Tod Maffin discusses creating Mirror Falls, a fiction audio series launching January 27, 2026. Writing dialogue took far longer than plotting, and he spent hours perfecting comedy timing down to syllables. The mystery rewards close listening with details that only matter later, weaving real WWII history and Indigenous legend into a fictional Canadian town.
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Hello podcast fans and writers, it is Tod. I wanted to share with you some things that I've learned about fiction writing since I'm now in the final stretch of sound design for Mirror Falls, my new podcast series. And if you stick around, I will reveal the plots of the first 2 episodes. So this has been an experience, not always pleasant. Like, I've never written fiction before. I've worked with freelancers on stories and storytelling. I did that for years at CBC Radio. But I know that with audio, you know, you— unlike the written word, you can't lean on formatting or visuals or the audience's patience, you know. Audio has none of that. So this podcast is either going to work in your ear or it's not. And if something is confusing, you don't get to— as a reader, right, as a consumer, you don't get to reread it necessarily. It's certainly harder to go back and listen. So I've spent a lot of time with scoring music and acoustical ways to signal scene changes and time shifts. Like, what I want— what my goal for this acoustically is, I want it to sound— I want it to feel like you are listening to a movie rather than hearing someone tell you a story, if that makes any sense. The second thing I learned through this whole thing is just how hard writing dialogue is. I thought that the, the, the whole series plot, the whole story, um, and each season's arc and each episode's story would be the hardest part. But it's not. It is not. I have spent— and I'm sure that if you are a writer, this probably— you're probably laughing, this probably comes as no surprise to you, but it was new to me, uh— I spent many hours on the couch evenings agonizing over like a single exchange between two characters. Because one line felt like someone speaking and then the next line felt like a writer doing writing, you know? So that was frustrating. I'm also not convinced that I've done a very good job on dialogue, so we'll have to see. I'm also learning about how comedy writing is much more of a science than I thought it was. There is a— and through all of this putting this together. I mean, I've always studied storytelling. I have the McKee, you know, Bible. I've been to a 2-day workshop with him. I've studied sitcom writing. It's like I've studied— I've book studied it, right? But I've never really kind of done it. And I was aware as a consumer when it comes to like writing comedy, I was aware that there was a rhythm to it, but I didn't understand how strategically it was built until I started writing it. So You know, some of the funnier beats I wrote and then I cut in half and then I cut in half again and then I'm down to like individual syllables. And I'm overthinking all of them. I'm like, is it funnier if it ends in da da da da? Or is it funnier if it ends da da? Like, it was like, it's like I imagine how writing music is. I don't know if any of this makes any sense, but like I started to obsess over like 'What should the last word of this sentence be?' Which is both frustrating and indulgent and gratifying, you know, at the same time. So the podcast launches on Tuesday. What am I worried about? I am worried about it feeling corny. I have learned that it is hard to do small town without coming off like a cliché. Like, there is someone in town in this story who thinks that they are the moral center of the universe, and they are absolutely not. And I want to make sure that that character feels authentic, right? I'm also a little worried that people will just treat it like background. And I'm not judging anyone who does, because I do that too when I listen to podcasts. But, and again, deeply indulgent of me, but like Mirror Falls is the kind of show where actively listening will pay off for you as the listener. There are little details, little throwaway lines that don't feel important until later. In fact, there is a sound in one of the episodes that won't mean anything to you until the last 10 seconds of the season finale. And hopefully, hopefully you'll be like, "Oh, okay, I have been manipulated this whole time." That's my favorite feeling as an audience member, is like getting to the end of the season finale and realizing, "Oh, I have been played." I'm trying to build that feeling for you. If you, if you watch Lost, the ABC shows, you know, 20 years ago, whatever it was, at the end of season 1— skip ahead if this is a spoiler for you— at the end of season 1, on an island that they assume is deserted, they discover a hatch and it becomes clear there's a person in the hatch. And I remember, and then, and then the season ends. And I remember watching that and thinking, like, having that big moment. I'm excited for that. I'm also excited for you to meet the people in Mirror Falls. I've also— this also surprised me. I grew rather fond of them. So I think the success or failure of this series will come down to whether Mirror Falls feels like a real place and not a story setting. Like, I want you to feel like you're hearing a real community with, you know, small-town logic, flawed as it is, where everyone knows everyone and everyone is like just slightly neurotic. In their own charming way. Okay, I'm going to answer a couple of questions that have been on social. Is this like Vinyl Cafe or News for like Wobegon? Sort of. Sort of. Yeah. Like, it'll never be as good as either of those and it's different. But if you knew those and you like them, you will feel at home in Mirror Falls. It's about a town and its people. But there is also a mystery about the town that you will learn and you will also learn some real stories about the history of Canada. And this land before we all called it Canada. In the first season, you will hear real stories of a war hero, Canada's liberation of the Netherlands, an Indigenous legend of a cannibal woman, and a few more things. So, you know, there are real things in it wrapped in fiction, and I hope I pull it off. Is this political? No. I mean, like, it's about the community and the best of people and the worst of people. So, I mean, in that sense, everything is political, right? Um, but it's not partisan. It's not a rant podcast disguised as fiction. It's a story about a town with a secret that it is not even aware of. Um, and in fact, I had to rewrite pretty much the entire season finale, um, because of world events in our real world in the last week or so. Uh, I wanted— I want this podcast to be something that you can feel safe to listen to if you are trying to escape the real world. For half an hour a week. Another question someone asked is, do I have to start at episode 1? Like, I, I've tried to write it so you can drop in and listen anywhere and enjoy the episode story, but at the end of the day, there is one big mystery, one big story, and you will miss the reveals if you're just hopping around. But you could if you wanted to. If it works, you won't, you won't just hear a story. You'll feel like you drove through town once and never quite left. Okay, that's the update. Mirror Falls drops this Tuesday, January 27th. Please go to your podcast app like Apple Podcasts or Spotify, search for Mirror Falls with Tod Maffin and follow the show. And once you listen, if you like it, leave a review. Thanks, and I will find you at the Gas and God for some of its terrible coffee. Just me, myself, and I.
