Archive Seasons 7-10 – Writing Excuses: Recent Episodes
Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
Ellen Kushner joins us for the last episode of Season 10. Per the title, folks, it’s time to be done. What does “done” mean? How do you go about declaring a project “finished” when you know there are still things wrong with it? How do you clear your head, your work space, and your life for … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.52: Moving On, with Ellen Kushner →
Daniel José Older joins us for a Q&A on showing your work around. Here are the questions, which were submitted by attendees at the Out of Excuses workshop: What’s the best way to meet editors and agents at conventions? How do you write a good query letter? What do you mention as credentials in your … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.51: Q&A on Showing Your Work, with Daniel José Older →
Marco Palmieri and Michael Underwood took the stage with Howard and Dan at GenCon Indy 2015 to discuss hand-selling manuscripts. Marco Palmieri is a senior editor at Tor, and Michael Underwood is an author, and is also the North American Sales and Marketing manager for Angry Robot Books. We begin with a list of the things … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.50: How to Hand-Sell Your Manuscript to Agents and Editors, with Michael Underwood and Marco Palmieri →
We’re at the end of our Season Ten Master Class, and if you’ve been diligent about the homework, you may very well have a finished manuscript in your hands. What do you do with it? Daniel José Older joins us for a bit of reminiscence. We talk about some of our first submissions, and what … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.49: What Do I Do With This Thing Now? →
Spoiler Alert! We'll be discussing the latest John Cleaver book from Dan Wells with author, podcaster, and unrepentant bacon-lover Dan Wells! If you haven't read it, and you want to be surprised by it, stop listening and grab a copy now!
And now for your questions about revision. Or rather, questions from the WXR attendees, who were aboard the Independence of the Seas with us (the answers to these questions are secreted away in the audio file…): During revision, when do you think it’s acceptable to throw the whole thing out? How do you fit the … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.47: Q&A on Revision →
The microphones again find us aboard the Independence of the Seas*, to talk about how terribly ugly this manuscript is, and what we can do to make it pretty. In this episode we drill down on line-by-line, paragraph-by-paragraph revisions. This stage of the revision process is where our prose gets wordsmithed. This episode runs long, touching on: … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.46: How Do I Make This Pretty? →
Dan and Howard are joined by Kameron Hurley, James L. Sutter, and Michael Underwood for an anything-goes Q&A at the GenCon Indy Writing Symposium. We had reached the end of our two-hour block, but the audience hungered for the chance to ask their questions of these guests, so the Symposium gave us an extra half hour … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.45: Q&A at the GenCon Writing Symposium, with Kameron Hurley, James L. Sutter, and Michael Underwood →
November is “Revision” month here in the Writing Excuses Season 10 Master Class, so while many of you may be tempted by NaNoWriMo, there’s a different kind of work to be done… Delia Sherman joins us again, this time for a frank talk about the tools and techniques we use during our revisions. This episode … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.44: How Do I Fix What is Broken? →
Delia Sherman joined us aboard the Independence of the Seas for our question-and-answer installment on endings. The questions came from the attendees at the Writing Excuses Workshop, which was, lest anyone forget, on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. The questions: Why do more short stories than novels end on tragic notes? How do you keep an ending from … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.43: Q&A on Endings, with Delia Sherman →
Nalo Hopkinson joins us again, at sea, for our second Master Class installment on endings. We cover some of the reasons why an ending might not be working, and then talk about the sorts of diagnoses that will help you solve the problem. You’ll likely need to dig deep in your toolbox. Our episodes covering the … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.42: How In The World Do I Tie All This Together? →
Brad Beaulieu and Jaym Gates join us from the GenCon Indy Writing Symposium to talk about good versus evil, and how your character might swing between the two. And it’s all about that swing. Moral grey areas are more interesting if we move through them. We talk about how we swing the pendulum, what difficulties we encounter, … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.41: Your Character’s Moral Pendulum →
Nalo Hopkinson joins us for this episode, which we recorded before a live audience of Out Of Excuses Workshop & Retreat attendees. October’s master class episodes focus on endings, and in this first installment we talk about what an ending really is. It’s obviously the last part of the book, but the gestalt of “ending” … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.40: What’s the Difference Between Ending and Stopping? →
