December 2009 – Writing Excuses: Recent Episodes
Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
Tragedy. It’s just TRAGIC. Tragedy is also one of the classical forms that writers need to know how to work within. Why? Well… because the Greeks thought we should be forced to have strong emotional responses to literature. Writing Prompt: Write a delightful story about happy, cheerful anthropomorphic creatures who all die horribly. This episode … Continue reading Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 31: Tragedy →
What is an Antihero? There are lots of definitions of this word, so Dan boils it down to just three: The Frodo, The Punisher, and The Talented Mister Ripley. And that third definition is the one Brandon believes to be the most correct, at least in the strict literary sense. This was a difficult ‘cast … Continue reading Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 29: Antiheroes →
This episode totally would have updated earlier if I’d only known sooner that it was ready to go. Jordo says he emailed me early this evening, but if he HAD then you’d have been listening to this by 8:00pm Sunday. So… how much of that do you believe? Is the Narrator lying to you, or … Continue reading Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 30: Unreliable Narrators →
Is there a disconnect? Brandon specifically introduces the episode as “World-building political correctness,” but the title here says “World-Building Gender Roles.” And then Brandon goes on to blame Howard for picking the title. There is, in fact, a disconnect. Oh the mirth! Howard was imagining a slightly wider scope for the ‘cast, but Brandon focused … Continue reading Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 28: World-Building Gender Roles →
A Monday without Writing Excuses is kind of like a Tuesday without Writing Excuses, only far less aggravating. With Brandon once again by our side(s), we venture once more into the realm of humor: this time, specifically considering how to blend humor with decidedly unhumorous elements such as drama and horror. Why do humor and … Continue reading Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 27: Mixing Humor with Drama and Horror →