Season 02 – Writing Excuses: Recent Episodes
Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
And here we are, at the final episode of Writing Excuses, Season 2. As promised, this episode is going to be super-useful to new writers, but it's going to be extra-super-useful to one new writer in particular, Brandon's nameless friend who listened to 9 hours of Writing Excuses podcasts and is now too overwhelmed to write.
Have you ever wondered why we only 'cast for 15 minutes (give or take, usually give, but still...) each week? It's because you're not supposed to be sitting there at the computer listening to hours upon hours of advice. You're supposed to be writing.
For this next fourteen minutes and forty-seven seconds we explain how to make that happen.
Writing Prompt: Write a story about Brandon's friend Nameless
This the third in our series of retrospective episodes. The most important thing Dan learned this year? Being a full-time author is a lot different than he thought it would be.
How different? What was Dan expecting? Was he really imagining silk pajamas and a notebook computer on the beach? We talk about the types of non-writing work that we've found ourselves doing, and why those things are so important to us and to our careers. We discuss how our publishers' schedules impact our own, and why writers are often expected to drop whatever they're doing in order to handle something for their publisher.
During our discussion we mention a new local novelist Aprilynne Pike, whose debut book Wings is available now, and made #6 on the NYT Bestsellers List for Children's Chapter Books.
Episode 32 has been brought to you by "A Snack." But hurry! We don't pause for long!
Writing Prompt: Write the first page of a story, stop, write a first page of a different story and then go back and finish the first story.
Here's the second part of our three-part "what we learned this year" series. This time around Brandon tells us the most important thing he learned this year. Summed up? Gimmicks cannot compensate for bad writing.
So... what's a gimmick? We begin with hooks and pitches, but gimmicks can include things like photo-realistic cover art, internet grass-roots campaigns, and factoids like "the author is only 17 years old." Story elements like cool magic systems, uniquely alien aliens, and diamond-hard science can all be gimmicks. They're good to have, certainly, and they can work to sell the book, but real staying power (read: earning out your advance, and getting royalty checks for years to come) comes from good writing, page after page.
Brandon confesses to some gimmick use himself, but fortunately we (and many of his readers) believe that his writing is strong enough that we don't begrudge him the gimmick one bit.
This week's episode of Writing Excuses is brought to you again by the opportunity you have to sponsor Writing Excuses.
Writing Prompt: An author comes up with a wacky, crazy gimmick for a book... and then it happens to the author in real life.
This is the first of a three-part series in which Brandon, Dan, and Howard tell each other (and you, of course) about the most important thing each of them has learned in the past year. We start with Howard, who seems to believe that of all the many things he's learned about writing in the previous twelve months, the list-topper should be the fact that he is a satirist.
So really the episode is about satire, and how that form differs from other humorous sub-genres. And then we talk about why knowing this is important, and how others can go about learning these sorts of things about their own work.
This week Writing Excuses is brought to you by "Bringing Writing Excuses To You By!"
Writing Prompt: An artist finds a way to improve or perfect the form he or she is working within, and by so doing unlocks magic.
Let's talk about failure... but let's talk about it so that we can avoid it. How do you know if your ending has flopped? What kind of approaches to ending a story should you be avoiding? How can you recognize these approaches in time to avoid them? The best approach? Identify the promises you've made to your readers, and then fulfil them with your ending. Okay, now you don't have to listen.
Writing Prompt: Start your book with an ending where everyone dies.
This weeks Writing Excuses is brought to you by Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson, Book 3 of the Mistborn series now in paperback.
Last week we talked about reading critically, reading as writers. This week we decided to apply that critical reading skill to Watchmen, the Hugo award-winning graphic novel by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. We start (once we get past the donuts in our mouths) by breaking it down into character, setting, and plot, and then we further dissect each of those elements based on what we thought of them.
This episode is chock full of spoilers. If you're planning on reading Watchmen for the first time (or seeing the movie), you probably ought to do that before you let us ruin it for you.
Writing Prompt: Write an alternate history for 2009 taking stylistic cues from Watchmen.
As a writer you obviously know how to read. But being a writer changes how you read, and what you read, and even why you read. Do you read more, or less as a writer? How do you read so that your reading doesn't interfere with writing? How do you channel your reading into bettering your writing? And what's the difference between a critical reader and a book critic?
Writing Prompt: Write a story about a critic, but a critic who criticizes something abnormal like Cement Mixers.
Nancy Fulda, assistant editor at Baen's Universe and editor-in-chief and founder of Anthology Builder, joins us again while Dan Wells is out celebrating his birthday. We discuss the rise of digital SF magazines, and touch on concepts like user-generated content, the Superconducting Copy Machine, and disruptive technology. We talk about print-on-demand vs. self-publishing, we laugh as Nancy puts her foot in her mouth, and then we argue over whether free online content can generate income for authors, as opposed to webcartoonists.