Kevin J. Anderson joined us at Sasquan/WorldCon 73 to take questions about plot twists. Here are the questions that came in from our live audience: Genre Twists: good, bad, or ugly? Can you compare and contrast a good plot twist with a bad one? What is the biggest mistake professional authors make with regarding plot … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.39: Q&A on Plot Twists with Kevin J. Anderson →
Our second installment for the Master Class’s month of context covers the way dialog between characters may change meaning depending upon the context you create for them. This context may be the setting or genre, and it may also be the “beats” in which you describe what a person is doing while speaking. We talk … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.38: How Does Context Shape Dialog? →
This month’s wildcard episode comes to you from the 2015 GenCon Indy Writers’ Symposium, where Dan and Howard had the opportunity to interview Susan J. Morris and Marc Tassin. Susan is one of the finest moderators the symposium has ever seen, and Marc directs the event, building the schedule around good panelists and great moderators. … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.37: Being a Good Panelist and a Great Moderator, with Susan J. Morris and Marc Tassin →
We’ve talked about plot twists before. This episode covers the way in which the type of plot twist is dependent on, or signaled by, the context of the story. Getting plot twists right may mean surprising the reader, but it’s just as important to have the twist surprise the character. SPOILER ALERT: Avengers: Age of … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.36: How Does Context Shape Plot Twists? →
Charlie N. Holmberg, who was recently signed by Amazon’s 47 North imprint, joined us in front of a live audience it Sasquan (the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention) to talk about breaking in to the industry. Brandon and Dan broke in a decade ago, and Howard never actually bothered breaking in. This episode is brought … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.35: Breaking In, With Charlie N. Holmberg →
We wrap up this month’s discussion of pacing with a Q&A. Here are the questions we pulled out of the virtual hat (read: Twitter) for answering during the episode: What are some early indications of a pacing problem? How do you chart pacing so that it remains even? Can you control pacing using scene/sequel format? How do … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.34: Q&A on Pacing →
Marie Brennan joins us again, this time for a discussion about writing combat. She’s studied fencing, combat choreography, and is this close to having a black belt in shotokan karate, bringing a valuable perspective to the discussion. Also, she’s written an ebook called Writing Fight Scenes, so she knows how to talk about this stuff. … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.33: Combat, with Marie Brennan →
Words take time to read, but that's not the same amount of time that the words communicate...
Marie Brennan joins us again, this time to help us field your questions about middles. Here are the questions we collected from the various social media feeds: How do you maintain interest without having something explode every other chapter? In short fiction, how do you prevent try-fail cycles from bloating the story? How do you prevent … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.30: Q&A on Middles, with Marie Brennan →
Character failure is a big part of making the middle of a story work. We talk about why, and offer tips about how to make this work well for you.
Marie Brennan joins us for a discussion of polytheism (and really any belief system) in our fiction.
Lots of people struggle with the middles of their books. One way to look at the middle is that it’s the point where you’re no longer working on that new project that has you excited, but haven’t yet gotten to the cool ending that has you excited. We talk about why the middle is important, … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.27: Why Can’t I Just Jump to the Ending? →
How do you "show, don't tell" a character's thoughts? We answer this question, and more!
We talk about how we define and structure scenes in our writing, and we make reference to Scene/Sequel format, the MICE quotient, and pacing.
Spoilers ahead! We dig into Of Noble Family, by Mary Robinette Kowal, focusing on language, culture, and the extensive research Mary did.
We answer questions about consistency, alternate histories, and the Great Spoke Plague of '77
You’ve done piles of world building. How do you convey this world to reader without infodumping? We talk about the different skill levels involved, and then the techniques that you’ll be using as you get better and better at what is probably the most critical skill unique to genre fiction writers.
What's the difference between intrigue, suspense, and mystery? We talk about this, and then drill down on intrigue.
Let's get that first page written in a way that will bring the reader to all the rest of the pages.
