PODCAST

Writing Excuses

Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler

Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.

fiction careers

All Episodes

24:39

15.09: Choose Your Own Adventurous Publishing Path

Writing Excuses ·

2020/03/01

Your Hosts: Dan, DongWon, Piper, and Howard "Should I go self-pub? Should I go traditional? Can I do both? How do I decide where my book fits?" In this episode we'll cover these, and many more questions as best we're able. Credits: This episode was recorded by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex Jackson Liner Notes: Zoe York on The SisterCast Skye Warren Marketing Class on RWA forums¹ Writer Beware ¹ RWA membership is required for these forums. This episode was recorded in September of

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26:39

15.08: Q&A on a Ship

Writing Excuses ·

2020/02/23

Your Hosts: Dan, Mary Robinette, DongWon, and Howard At WXR 19 we recorded live, and took audience questions aboard the ship. Here they are! (You'll have to listen to the episode for the answers.) What have you learned in the past year that has improved your craft? When you're having trouble, how do you know if it's "I don't feel like writing" or "there's a problem with the manuscript?" How far ahead do you plan your careers? How do you tell when a

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19:19

15.07: Creating Chapters

Writing Excuses ·

2020/02/16

Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard How do you create chapters? What are the rules for carving your manuscript into numbered chunks? Is chaptering part of your outline, is it something you discover while you write, or is it something else entirely? In this episode we talk about how we do it, and how we think about it while it's being done. Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson and mastered by Alex JacksonSupport this podcast at —

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25:45

15.06: Prose and Cons, with Patrick Rothfuss

Writing Excuses ·

2020/02/09

Your Hosts: Dan, Mary Robinette, Howard, with special guest Patrick Rothfuss How do you write beautiful prose? How do you set about telling a story with words that sing (and dance, and tell jokes) instead of just conveying information in word-sized chunks? In this episode we talk about how we do it, and how writers might set out to do good word-do like the best good word-doers do. Liner Notes: Gwendolyn Brooks—We Real Cool Credits: This episode was recorded by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex

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22:04

15.05: Setting Goals for Your Career

Writing Excuses ·

2020/02/02

Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard What kind of career goal-setting do you do? We had a discussion in this vein with DongWon a few weeks ago, but neither Brandon nor Victoria participated then, so it's worth revisiting. Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex JacksonSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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29:06

15.04: Revision, with Patrick Rothfuss

Writing Excuses ·

2020/01/26

Your Hosts: Dan, Howard, and Mary Robinette, with special guest Patrick Rothfuss We begin our discussion of revision by addressing a question we hear a lot: How do you know what needs to be changed? We talk about our various techniques for getting distance from our work, incorporating feedback, and breaking the process down into manageable chunks. Liner Notes: Lindsey Ellis on Three-Act Structure Credits: This episode was recorded by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex Jackson.Support this podcast at —

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24:14

15.03: Self Publishing

Writing Excuses ·

2020/01/19

Your Hosts: Howard, with special guests Victorine Lieske, Tamie Dearen, Bridget E. Baker, and Nandi Taylor Howard leads this discussion with four guests who are doing well with self publishing. They share some numbers with us, and talk about their strategies for reaching their audience, and making the most of their market. Liner Notes: Given, by Nandi Taylor, is available on January 21, (just two days from this episode's air date) Credits: This episode was recorded live at WXR by Bert Grimm, and

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19:53

15.02: Writing Between the Lines

Writing Excuses ·

2020/01/12

Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard Victoria Schwab, who also writes as V.E. Schwab, joins us this year, and in this episode she helps us cover that deep concept of "theme," and how we as authors can state our themes without coming straight out and stating them—writing our themes "between the lines." Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex JacksonSupport this podcast at —

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27:46

15.01: Evolution of a Career

Writing Excuses ·

2020/01/05

Your Hosts: Dan, DongWon, Mary Robinette, and Howard Season 15 is going to be a bit broader than the previous seasons have, at least in the abstract. We're going to focus on your questions. In this episode we tackle the topic that dominates our collection of these questions: CAREER. Liner Notes: It hasn't actually been 15 years. It's been 12. Writing Excuses launched in February of 2008, and the first five seasons were not full-year seasons. Credits: This episode was recorded by Bert

