it to your own content multiple times and actually this is probably where

i fall short most because you know it's actually been a fail or of my

life yeah where i you know i'm naturally a discovery writer i tend to think

as i write and then i don't tend to go back and edit which makes

it so it's not as good because first drafts are never as good as later

drafts so if nothing else read what you write out loud and you're going to

spot way more errors and things that you can improve than you would otherwise tip

number five is learning the basics of writing when i was nineteen i went to

italy on a mission for my church and in preparation for going to italy and

learning the language my friend's dad gave me an english grammar book and he explained

that to learn another language i would need to understand how english and language in

general really work and i'll tell you he was right and i would also recommend

that you need to do the same thing to be able to speak the language

of good writing and therefore good deming you're going to need to learn a little

bit more about the basics of the english language or whatever language you are using

to demon as well as the basics of sentence and paragraph and story in general

dive into topics like conflict setting character voice and other aspects of good story telling

uh you're probably going to know this but

you probably already know this but might go to for this is the podcast writing

excuses because it doesn't go so much into grammar but it does go into the

topics of telling and honestly it's just really good it's good for me specifically because

it is short and it cuts down story writing into short manageable chunks which i

definitely need be i kind of have a short attention span squirrel anyway so in

conclusion hear the five tips number one write a lot number two show that writing

to others number three read a lot number four revise and edit your writing number

five learn the basics of writing no one is going to randomly become the greatest

writer ever tomorrow because of these tips in fact there's a good chance you and

i won't even become decent writers tomorrow following these tips but i guarantee you by

practicing these types we will become better writers and that means better dungeon masters and

that all we really need of course i haven't mentioned all the tips there possibly

are again i'm not a professional writer or an english major so if i have

missed something definitely send it to me vinstagram at how to be a better d

m but more than anything go and do take these tips and do something with

them if nothing else let me ask you the question have you been a dungeon

master quite yet if the answer is no then i'm asking you why are you

waiting like what's going on get to it because that's how you're going to become

the world's best dungeon master we'll be back next week for another amazing episode of

how to be a better dam but you know what until then let's go ahead