Wes Chu, author and adventurer, recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and has some things to say about all the wilderness trekking that our characters do in the books we write, and how we often forget to say anything about sleeping on inclines, altitude sickness, or packing toilet paper. The salient point: we need to remember that our … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.15: Worldbuilding Wilderness with Wes Chu →
Any discussion of story structure must necessarily take a look at that big, long bit between the beginning and the end, that piece where almost everything actually happens. In this episode we talk about the middles of stories, and how formulaic structures will help you get them to do all of the things that you need … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.13: Where is My Story Going? →
Wes Chu joins us again for a Q&A about this month’s topic: story structure! Here are the questions: Do you make a conscious decision about how to structure your story before you begin writing? Is it necessary to use multiple structures (three-act, Hollywood formula, etc) in order to ensure that your story works? What tools … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.12: Story structure Q&A, with Special Guest Wesley Chu →
If you haven’t yet read “Parallel Perspectives,” from Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel, we have a PDF for you to download and read before you start listening to this episode. It’s a 33mb file in a public DropBox folder. Parallel Perspectives PDF for Writing Excuses listeners Got the file? Done reading? Okay, let’s go… This week … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.11: Project In Depth: “Parallel Perspectives” →
Wesley Chu joins us for a literal shake-up of our structure for one episode. We had loads of fun with this one. The I Ching is a collection of poems which you consult with numbered sticks. You ask a question, shake a random stick from the cup, and the corresponding poem holds your answer. In writing … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.10: Q&A with the I Ching →
This month’s syllabus topic is story structure, and we’ll be starting with the part we start with. And that part usually isn’t the beginning — that’s where the story starts for the reader. We’re going to talk about where the story starts for you. It’s the answer to questions like “where is my story coming … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.9: Where is My Story Coming From? →
It’s time for a Q&A on characters! The questions for this episode were provided by the attendees at the 2014 Out of Excuses Workshop and Retreat: How do you have a character grow in power and/or expertise without needing to ridiculously overpower the villains? How do you give a flawed character a growth arc without … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.8: Q&A on Character →
Our character-focused month continues with an exploration of the challenges involved in building a cast for your story. Whether you’re building a large or small cast, you need to know why you’re putting these people in the book, whether they’re main characters, secondary characters, or spear-carriers, and what purpose each of them actually serves in … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.7: Who Are All These People? →
Does your draft have a boring main character? You're not alone! Also, the problem can be solved.
At the Out of Excuses Workshop and Retreat we premiered the Season 10 concept, and we invited our attendees to give us the questions we need this month. (They’ll also be the ones providing our questions for February, but we’ll cast our net wide for questions in March.) Ideas are hard! Is it ever acceptable for … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.4: Q&A on Ideas →
Writing Excuses Season 10, the podcasted master-class, continues with this exploration of that critical second step: what do do once you’ve got an idea that has story-legs. (Note: When we say “two weeks ago” over and over, that’s just bad math. You haven’t missed an episode.) We talk about our various approaches to this, many … Continue reading Writing Excuses 10.2: I Have an Idea; What Do I Do Now? →
Brandon, Howard, Mary, and Dan offer useful answers to that age-old question: "Where do you get your ideas?"
As 2014 draws to a close we say goodbye to Season 9, and talk a bit about what we’ve each learned this year. Howard explained the surprising changes that came with a change in his work space Mary told us how she reached a new understanding of pacing Brandon talked about how recent time pressures have informed his … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.54: Capstone to Season 9 →
You know what’s fun? WRITING! Writing is fun. And that, more than anything else, is why we do it. Or at least it’s why we decided to do it. Making sure that it is still fun is kind of tricky. Also tricky? Writing for nothing more than the fun of it. And this episode is … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.53: Writing For Fun →
Allison W. Hill and C. Austin Hill joined us at the Out of Excuses Retreat to talk about turning A Night of Blacker Darkness, by Dan Wells, into a stage play. “From the page to the stage” is a thing that theater people actually say to describe this, so the process is one that has … Continue reading Writing Excuses Season 9.52: From the Page to the Stage →
If there’s a crowd with good questions, it’s the Out of Excuses Workshop and Retreat attendees. Given the trend toward moral ambiguity, is there still a place for an unquestionably evil character? Should you publish a first book that isn’t in the style or genre that you’re ultimately interested in? Is it possible to write … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.51: Q&A At The Retreat →
Recorded live in front of the Out of Excuses students, a crowd of savvy readers if ever there was one, we talk about how to effectively write for readers who are familiar with the genre or story structure in which we’re writing. It’s a tricky problem, since genre fiction is supported in large part by … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.50: Writing for the Enfranchised Reader →
As authors we spend a lot of time trying to make our readers care about the characters we create. We have a wide variety of techniques at our disposal to accomplish this. But do we ever ask ourselves why any of this is possible in the first place? What is it about our brains that makes us … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.48: Neurobolics of Characters →
So, you’re planning to kill somebody, but you don’t want anyone to see it coming. How do you make that happen? We begin by talking about the hints that writers inadvertently drop, and why they drop those hints. Then we look at how to write without sending those cues, and how to get away with … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.49: Hiding the Open Grave →
Sara Glassman joins us to talk about back cover copy, covers, query letters, signings, and what booksellers look for on page one.
