166. Emily Golden and Rachel May on Story Theme, World Building, and Conflict

”The message of the story is the thing that they need to learn, which means that they have opposite beliefs that are preventing them, you know, flawed beliefs that are preventing them from learning the story message.” - Emily Golden In this special episode of How To Write the Future, host Beth Barany chats with Emily Golden and Rachel May about story theme, world building, and conflict. They share their collaboration journey and touch on diving into character arcs and the messages that drive stories. Plus, they explore why asking "why" is so crucial to helping writers develop their unique character arcs for their stories. ABOUT EMILY GOLDEN AND RACHEL MAY, BOOK COACHES Emily Golden and Rachel May are the founders of Golden May. Their joint love of amazing stories and mutual fascination with writing craft evolved into a book coaching business devoted to helping tenacious writers develop the unique writing craft, process, and mindset that works for them—because every writer is different. If you’re ready to stop fighting what your writing life ‘should’ look like and start dreaming about what’s possible for you, they"re the coaches for you! Get the goodie: THE MAGIC OF CHARACTER ARCS: A free email course to craft the backbone of your story. https://goldenmayediting.com/arcsmagic Site: https://goldenmayediting.com Community program: https://www.tenaciouswriting.com/ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/ebgoldenbooks https://instagram.com/bookcoachrachel https://instagram.com/tenaciouswriting SUBSTACK: https://ebgolden.substack.com/ ABOUT BETH BARANY Beth Barany, an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist, teaches novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. RESOURCES FOR CREATIVE WRITING PROFESSIONALS - BUILD YOUR BUSINESS SERVING WRITERS Sign up to be notified when our training opens and get a short Creative Business Style Quiz to help you create success. https://bethbarany.com/apprenticeship/ Support our work for creatives! Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING - START HERE Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/ SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDadeEDITORIAL SUPPORT by Iman Llompart c. 2025 BETH BARANY htt Questions? Comments? Send us a text! -- CONNECT Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580 Email: beth@bethbarany.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/ CREDITS EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://get.descript.com/0clwwvlf6e3j MUSIC: Uppbeat.io DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465