Shows / Writing Excuses
Episodes
Writing Excuses21.34: Knowing the Distance
How close is your reader to the story? Should they be closer? Today, our hosts get nerdy about narrative distance: the space between reader, narrator…
Writing Excuses21.33: When To Shift Gears
A story doesn’t always need the same tools from beginning to end. In this episode, we talk about recognizing when it’s time to shift gears—and how to make…
Writing Excuses21.32: Barrier Breaking- Time Constraints
There never seems to be enough time to write—but is time really the problem? Our hosts explore the reality of working within limited hours, changing life…
Writing Excuses21.31: Deconstructing Save the Cat
Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder was published in 2005 and is widely popular because it offers a reliable…
Writing Excuses21.30: Chapter Breaks Soon
A lot of times people want to know what the "ideal length" is for a chapter. But chapters can range from one sentence, to a single scene, all the way…
Writing Excuses21.29: How to Make a Scene
What makes a scene feel like a scene? This week, we unpack one of storytelling's most basic building blocks. Our hosts explore where scenes begin and end, how…
Writing Excuses21.28: Narrative Transitions
How do you move readers from one scene to the next without losing momentum? Our hosts dig into different types of transitions—from scene breaks and…
Writing Excuses21.27: The Expository Throttle
How can exposition be used as a pacing tool, and not just a way to convey information? We attempt to answer this question on today’s episode! Our hosts discuss…
Writing Excuses21.26: Setting the Pace
Our hosts explore the many tools writers can use to control pacing. We discuss how cadence, transitions, tone, sentence structure, and white space can all…
Writing Excuses21.25: Follow the Bouncing Ball
In this episode, our hosts explore how writers control their readers’ attention with the metaphor of a bouncing ball. We break down techniques for guiding…
Writing Excuses21.24: Deconstructing the Seven Point Plot Structure
Dan Wells joins our conversation as we break down the seven-point plot structure! Using examples from Star Wars, Toy Story, and other films, we discuss how…
Writing Excuses21.23: Barrier Breaking: Interruptions
In this episode, our hosts explore one of the most persistent barriers to writing: interruptions. From family members and pets to emails, meetings, fatigue…
Writing Excuses21.22: The Order of the Telling
*Time-Sensitive*Our final WXR cruise is almost sold out, grab your spot before June 4th, 2026 here!This week, we are talking about the order in which we…
Writing Excuses21.21: Rhythm and Words
*Time-Sensitive*Our final WXR cruise is almost sold out, grab your spot before June 4th, 2026 here!Today, we’re continuing the conversation on sequencing by…
Writing Excuses21.20: Sequencing from Mega to Micro
Today, we explore why writers place information in the order they do. From broad-to-narrow framing and cause-and-effect to repetition, rhythm, and surprise, we…
Writing Excuses21.19: Getting Everything Connected
Today, our hosts discuss how to make every part of your story feel connected through causal chains, thematic resonance, and reader pattern recognition. We take…
Writing Excuses21.18: Deconstructing the Three Act Structure
Today, we are joined by Margaret Dunlap as we dive into the three-act structure. This traditional framework—setup, confrontation, and resolution—is a tool to…
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21.17: The Up and Down Escalators
Today we zoom out from moment-to-moment tension and look at how escalation and de-escalation shape a story at the structural level—how raising stakes, lowering…
Writing Excuses21.16: Tension and Release as Call and Response
Today, we’re talking about tension and release as a kind of call and response, and how that dynamic can guide your reader through a story. It explores how…
Writing Excuses21.15: Using Contrast for Maximum Effect
Today, we’re talking about how to use contrast to make key moments in your story hit harder, especially in the middle. We explore how pairing light and dark…
Writing Excuses21.14: Because at First, They Don’t Succeed
Today, we’re talking about the “try-fail cycle” and why failure is essential to making the middle of your story actually interesting. It allows readers to…
Writing Excuses21.13: Does The Middle Have To Be Soggy?
Today, we’re taking on the idea of the “soggy middle” and why stories start to lose momentum—often because characters lack clear action, obstacles feel thin…
Writing Excuses21.12: Breaking Down Barriers- Environment
When writing feels harder than it should, the problem might not be the story— it might be the room. In this episode, our hosts explore how environment shapes…
Writing Excuses21.11: The Cold Open- Action
Sometimes the fastest way to hook a reader is to start with something exploding. In this episode, our hosts dig into the promise — and the pitfalls — of…
Writing Excuses21.10: The Cold Open- Voice
A cold open can hook a reader with nothing more than voice. In this episode, our hosts explore what makes a voice-driven opening work — cadence, rhythm…
Writing Excuses21.09: Grounding The Reader
Grounding a reader starts in the very first lines of a story. Where are we? Who are we with? What kind of story are we in? Our hosts explore how emotion…
Writing Excuses21.08: Setting Expectations
In this episode, we explore what it really means to set reader expectations at the beginning of a story. We talk about how openings communicate the shape of…
Writing Excuses21.07: Deep Dive- “With Her Serpent Locks”
To celebrate Mary Robinette’s birthday today (!!), she is taking us inside the craft (and emotional engine) of her short story “With Her Serpent Locks,” using…
Writing Excuses21.06: Begin and the Beginning
In this episode, our hosts dive into what makes a strong beginning and why it matters so much to readers. They talk about openings as an act of hospitality…
Writing Excuses21.05: The Same But Different
Today, our hosts dig into how stories can feel fresh without losing what readers love. They explore the idea of “same but different” across genres, sequels…
Writing Excuses21.04: Deconstructing the Hero's Journey
Our hosts take on the Hero’s Journey—where it came from, why it endures, and why it can make writers uneasy. They break it down as a tool (and not a rule)…
Writing Excuses21.03: Deconstructing Plots
Plot isn’t a set of commandments—it’s a collection of patterns we’ve learned to recognize. This episode kicks off the season’s deep dive into deconstructing…
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21.02: My Process is Not Your Process
This week, we turn our attention to one of the most stubborn traps writers fall into: assuming someone else’s process should work for you. Building on last…
Writing Excuses21.01: Welcome to the New Year!