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19:26

14.43: Sequencing Your Career Genome

Writing Excuses ·

2019/10/27

Your Hosts: Howard, Mary Robinette, Dan, and DongWon Let's talk about career planning. It's a lot more than just launching a career by selling a book, and in this episode we talk about the kinds of things we want to be thinking about and preparing for beyond simply selling our next book or project. Credits: This episode was recorded by Bert Grimm at WXR 2018, and mastered by Alex JacksonSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising

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20:49

14.42: Alternate History

Writing Excuses ·

2019/10/20

Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary Robinette, Margaret, and Howard Alternate histories (and historical fantasies) are a staple of genre fiction. In this episode we talk about the worldbuilding process, the tools we use, and the pitfalls we try to avoid when constructing these kinds of stories. Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex JacksonSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries:

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17:49

14.41: History

Writing Excuses ·

2019/10/13

Your Hosts: Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mahtab Let's make history! In this episode we talk about doing exactly that—creating real-feeling histories for secondary world settings. We discuss the resources we turn to, the pitfalls we try to avoid, and the places where we think the history has been done really well. Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson and mastered by Alex JacksonSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries:

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19:15

14.40: Deep vs. Wide

Writing Excuses ·

2019/10/06

Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary Robinette, Dan, and Howard How do you decide between digging one really deep, narrow well, and digging one really wide, shallow ocean? In this episode we talk about our desires to build worlds which appear both vanishingly wide and unplumbably deep, when we have time to do neither. Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex JacksonSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries:

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18:54

14.39: Positioning Your Book in the Marketplace

Writing Excuses ·

2019/09/29

Your Hosts: Howard, Mary Robinette, Dan, and Dongwon "Positioning feels like the most important question in all of publishing." — DongWon Song In this episode we talk about how to ask and answer the question of positioning, which is "who is this book for?" Credits: This episode was recorded before a live audience aboard Liberty of the Seas by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex JacksonSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising

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20:13

14.38: Volunteer Opportunities for Writers, with...

Writing Excuses ·

2019/09/22

Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary Robinette, Dan, and Howard, with special guest Jared Quan Jared Quan serves as a volunteer on several non-profit boards, and joined us to talk about the opportunities that exist for writers. Administration, leadership, writing and editing, and teaching are just a few of the many kinds of roles available for volunteers. Credits: This episode was recorded live at LTUE by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson.Support this podcast at —

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22:59

14.37: Outlandish Impossibilities

Writing Excuses ·

2019/09/15

Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary Robinette, Dan, and Howard Some science fiction and fantasy stories arise from a premise which, under even just rudimentary examination, appear utterly ridiculous. And some of these stories are hugely successful. In this episode we talk about how we manage our worldbuilding when the goal is less about building a world which works, and more about getting the audience to buy in on something outlandish so we can get on with our story. Liner Notes: "Went With The Wind"

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19:36

14.36: Languages and Naming

Writing Excuses ·

2019/09/08

Your Hosts: Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mahtab How do we come up with names? How do we do it in ways that enhance our worldbuilding? What are the elements that give our invented naming schemes (even the zany ones with lots of syllables and apostrophes) verisimilitude? In this episode we talk about some of the tricks we've used, the pitfalls we've avoided, and conlangs in general. Liner Notes: In Episode 12.51 we discuss Conlangs ("constructed languages")with Dirk Elzinga. Credits: This

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18:32

14.35: What You Leave Out

Writing Excuses ·

2019/09/01

Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary Robinette, Dan, and Howard The advice commonly given to writers is to worldbuild an iceberg, but only to show the reader the tip. This is still too much work. Icebergs are big. In this episode we talk about worldbuilding the tip of the iceberg, and then worldbuilding as little as possible of the rest of the iceberg so that the tip behaves correctly.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries:

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23:22

14.34: Author Branding

Writing Excuses ·

2019/08/25

Your Hosts: Howard, Mary Robinette, Dan, and DongWon Authors have brands whether they want to have them or not. It's a simple principle of marketing, and the better we understand that principle, the better able we are to control how it affects our careers. In this episode we talk marketing, and freely use terms like "relationship marketing," "authentic experience," and "brand loyalty," despite the fact that sometimes these words make our inner artists cringe

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20:38

14.33: Writing Imperfect Worlds

Writing Excuses ·

2019/08/18

Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary Robinette, Margaret, and Howard How do you write a setting in which the status quo is one with which you deeply disagree? How do you create a conflict of this sort without being overtly pedantic or preachy? In this episode we talk about creating engaging worlds while worldbuilding around—and yes, over—landmines. Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex JacksonSupport this podcast at —

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