This week's episode is 20 minutes long, because you're not in as much of a hurry as we originally suspected, and Nancy made us at least a little smarter.
This week's Writing Excuses is brought to you by I Am Not A Serial Killer by our very own absent-two-weeks-running Dan Wells. The book is only available in the UK, but you can get now from http://www.bookdepository.co.uk which has free shipping to anywhere in the world.
Writing Prompt: Write a story that convincingly describes the death of the traditional publishing industry 25 years from now.
Nancy Fulda fills in for Dan for this week's episode (he was sick, she was in town, huzzah!) but she's more than just "filling in." She's FEATURED. Nancy is the assistant editor for Jim Baen's Universe, and as such is probably the one who rejected your story. Nancy is also the editor-in-chief and founder of Anthology Builder, where you can create collections of short stories you want to read, and have them printed and bound for you. She tells us the sorts of things that will get you rejected, maybe after a page, maybe after a paragraph, and perhaps even before the very first line has been read.
This week's episode is brought to you by Schlock Mercenary: The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance. Pre-orders are open now!
Disclosure: Nancy is, in fact, Howard's sister-in-law. That might be why her stuff is getting so dang much relevant linkage in this entry.
Writing Prompt: Write about a passionate egg.
Tracy Hickman joins us again at "Life, The Universe, and Everything," and in this episode we let Brandon ask him random questions while Dan and Howard chime in with comments that hopefully don't detract from the discussion.
During the interview Tracy mentions his latest project, XDM: Extreme Dungeon Mastery, but he doesn't mention the very latest news about it. That news is that Tracy and Curtis Hickman (the authors) have contracted with Howard Tayler to illustrate and publish it. So that bit about Tracy doing it in his basement? It's no longer accurate.
This week's Writing Excuses is brought to you by I Am Not A Serial Killer by our very own Dan Wells. The book is only available in the UK, but you can get now from http://www.bookdepository.co.uk which has free shipping to anywhere in the world.
Writing Prompt: Give us Winnie the Pooh's big death scene. On a destroyer in the South Pacific.
We took Writing Excuses on the road last month for "Life, The Universe, and Everything," the symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy at Brigham Young University. The Guests of Honor were Tracy and Laura Hickman, and poor Tracy agreed to join us for a podcast or two, recorded in front of a live audience.
After the initial introductions we dig into clichés, starting with characters - specifically, how to avoid these kinds of problems in our characters. What's the difference between a cliché and an archetype? Tracy saves us time and again with great answers that beg a dozen or more podcasts. It's a good thing Tracy and Laura have their own podcast.
This episode has "clipping" problems. We need to buy some good audio gear for Jordan so he can fix problems like this. Or maybe some audio gear that will let him prevent problems like this. But don't discuss that in the comments. Discuss clichés, please.
Writing Prompt: Howard gets attacked by monkeys.
"Branding," not "Brandon," just so we're clear. Brand-ING.
We open with the definition of "branding," talking about what it is, and (just as importantly) what it is not. With that out of the way we forge ahead and talk about author brands, brand messaging, and why any of this really matters. We throw down a few examples, and use them to help the listener arrive at a decent author-branding strategy.
Writing Prompt: Pick your favorite author and in 50 words or less write down what you think their brand is, then compare it on the forums with what others write.
Rob Wells joins the Writing Excuses crew for a second 'cast, this time dealing with fight scenes. We talk about good blocking versus a bad blow-by-blow, and cover a few of the factors that may dictate the right style of description for that wicked-cool fight you've pictured in your head.
This episode is fast-paced and, well... punchy. No, really, it is. Seriously, that seemed like the right word there, pun notwithstanding.
Writing Prompt: Write a fight between two people who have never been in a fight before.
Howard takes the moderatorial lead on this episode in which he, Brandon, and Dan are joined by Rob Wells for a discussion of marketing.
What is marketing? What's the difference between marketing and PR? What's the difference between a marketing manager and a publicist? How can knowing this help a creator position his or her work? We'll answer these questions and more...
Writing Prompt: Come up with 25 words that distill everything you want to say about your next work.
Brandon and Dan met during a creative writing class at Brigham Young University, and Brandon went on to get a Master's Degree in the field. Howard has no formal training in the field. This begs the question... do creative writing classes help? Are they worth the time?
Short answer: Yes, but maybe not in the way you were expecting.
We discuss not only the formal education aspects of creative writing, but also the value of informal education -- attending conventions and sitting in on panel discussions about the craft. If you are looking to become a professional writer and are pondering your education options, this podcast is a must-hear. A must-listen-carefully, even.