Season 21 kicks off with a new theme, a fresh tagline, and a renewed focus on what Writing Excuses has always been about: tools, not rules. The hosts unpack…
Writing Excuses20.52: 2025 End-of-Year Wrap Up
As our 20th season comes to a close, we reflect on the end of 2025 and a major transition for the show, as Dan Wells steps away from Writing Excuses as a…
Writing Excuses20.51: Howard Tayler’s Personal Writing Process
A workflow that made daily writing (and comics) possible—Howard Tayler takes us through two decades of the delightfully eccentric process behind Schlock…
Writing Excuses20.50: Dan Wells’ Personal Writing Process
2 quick reminders: Scholarship applications for our 2026 cruise are open now until December 31st, 2025. You can learn more and apply here. AND early bird…
Writing Excuses20.49: Using Tone and Mood
This week, Mary Robinette pulls back the curtain on some of fiction’s sneakiest power tools: tone and mood. Drawing from a recent craft class she taught for…
Writing Excuses20.48: Now Go Write- How to Pitch Your Work
In this episode, DongWon digs into one of the business topics of our upcoming craft book: pitching. How do you talk about your work so other people immediately…
Writing Excuses20.47: Now Go Write- All the Eggs in All the Baskets
Dan shares his experience of rebuilding and reinventing his writing career from his section of our forthcoming book Now Go Write. Our hosts walk through…
Writing Excuses20.46: Now Go Write- Break All The Rules (Part 2)
In this episode, Erin returns with the final two “rules” from her section of our forthcoming book Now Go Write—and why it might be worth breaking them. With…
Writing Excuses20.45: Now Go Write- Break All The Rules (Part 1)
In this episode, Erin shares a sneak peek from her section of our forthcoming book, Now Go Write. (To learn more about our book, sign up for our newsletter!)…
Writing Excuses20.44: Now Go Write- How to Handle Relationships
We have an exciting announcement! Writing Excuses is publishing a book, Now Go Write, which will feature writing from all of our hosts! Sign up for our…
Writing Excuses20.43: An Interview with Dr. Tara Lepore on Paleontology
Erin and Howard sat down with paleontologist Dr. Tara Lepore for a fascinating dive into the science—and storytelling potential—of deep time. Dr. Lepore…
Writing Excuses20.42: Erin Roberts’ Personal Writing Process
Erin describes her own writing process as, “a bunch of random practices thrown into a bag and shaken up." Nevertheless, for today’s episode, Erin managed…
Writing Excuses20.41: DongWon Song’s Personal Writing Process
We’re continuing our episodes focusing on our hosts’ personal writing practices. Like Mary Robinette’s. DongWon’s involves a bit of… chaos. DongWon’s day job…
Writing Excuses20.40: Mary Robinette Kowal’s Personal Writing Process
A lot of people ask published authors what their writing process is like, as if it is a key to being able to write. The only important process is the one that…
Writing Excuses20.39: Wrapping up our Conversation about Lenses
Today our hosts tell you why you don’t need to listen to all of our episodes—or even most of them. Each of our five hosts weighs in on how you can combine the…
Writing Excuses20.38: An Interview with Charlie Jane Anders
We had the absolute joy of sitting down with Charlie Jane Anders, the author of the book we’ve focused on for our last four episodes (All the Birds in the…
Writing Excuses20.37: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of Why
This is our final episode before we have Charlie Jane Anders on the podcast to talk about her writing process next week! Today we’re talking about intention by…
Writing Excuses20.36: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of When
If you still want to read All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, you can purchase it here!We are looking today at the lens of when. But we’re not…
Writing Excuses20.35: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of Where
If you still want to read All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, you can purchase it here!Today we’re talking about places and place-moments. We’re…
Writing Excuses20.34: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of Who
Last season we took different works to represent different concepts. But this season, we’re looking at a single work— All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane…
Writing Excuses20.33: Raising Children as a Metaphor for Writing
Throughout this season, we have been doing a series of episodes that feature different metaphors for writing. Today, we’re talking about raising children and…
Writing Excuses20.32: Revision and Character Consciousness Téa Obreht
Téa Obreht is a short story writer and novelist. Her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife, won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction, and was a 2011 National Book Award…
Writing Excuses20.31: Framing the Lens
This year, we’ve been looking at writing through various different lenses. In two weeks, on August 24th, we’ll begin a 5-part deep dive into these lenses…
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20.30: Using Why To Shape Tone
Tone is one of those words people use in many different ways when talking about fiction. On today’s episode, our hosts break down what it means, how we use it…
Writing Excuses20.29: Authorial Intent
What the heck is authorial intent? Does it matter? And how do intentions end up on the page without cluttering or overwhelming the story? Today, our hosts dive…
Writing Excuses20.28: The Lens of Tradition
Every story has been told. Okay, maybe not, but most stories have a tradition/ influence/ history/ genre/ style that they draw upon, even if only slightly. How…
Writing Excuses20.27: The Lens of Why
We are joined by author Mark Oshiro, who primarily writes YA and middle grade books and was a guest teacher aboard our 2024 cruise! (Our 2025 cruise is over…