Shows / Writing Excuses
Episodes
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.16: Coming up with a New Ending Halfway Through
What to do when you discover your planned ending isn't actually going to work...Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.15: Becoming a Writer—Full Disclosure
Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard talk about the unpleasant surprises their careers dropped on them.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.14: How to have an Opinion as a Public Figure
We talk about expressing controversial opinions on the Internet. And just talking about it might be controversial...Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.13: Three Pronged Character Development
We explore a three-value model for troubleshooting characters: Competence, Proactivity, and SympathyOur Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.12: Microcasting! Twice in a row!
A Q&A covering editing, rule-breaking, writing the other, gift-giving, and more.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.11: Microcasting
Eric James Stone joins us to answer questions about editors, pitching, pantsing, and encouragement.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.10: Engaging Characters
What makes characters engaging, and how is that different from them being sympathetic?Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.9: What to do When Truth is Stranger than Fiction
How do you put true stuff in your books when the truth is just too strange?Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.8: When is your Handwavium Good Enough?
What is handwavium? How does it work? What happens when it doesn't work?Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.7: Last Pass Revisions with Eric James Stone
Eric James Stone joins us for a discussion of revision, and what the final pass process looks like.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.6: The Experience of Time
Time passes, and we have lots of ways to tell readers how quickly that's happening.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.5: Hijacking the Knowledge You Already Have, with Mette Ivie Harrison
Mette Ivie Harrison joins us to talk about how to "hijack" the knowledge you already have in order to make you a better writer.Our Sponsors:* Check out…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.4: Artificial Intelligence with Nancy Fulda
Nancy Fulda talks Artificial Intelligence with Brandon, Mary, and Howard.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.3: Character Perception vs. Narrative Perception with Nancy Fulda
Nancy Fulda joins the cast for a discussion of narrative versus character perceptionsOur Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.2: Hard Science Fiction with Eric James Stone
Eric James Stone joins us for a discussion of hard science fiction -- what it is, what it isn't, and how to do it well.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 9.1: Chronology of a Book Deal with Eric James Stone
Eric James Stone joins us to talk about the book deal chronology for UNFORGETTABLE.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.52: You Think You Don’t Have Time to Write, with Mette Ivie Harrison
Mette Ivie Harrison joins us to talk about the reasons you think you don't have time to write.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.51: Creative non-fiction with Mette Ivie Harrison
Mette Ivie Harrison joins us to discuss creative non-fiction, the genre in which the tools of creative writing are applied to factually accurate narratives.Our…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.50: Q&A with Mercedes Lackey
Mercedes Lackey joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard to field listener questions at GenCon Indy.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.49: Hard Social Science Fiction with Joel Shepherd
Joel Shepherd joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard to talk about hard social science.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.48: Long-Form Storytelling with Sam Logan
Sam Logan of "Sam and Fuzzy" talks long-form storytelling with Brandon, Mary, and HowardOur Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.47: Roguishness with Scott Lynch
Scott Lynch, author of The Republic of Thieves, joins Brandon, Howard, and Mary before a live audience at GenCon Indy to talk about roguishness. Why do we like…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.46: Editing with Aeryn Rudel
Aeryn Rudel from Privateer Press and Skull Island X joins us at GenCon Indy to talk about editing.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.45: Gencon Q&A With Wesley Chu
Wes Chu joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard for a live audience Q&A at GenConOur Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.44: Talking Publishing with Tom Doherty
Tom Doherty, president and founder of Tor books, joins us at GenCon to talk publishing.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.43: Realistic Melee Fighting with Wesley Chu
Wesley Chu joins us at GenCon Indy for a discussion of realistic melee fighting.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.42: The Internal Heckler vs. The Internal Editor
"Silence your internal editor" may not be very good advice. We talk about why.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.41: Out of Excuses Retreat Microcasting
Microcasting... it's what we call Q&A. Beta readers, IP issues, discovery writing, chapter length, and more.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.40: Publishing with Bill Schafer
Bill Schaefer of Subterranean Press talks publishing with us.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great deal…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.39: Dystopian Fiction with Cherie Priest