Writing Prompt: Fore! In this case, a golf metaphor. But not a pun. Please.
Let's get back to world-building, and dig into a tough one: government. In this case we're talking about government as part of the backdrop, rather than political intrigue as part of the plot. Are you going to create a monarchy, a democracy, or perhaps some crazy, experimental sort of rigidly constitutional representative republic? City-states? Confederations? Empires? What's it going to be, and (more importantly) why?
Oh, and how do you do it right?
Writing Prompt: Create a government by starting with "Colon Cleansers," and then taking two steps back to create something unique.
Our producer Jordan Sanderson joins us for this week's installment, in which we likely make all kinds of enemies among the authorial community by exposing the many things they're doing wrong with their websites.
The fact that you, fair listener, are here reading content on our website shows that you have fine taste in these things, and trust us to lead you right. And we will! We'll do you proper on blogging, domain names, hosting, connecting with fans and editors, and taking care regarding your rants.
Writing Prompt: Write a story about the worst website ever.
Liner Notes: It should be pointed out that John Ringo's website has come a long way since Howard last looked at it. Good work, John! We also mentioned websites from George R.R. Martin, David Farland, John Scalzi, and of course Brandon Sanderson. Brandon also mentioned holaservers.com. Congratulations, Earl!
The Writing Excuses crew returns to world-building, this time to discuss the creation of non-human races. Why do genre-fiction writers use aliens and monsters, short folk, tusked folk, or any other variation on "people" who aren't human? Can new writers successfully recycle the classic Tolkien races and use dwarves, elves, orcs, goblins, and trolls? If not, how can new races best be created?
How can races be made "three-dimensional?" What are the common pitfalls? How much religion, culture, and physiology do you have time to create? Why are the rabidly violent fans of the Klingon race going to come after Howard with a cheap, plastic bat'leth? (Answer: Because they have no honor.)
Writing Prompt: Create a believable Alien and write something from his/her perspective.
When do you know when you're ready to begin? What does that question even mean? Apparently Brandon gets asked it a lot, though, so he posed it for the group. How do you know when that story in your head is ready for you to start writing it? Or maybe, how do you know you're ready to start writing that story that's up in your head? Or perhaps, when do you know when in that story in your head you should begin writing it, assuming you're ready?
Confused yet? If you're ready to begin listening, we're ready to begin making more sense.
Writing Prompt: Write an ending, and start your book with it.
We get asked a lot about our writing habits. So your Writing Excuses hosts spend the whole 'cast discussing their schedules, their work environments, and the things they do to make themselves more productive while keeping themselves creative. Peace and quiet? Clothing? Distractions? Pants? We answer these questions and more. Will any of this work for you? You tell us! The comments are a great place to discuss.
Howard mentioned PeopleWare, by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister. You can buy it here.
All three of your Writing Excuses hosts include a measure of violence in their written work. So Brandon, Dan, and Howard decide to clear the air a little bit.
Why do we write about violence? What does it bring to a work of fiction, and what challenges does it pose? Is there a morally appropriate way to write about violence? How does it impact the theme of your work? Is there a difference between writing about violence and writing comedic mayhem?
Writing Prompt: Have some fun in the worst possible way. Write a scene that has an extremely violent sequence that glorifies the violence and then write a scene dealing with the consequences.
For the first time in eleven episodes, we have a "normal" one. No special guests, no special locations, and no new format tricks. This episode grows out of Howard's ignorance - remember back in Episode 10 when Howard called "can of worms" on "theme?" Well, we open the can for this entire episode.
What is theme? Is it something the author must consciously include? Is it something the reader must successfully identify? How can writing to a particular theme help your work? How can it hurt? How can writers avoid thematic pitfalls? We discuss examples from other writers, and from our own work (especially Brandon's.)
This week's Writing Excuses is brought to you by Dave Farland's Novel-Writing Workshop.
Writing Prompt: Write a short story that has no theme. No deeper meaning. Nothin'.
Dave Wolverton joins us for a third and final episode, and the Writing Excuses team pumps him for information before letting him escape. We find out why he uses two names (David Farland and Dave Wolverton), how to name characters, and why writers don't jump between genres much. Dave discusses the state of the genre-fiction publishing business, and prognosticates a bit on its future. As a special treat, Dave explains how he broke into the industry, so be the first to listen to that bit and get a leg up on everybody else with this proven (and slightly bloody) strategy.
Writing Prompt: Juan and Gregorio Watanabe are in medieval England--and they belong there. Explain why.
Dave Farland, aka Dave Wolverton again joins the Writing Excuses team, and helps us discuss boredom. Specifically, we cover how to deal with it, how to go about writing those "boring parts" that come between the exciting bits that fuel your writing passion.