Charlie Harmon, one of the luminaries of Utah area fandom, joined us to talk about disability in narrative. She’s been going blind gradually since she was a child, and these days while she can see some colored blurs, she cannot read, or recognize faces. We talk about some of the nuances of disability that many … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.46: Disability in Narrative →
M. Todd Gallowglas is a writer and a storyteller who has spent years doing traditional oral storytelling at renaissance fairs. He joined us at FantasyCon/Westercon 67 before a live audience and talked to us about how this tradition has informed his writing, and how these principles can inform our writing as well. He also schools us (okay, … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.45: Tools for Writing from Oral Storytelling →
We were thrilled to have Peter Beagle join us for an episode, recorded live at Westercon 67. We talked about the writer’s mindset, and how to get into it. Peter schooled Brandon before the episode even began, and then proceeded to school all the rest of us. Peter is an absolute delight to listen to. We hope you … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.44: Getting in the Writer’s Mindset with Peter Beagle →
Live from Westercon 67 and Fantasy Con, Mette Ivie Harrison and J.R. Johannson join us to talk about writing for the mystery genre. We begin by talking about the key differences between thrillers and mysteries, and then move into how this understanding can drive our story structures. We discuss how characters with arcs and iconic characters … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.43: Writing Mysteries →
Deirdre Saoirse Moen, who organizes fan-run literary cons and schedules programs for them, joins us to talk about programming from the convention's point of view.
Christopher J. Garcia, publisher and editor of The Drink Tank, joins us for a discussion of fan writing.
Paul Stevens, an editor at Tor, joined us in front of a live audience at Westercon 67 to talk about royalties.
Peter Orullian joins us in front of a live audience at Westercon 67 for a Q&A. The questions include: As a writer, how do you handle reviewing other people’s books? How do you compartmentalize your writing to prevent that obsession from displacing everything else? (Here are the signs we talked about) How do you create frightening, … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.38: Q&A at Westercon →
Kathleen Dalton Woodbury, the forum moderator at the Hatrack River writers group joined us at Westercon 67 to talk about critique groups. We cover how critiques should be offered, as well as importance of receiving critiques graciously and without defense, and we reflect on lots of the good and bad writing groups and critique groups we’ve … Continue reading 9.37: Training A Critique Group, with Kathleen Dalton Woodbury →
David Farland joins, along with a live audience at Westercon 67, for a discussion on writing instruction.
Peter Orullian joins us to discuss managing the author-editor relationship when things go wrong.
Brad "Doctor Zombie" Voytek talks to us about making science accessible and attractive through science fiction.
Q&A in which we cover proofreading, writing time, career stuff, and no, you can't have any of our DNA.
The third of the SHADOWS BENEATH critique episodes, in which Mary schools us with Milford...
The second of the SHADOWS BENEATH critique episodes, in which we thrash on a new Cosmere story from Brandon Sanderson so that he can fix it. Part 2 of 2.
The first of the SHADOWS BENEATH critique episodes, in which we thrash on a new Cosmere story from Brandon Sanderson so that he can fix it. Part 1 of 2.
Pre-writing: It's like pre-cooking, only with more abandoned prologues and fewer refried beans.
In which we discuss adjusting how sympathetic the reader is toward a particular character...
Side quests come in a couple of forms — they may be something inside the book that takes the characters away from the main plotline, or they may be adventures that take place outside of the book itself. We talk about the first type, and how to make sure they’re in the book for the … Continue reading Writing Excuses 9.24: Side Quests →
How do we interact with readers who find meaning in our works that we don't recall putting in there?
Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard talk about the unpleasant surprises their careers dropped on them.
We talk about expressing controversial opinions on the Internet. And just talking about it might be controversial...
We explore a three-value model for troubleshooting characters: Competence, Proactivity, and Sympathy
Eric James Stone joins us to answer questions about editors, pitching, pantsing, and encouragement.
Eric James Stone joins us for a discussion of revision, and what the final pass process looks like.
Mette Ivie Harrison joins us to talk about how to "hijack" the knowledge you already have in order to make you a better writer.
Eric James Stone joins us for a discussion of hard science fiction -- what it is, what it isn't, and how to do it well.
Mette Ivie Harrison joins us to talk about the reasons you think you don't have time to write.
Mette Ivie Harrison joins us to discuss creative non-fiction, the genre in which the tools of creative writing are applied to factually accurate narratives.
Mercedes Lackey joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard to field listener questions at GenCon Indy.