Cherie Priest joins the cast for a discussion of dystopian fiction before a live audience.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.38:Out of Excuses Retreat Q&A #2
The cast talks about self publishing, our early career difficulties, Easter Eggs, and more...Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.37: When Fail Happens in Your Career
How do you respond to bad reviews, publisher errors, or other possible "career fail" situations?Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.36: Transitioning Characters in Prominence
How do you go about transitioning characters in relative prominence during a series of books?Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.35: Digging Yourself Out of Holes with Jeph Jacques
Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content joins us to talk about discovery writing, and how he digs himself out of holes when he writes himself into them.Our…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.34: Survivorship Bias
The cast talks about their survivorship bias, and how to pay attention to that bias so that listeners can extract advice from us that might actually work for…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.33: Making Non-Human Characters Relatable
How do you help your readers relate to the non-human characters in your fiction?Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.32: Microcasting
Q&A covering workflow, contests, lantern-hanging, word counts, and moreOur Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.31: Combining Dialogue, Blocking, and Description
The cast talks about making dialogue, blocking, and description work together for exposition and story-telling.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.30: Writing Reluctant Characters
The cast discusses how to make reluctant, non-proactive, non-go-getting characters interesting to read about.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.29: Out of Excuses Retreat Q&A #1
The cast answers questions about publishing, formatting, process, and the Evil Nemesis John Scalzi.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.28: Your First Contract
The team talks about contracts, and what you as an author staring at a contract should be considering.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.27: Chapter Breakdowns
How do we break our books into chapters, and how to we build those chapters to begin with?Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.26: Space Opera
What does "space opera" mean, and how might you go about writing it?Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.25: Middle Grade with E.J. Patten
E.J. Patten joins us again, this to discuss the particulars of writing middle-grade fiction.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.24: Project in Depth–Kiss Me Twice
Mary walks Brandon, Dan, and Howard through the processes for writing "Kiss Me Twice," her Hugo-nominated novellaOur Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.23: Microcasting
Brandon, Dan, Mary, Howard, and guest E.J. Patten answer a slew of questions about writing and the business of writing.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.22: Pre-writing with E.J. Patten
E.J. Patten joins us to talk about pre-writing -- all that work that gets done before the prose happens.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.21: What the Avengers did Right
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard loved "The Avengers," and would like to tell you what they think the film did right.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.20: The Short Story, with Mary Robinette Kowal
Mary Robinette Kowal walks us through writing short stories.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great deal…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.19: Writing and Convention Culture
Writing Excuses tackles water from the perspective of the fish. Also? The culture surrounding writers.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.18: Blocking
Blocking! What is it, why is it important, and how can you do it well?Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.17: Microcasting
The Writing Excuses Crew fields questions about crossed genres, literary fiction, magical realism, and more.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.16: Brainstorming with Brandon Again
Mary, Dan, and Howard help Brandon brainstorm a story, this time featuring psychic birds.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.15: Narrative Rhythm
We begin with an audio glitch and a jumbling of our usual intro. Why? Because it breaks rhythm, and sometimes you may actually want to do that. Narrative…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.14: Brainstorming with Brandon
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard brainstorm a science-fiction short story featuring artificial intelligenceOur Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.13: Fake It Till You Make it
Mary, Howard, Dan, and Brandon talk about the things we do to feel like professionals.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.12: Project in Depth — Deus ex Nauseum
The cast grills Howard about "Deus ex Nauseum," the bonus story from Emperor Pius DeiOur Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.11: Abnormal Psychology
Robison Wells discusses writing mentally ill characters with Brandon, Mary, and Dan.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.10: Brainstorming With Howard Again
Howard brainstorms with Brandon, Mary, and Dan on a Schlock Mercenary bonus story.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 8.9: Brainstorming with Howard
The team helps Howard brainstorm a story about big Pharma and Death...Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great…