We talk about skipping ahead, switching viewpoints, following the pain, and trying to do this in a first-person narrative. And for an episode that claims to be about the "boring parts" this one is fairly action-packed.
Finally.
Writing Prompt: Kill the main badguy in every chapter.
This week (and for the following two weeks) the Writing Excuses crew is joined by author Dave Wolverton, who also writes under the name David Farland. This week's topic? ROMANCE. What can four adult males possibly have to say about the subject? The answer: We tell you absolutely everything we know in just sixteen minutes and fifty-one seconds. And there was time left over in there to stick in an advertisement.
This week's Writing Excuses is brought to you by Rokit Fuel. That ad Howard recorded was powered in part by two bags of the stuff. They sent us samples, and we plowed through them like a tornado through a trailer park.
With Brandon still mysteriously missing, Professor Bob Defendi returns to take Dan and Howard on a magical journey through the three-act format: every step, every element, every nuance of this very common and very helpful writing structure. The only way you could conceivably learn more is in a magic school bus, and frankly we don't think that's very likely.
This week’s episode is brought to you by Bob's podcast audiobook Death by Cliché, by Robert J. Defendi. No matter how hilarious you think this is going to be, it's actually more hilarious than that.
Writing Prompt: Plot out a three act structure for a current project or a new one.
Howard, Dan, and guest Bob Defendi open this episode with some high literary humor. Bob fills in for Brandon as we discuss formulas writers use in crafting stories. But how do we prevent those stories from feeling formulaic? Can the formulas themselves help? We discuss (at a high level) the three-act format, the hero's journey, the romance, the two-act format, try-fail cycles, and others.
This week's episode is brought to you by the podcast audiobook Death by Cliché, by Robert J. Defendi. We didn't plug it very hard in the episode itself, but oh, MAN you need to listen to it. Howard hasn't laughed that hard in a long time.
Episode 6, recorded live at Dragon's Keep opens with monkey noises and greeting-card pith, and ends with... well, we'll just let you listen. Is it a storybook ending? What IS a storybook ending? What is a whiz-bang ending? Is the ending the ending, or is the ending followed by a denouement? How important is a good ending?
Writing Prompt: Take whatever you're working on right now, look at the ending you have planned now and then come up with two other endings and write all three.
This week Writing Excuses is brought to you by Geek at Play Studio.
So you've got a fantastic idea for a book or a short story, but where do you go from there? Who can give the incentive to write, the support to keep going when it gets hard, and the tough love to let you know when it sucks? The answer: a writing group.
Writing groups can be difficult to put together and manage, but when everything clicks the rewards can be invaluable. This week we discuss all the ins and outs of how to find fellow writers, organize your group, interpret their advice, and overcome the common pitfalls that might get in the way.
This week's Writing Excuses is brought to you by Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Eric James Stone joins us for our final Mountain-Con episode. This Q&A covers writing part-time (and Dan disqualifies himself from answering this question in future episodes), setting deadlines for yourself, writing plot twists, and providing character description within that character's viewpoint.
No matter how grand your setting, how intense your conflicts, or how tight your plot, at some point you're going to need characters. Join us as we discuss what makes a character interesting, memorable, and unique. Once again, the team is joined by Brandon Mull of "Fablehaven" fame.
Brandon Mull’s website
This week Writing Excuses is brought to you by the Writing Excuses Season One Collection on CD.
Kids these days with their long hair and their love of reading. It's like, get off my lawn, am I right? But in other news, kids (meaning anything from chapter books to mature YA) read a TON, and somebody has to write those books, and it might as well be you. Learn how to write for children with the Writing Excuses team and special guest star Brandon Mull, author of the wildly successful Fablehaven series.
Brandon Mull's website
This week Writing Excuses is brought to you by the Writing Excuses Season One Collection on CD.
We talk among ourselves about some episodes of this podcast being "crunchy" and others being "fluffy." "Crunchy" episodes are the ones where we have hard advice about writing. "Fluffy" episodes are the ones where we talk a little more philosophically about the profession.
This episode takes "fluffy" to a new, flufftastic level. Here are twenty minutes excerpted from almost sixty minutes we recorded in line at the Hero of Ages book release and signing event at the BYU Bookstore. It's almost like being there, complete with the people in line who have read more of Brandon's books than you have, and will spoil key points in them via t-shirts. We interview these people, and we also interview a few people who have dirty secrets about Brandon, but are unwilling to share them.
You didn't think we'd just keep going with the same old stuff forever, did you? Well, actually we are, but now we're calling it Season 2. This season begins with a series of episodes recorded at Mountain Con in Layton, UT, each of them rife with wisdom and wonder.
This week Writing Excuses is brought to you by the Writing Excuses Season One Collection on CD.