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

17:30

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 7: Genre Blending

Writing Excuses ·

2009/07/13

You've seen it done... "Zombie Apocalypse in Space." "Perry Mason in the Armed Forces." It's genre blending, where the author takes themes prevalent in two different genres and combines them to create something new. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. We call down a few examples of both, and offer you listeners the sage advice you need to blend genres successfully. Summary: like the vegan barbecue chef, one of the secrets to your success lies in letting no-one know

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17:18

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 6: Dramatic Breaks

Writing Excuses ·

2009/07/07

What are dramatic breaks? We open this episode with Howard very genuinely playing Doctor Watson to Brandon's Holmes, which is amusing because as it turns out, Howard uses dramatic breaks every day. Simply put they are the points in the narrative, typically at the end of a chapter, where we cut to another scene. Sometimes we are shifting perspective, sometimes we are advancing the clock, and sometimes we're merely pausing to take a breath. What are we looking for in a dramatic break? How do

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16:28

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 5: How to Take...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/06/29

How do you take criticism? How do you react, if you even do react? Does criticism cause you to change the way you work? Criticism can come from your peers in a writing group, from editors sending you rejection letters, and from those one-star Amazon reviewers who are out there looking for something to hate. In this episode we provide anecdotes from other authors including Patrick Rothfuss and Kevin J. Anderson, and share our own experiences about criticism we've gotten and how we've

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21:17

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 3: Stumping Howard...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/06/22

Howard here... I've learned that it's a really bad idea to run out for a bio-break between podcasts. When I returned to the packed panel room I could tell that everyone's attitude towards me was subtly different. It wasn't until we started recording that I realized Brandon had turned our Q&A panel into a "Stump Howard" panel. Our good friend Eric James Stone joined us for the fun. As silly themes go, this one works well. So well, in fact, that we went six minutes into

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15:21

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 2: Keeping it Real...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/06/15

This episode was recorded live at CONduit in Salt Lake City with special guest Aprilynne Pike. Our topic: How do we "keep it real" when writing speculative fiction? What does that even mean? (Okay, it means making the stuff that exists in real life seem real.) Short answer: Research. We talk about how we go about researching the "real" elements of our various works, all the while trying hard not to go "squee" with our very first #1 New York Times Bestelling guest. We also

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16:35

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 4: Non Linear Story...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/06/08

Don't you just hate it when things unfold out of order? Why do writers do that? We explain why they do it, and how they do it, and then we discuss how to avoid some common mistakes. Non-linear storytelling is inherently risky, after all. Maybe not as risky as jumping ahead two episodes in a non-serial podcast schedule, but it's still life on the edge. Writing Prompt: Write a story about a flashback that is completely false... This week's episode of Writing Excuses is brought to you

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16:08

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 1: World-Building...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/06/01

Welcome to Season 3 of Writing Excuses! With eighteen hours and fourteen months of podcasting history behind us, it seems appropriate for us to talk about history, and how to write it. We talk about the iceberg principle -- 90% of the history stuff you write never gets seen by the reader, it's just there to support the 10% that they do see, the "tip of the iceberg" -- and why for some writers it's just not the right ratio. We also discuss Worldbuilder's Disease -- none of the

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14:47

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 33: How To Not Be...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/05/25

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

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14:53

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 32: The Most...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/05/18

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

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16:18

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 31: The Most...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/05/11

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

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15:44

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 30: The Most...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/05/03

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

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16:44

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 29: How not to end...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/04/27

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

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18:37

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 28: Applying...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/04/20

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

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16:51

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 27: Reading Critically

Writing Excuses ·

2009/04/13

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.Support this

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21:35

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 26: How Publishing...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/04/06

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

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0:39

Writing Excuses Episode 632: Now that we’ve got time...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/04/01

This... THIS is why speculative fiction writers should never be trusted with actual technology.Support 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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16:34

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 25: The Seven Deadly...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/03/30

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

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18:11

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 24: Writing Habits...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/03/24

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

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16:13

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 23: Avoiding the...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/03/16

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

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17:39

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 22: Marketing 201,...

Writing Excuses ·

2009/03/09

"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

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