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

20:44

Writing Excuses 4.32: First Paragraphs

Writing Excuses ·

2010/08/16

Recorded live at Dragons & Fairy Tales in Eagle Mountain, Utah, this episode features the work of several brave souls who submitted their first paragraphs to us for critique. We are not American Idol -- we're not out to rip these to shreds. We offer constructive criticism, highlight the good we find, and point out where improvements could be employed. Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett, which Howard loves because of the risks the author took. Writing Prompt:

en-US

18:38

Writing Excuses 4.31: Line Editing Dialog

Writing Excuses ·

2010/08/09

A practical, example-filled look at tuning up rough dialog.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

15:23

Writing Excuses 4.30: Worldbuilding the Future

Writing Excuses ·

2010/08/02

How to build a future setting for your novel by extrapolating from the present, working backwards from the story you want to tell, and getting those to meet in the middle.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

18:37

Writing Excuses 4.29: Line Editing

Writing Excuses ·

2010/07/26

Brandon, Dan, and Howard demonstrate line-editing on an ancient manuscript.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

18:26

Writing Excuses 4.28: Brainstorming The End and...

Writing Excuses ·

2010/07/19

Brandon, Dan, and Howard start at the ending and work their way backwards for your enjoyment.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

18:59

Writing Excuses 4.27: Major Overhauls to Broken Stories

Writing Excuses ·

2010/07/12

What do you do when, halfway through the book you're writing, you realize it needs to be completely rebuilt? More importantly, how do you figure this out in the first place? This podcast came about as a result of a question from a listener, but the question was specific to "what if you find out it's too derivative?" As it turns out, that's just one of the many problems you can discover midway through a novel. We spend the first half of the cast discussing how each of us identify

en-US

16:58

Writing Excuses 4.26: Avoiding Stilted Dialog

Writing Excuses ·

2010/07/05

"How do we avoid writing stilted dialog?" asked Brandon adverbially.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

18:45

Writing Excuses 4.25: Mating Plumage

Writing Excuses ·

2010/06/27

James Dashner and Julie Wright talk covers, titles, and first lines with Brandon and Dan.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

18:48

Writing Excuses 4.24: Random Storytelling

Writing Excuses ·

2010/06/20

James Dashner and Julie Wright join Brandon and Dan at CONduit in Salt Lake City, and may end up wishing they hadn't. Brandon throws sets of story concepts at the crew, and asks them to quickly frame serious stories with a solid settings and cool characters. The first set of story elements: Church accountant contact lenses that ruin your vision brain implants The second set of story elements: Hell for English Majors Key that will lock any door The third set of story elements: Janitors are trying

en-US

15:21

Writing Excuses 4.23: How to Break In to the Young...

Writing Excuses ·

2010/06/13

Janci Patterson and Robison Wells have both sold books very recently. Brandon and Dan put them on the spot and ask how they did it.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

18:44

Writing Excuses 4.22: Q&A with L.E. Modesitt, Jr

Writing Excuses ·

2010/06/07

Live from CONduit in Salt Lake City, L.E. Modessit Jr. and the Writing Excuses crew answer questions from the audience.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

17:26

Writing Excuses 4.12: Writing An Epic

Writing Excuses ·

2010/03/29

Epic podcast! Except it's only fifteen minutes long... because you're in a hurry, and we'll tell you how to write an epic.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

15:37

Writing Excuses 4.11: Brainstorming From Headlines

Writing Excuses ·

2010/03/22

Brandon, Dan, and Howard brainstorm as Producer Jordo reads headlines.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

18:14

Writing Excuses 4.10: Writing for Young Adults

Writing Excuses ·

2010/03/14

Jessica Day George joins the Writing Excuses crew again, this time for a discussion of writing for young adults, and maybe for teens, or even middle-grade readers. This isn't a podcast about rigidly defining the boundary between the YA and middle-grade genres, though. That's publishing. We're talking about writing. If you enjoyed last week's discussion with the sweeping generalizations and the appropriate application thereof, this 'cast should be every bit as intriguing. What are

en-US

17:03

Writing Excuses 4.9: How to Write Men, with Jessica...

Writing Excuses ·

2010/03/08

Jessica Day George joins us again, this time to tell us how to write men. Brace yourselves for the bandying-about of generalities, for painting with broad brushes, and for assorted other potential points of offense! Let's say, for a moment, that you're not a man. How do you go about writing men? Now let's turn the question around... suppose you ARE a man. How do YOU write men? And now let's cut to the heart of the matter by comparing these two processes. Are they different? Should

en-US

17:05

Writing Excuses 4.8: Working with Editors

Writing Excuses ·

2010/03/01

Jessica Day George joins the Writing Excuses crew for a discussion of editors...Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

en-US

16:23

Writing Excuses 4.7: Q&A with James Dashner

Writing Excuses ·

2010/02/22

Recorded live at LTUE 2010, here's a high-energy Q&A session with the Writing Excuses crew and our special guest James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner. We cover outlining vs. discovery writing, the return to the hairy palate, education for writers, killing people, whether or not we want a bagel, pragmatic approaches, authors who don't inspire us (and by "us" we mean "James Dashner"), and cooking up complex plots. Note: Brandon says "Episode 6" but he was

en-US

17:18

Writing Excuses 4.6: Pacing with James Dashner

Writing Excuses ·

2010/02/15

This episode was recorded live at Life, The Universe, & Everything 28, The BYU Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy, and features, among other things, our largest audience ever. Oh, and James Dashner, our friend and the author of The Maze Runner. It also features what has to be our roughest start ever. We don't get to actual content until around four minutes in. Seventeen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're pretending this was an object lesson. Also, we love

en-US

16:35

Writing Excuses 4.5: Roleplaying Games as Tools for...

Writing Excuses ·

2010/02/08

Roll for initiative, folks! Brandon, Dan, and Howard all play tabletop role-playing games, and sometimes even play together. The question of the hour (well... quarter-hour) is "how can these games help your world building, storytelling, and anything else having to do with good writing?" If this 'cast doesn't make you want to play RPGs with your friends, congratulations on a successful Saving Throw vs. Dark Podcast Magic. If this 'cast doesn't make you want to sit down and

en-US

16:06

Writing Excuses 4.4: Agents. Do you need one?

Writing Excuses ·

2010/02/01

We're going to wade into a recent e-brouhaha, but it's not going to be the Amazon vs Macmillan one. No, this is the one where Dean Wesley Smith argued that authors do not need agents. But you don't need to read that to appreciate this 'cast. So... do you need an agent? This depends on the operating definition of "you" and "agent." What kind of contractual experience do you have? What kinds of things will your agent do for you? And if you decide you do need an agent,

en-US

889 results

Writing Excuses

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

وجوه من الـظل

Medi1 Podcast

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Daily Science Fiction Books

solgoodmedia.com

Time Traveler"s Radio

solgoodmedia.com

Galactic Sci-Fi Broadcasts

solgoodmedia.com