Sam Logan of "Sam and Fuzzy" talks long-form storytelling with Brandon, Mary, and Howard
Scott Lynch, author of The Republic of Thieves, joins Brandon, Howard, and Mary before a live audience at GenCon Indy to talk about roguishness. Why do we like rogues? What can a roguish character accomplish in terms of story purposes? Can the rogue accomplish things a more classically moral character cannot? Most importantly, what do authors … Continue reading Writing Excuses 8.47: Roguishness with Scott Lynch →
Aeryn Rudel from Privateer Press and Skull Island X joins us at GenCon Indy to talk about editing.
Tom Doherty, president and founder of Tor books, joins us at GenCon to talk publishing.
Microcasting... it's what we call Q&A. Beta readers, IP issues, discovery writing, chapter length, and more.
Cherie Priest joins the cast for a discussion of dystopian fiction before a live audience.
The cast talks about self publishing, our early career difficulties, Easter Eggs, and more...
How do you respond to bad reviews, publisher errors, or other possible "career fail" situations?
How do you go about transitioning characters in relative prominence during a series of books?
Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content joins us to talk about discovery writing, and how he digs himself out of holes when he writes himself into them.
The cast talks about their survivorship bias, and how to pay attention to that bias so that listeners can extract advice from us that might actually work for you
The cast talks about making dialogue, blocking, and description work together for exposition and story-telling.
The cast discusses how to make reluctant, non-proactive, non-go-getting characters interesting to read about.
The cast answers questions about publishing, formatting, process, and the Evil Nemesis John Scalzi.
The team talks about contracts, and what you as an author staring at a contract should be considering.
How do we break our books into chapters, and how to we build those chapters to begin with?
E.J. Patten joins us again, this to discuss the particulars of writing middle-grade fiction.
Mary walks Brandon, Dan, and Howard through the processes for writing "Kiss Me Twice," her Hugo-nominated novella
Brandon, Dan, Mary, Howard, and guest E.J. Patten answer a slew of questions about writing and the business of writing.
E.J. Patten joins us to talk about pre-writing -- all that work that gets done before the prose happens.
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard loved "The Avengers," and would like to tell you what they think the film did right.
Writing Excuses tackles water from the perspective of the fish. Also? The culture surrounding writers.
The Writing Excuses Crew fields questions about crossed genres, literary fiction, magical realism, and more.
Mary, Dan, and Howard help Brandon brainstorm a story, this time featuring psychic birds.
We begin with an audio glitch and a jumbling of our usual intro. Why? Because it breaks rhythm, and sometimes you may actually want to do that. Narrative rhythm is the pattern of story elements and associated structures that help drive the reader’s pace through a book. Consciously managed, narrative rhythm is a a critical … Continue reading Writing Excuses 8.15: Narrative Rhythm →
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard brainstorm a science-fiction short story featuring artificial intelligence
Robison Wells joins Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard to talk about health -- especially the mental kind.
Why would you retell a story that has already been told? Now, how would you go about doing it well?
They're not rules, they're guidelines. Right? Let's talk about breaking "rules" of writing.
How do you give a personality to the animal or animals in your story? How do you do it without being a crazy cat lady?
We're back for the New Year, and we start by answering all your questions. Or at least eight of them.
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard each take a look at some changing aspect of the industry, and how they're reacting to that change.
How is "Men in Black" like "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?" This week on Writing Excuses we talk about Secret History, and how to do it well.
A fast-paced Q&A covering discouragement, magic systems, ideas, and our embarrassing early projects.
We've talked about where to start. Now Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about how to start -- what goes "in" when you're going "in late, out early."
Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal provide last-minute writing advice to you NaNoWriMo'ers out there...
Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary review some of Emma Coats' "Pixar Rules" for storytelling
Howard Tayler gives NaNoWriMo participants a pep-talk on their way into the last week of the month.
What are the things that matter to your characters? What things matter to your readers? After we get the obligatory ambiguity out of the way, we settle into talking about the "stakes" and the escalation thereof.
Brandon and Mary take time out from World Fantasy to encourage everyone participating in NaNoWriMo.
It’s microcasting time! This week we take a crack at the following listener questions: What percentage of a rough draft makes it into print? What are the pitfalls of jumping from novels to short fiction, and vice versa? Do you need to start with short fiction first? (This answer involves this link to Jim C. … Continue reading Writing Excuses 7.45: Microcasting →
Janci Patterson joins us to talk about contemporary YA , her debut novel "Chasing the Skip," and writing from a pitch.
Dan Wells walks us through the seven-point story structure format he uses, and then we demonstrate by brainstorming this on a sample story.
Maurice Broaddus joins us to talk about "writing the other" -- writing other cultures, races, genders -- basically anybody who isn't much like you.
Pantsing! What are we even talking about? We’re talking about discovery writing, but apparently some folks think it’s more fun to call it “seat-of-your-pants” writing. In this cast we cover this exhilarating process, and how it might best be applied. Mary uses the “yes-but, no-and” trick. Dan starts with an end in mind, and then … Continue reading Writing Excuses 7.37: Pantsing →
Dan needs help writing a short story, so Brandon, Mary, and Howard endeavor to help him. Hopefully this will be educational for the rest of you.
RPG Luminary Monte Cook joins us at GenCon Indy 2012 to talk about writing for games, and the perils of trying to adapt game play back into prose.
Finishing one project means it's time to start the next one. And no, it's not necessarily going to get easier...
Emote! Now do it authentically! In this episode we'll explain how we do it, and hopefully help you do it better.
What do you do when your villain is more interesting and engaging than your hero? The first step? Admit that this is a problem...
Mary Robinette Kowal talks in depth about her novel Glamour In Glass, fielding questions from Brandon, Dan, and Howard.
Do we value originality too much? What does it mean to be original, and how can we, as authors, write wonderful things when all of the good ideas have already been used?
Recorded live at Utah Valley University, here’s another Q&A episode from the LTUE Symposium! The questions: What was Brandon’s plan with Mistborn and the themes regarding establishment? Why does Kelsier shrug so much? (This leads into a fun discussion of “tells.”) How do you know when to stop a chapter? What about expanding it? How … Continue reading Writing Excuses 7.26: Q&A at UVU part 2 →
Recorded live, our regular 'casters discuss time travel, and somehow manage not to become any of their own parents, or even uncles.
A microcast is our word for an asynchronous Q&A episode: you ask us tons of questions online, either through twitter or facebook or our listenermail account (on the sidebar), and we want to answer as many of them as we can. Not every answer can fill an entire episode, though, so we take the smaller … Continue reading Writing Excuses 7.22: Microcasting →
Howard answers questions about "Force Multiplication," (the 12th Schlock Mercenary book) as posed by Brandon, Dan, and Mary.
Michael R. Collings and Michaelbrent Collings discuss cathartic horror with Brandon, Dan, and Mary in front of a live audience at UVU.
A Q&A with James Dashner covering paragraph edits, plotting, writing prequels to existing series, and more.
What is your "voice" and how do you identify it? James Artimus Owen joins us for this discussion before a live audience at Life, The Universe, and Everything at Utah Valley University.
Guest and gun-nut Larry Correia joins the Writing Excuses crew to talk firearms, fiction, and common mistakes.
In this second part a VERY SPECIAL two-part session of Writing Excuses Brandon, Dan, and Howard continue to tear into Mary's first novel outline.
In this outlining demonstration Mary reads from an early outline, then Brandon, Dan, and Howard brutally dissect it.
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard tell you all the reasons why you shouldn't actually be writing, and why, especially at this time of the year, these writing excuses are so critically important to your career.
Brandon and Mary school Howard on "Man vs. Nature." They might school the rest of us, too.
Brandon, Mary, and Howard talk about the strengths of the omniscient POV, how to use it well, and what pitfalls to avoid.
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard field seven questions in fifteen minutes and forty-two seconds: a new land-speed record!
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard field questions from Twitter, including what to do if you don't like your characters, keeping your plot on track, and how grounded in real geography your urban fantasy should be. There is also a question about bacon.
Sarah Pinborough joins Mary and Dan at World Fantasy for a very writerly discussion of London. Also, they discuss using a city as a character.
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about Historical Fantasy (differentiating it from Alternate History), its popularity, and how you might go about beginning to write it.
In this particularly self-indulgent episode of Writing Excuses we take you behind the marshmallow. We explain the origins of the 'cast, and offer you rare insight into what makes this show what it is. We talk about how the show evolved, how our equipment came to be "borrowed," and how Mary came to be involved.
Sam Sykes joins Dan Wells and Mary Robinette Kowal for a discussion of sound, smell, taste, and touch in prose.
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard tackle worldbuilding flora and fauna again, this time through negative examples, pizza-trees, and a can of worms.
How do you take a good character and make them evil? And why would you want to do this? Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard answer that second question first, and then walk you through the process of doing this.