Shows / Writing Excuses
Episodes
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 7.6: Behind the Marshmallow
In this particularly self-indulgent episode of Writing Excuses we take you behind the marshmallow. We explain the origins of the 'cast, and offer you rare…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 7.5: Sensory Writing
Sam Sykes joins Dan Wells and Mary Robinette Kowal for a discussion of sound, smell, taste, and touch in prose.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 7.4: Brevity
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard help you keep it short and simple.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great deal…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 7.3: Fauna and Flora
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard tackle worldbuilding flora and fauna again, this time through negative examples, pizza-trees, and a can of worms.Our Sponsors:*…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 7.2: World Building Flora and Fauna
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about fictional ecologies.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great deal…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 7.1 When Good Characters Go Bad
How do you take a good character and make them evil? And why would you want to do this? Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard answer that second question first, and…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.30: Help! I Can’t End My Book!
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk endings, and how to troubleshoot common problems writers have with them.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.29: Character Foils
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about using character foils in building a story.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.28: Interstitial Art
Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman from the Interstitial Arts Foundation join Mary Robinette Kowal and Dan Wells to talk about the gaps between genres.Our…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.27: Fantasy Setting Yard Sale
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard brainstorm some fantasy setting elements for you. Need a magic system on the cheap? How about a political power structure?Our…
- Writing Excuses
NaNoWriMo Pep-talk from Howard
Howard brings NaNoWriMo home with a final pep-talk for you. Short version: you're still out of excuses. Don't stop writing.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.26: Mystery Plotting
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about plotting a good mystery, especially as part of a non-mystery-genre book.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use…
- Writing Excuses
NaNoWriMo Pep-Talk from Dan
This your third week of NaNoWriMo, and Dan's here to tell you your wordcount should be at around 38,000. He also tells us how NaNoWriMo helped him write faster…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.25: When Characters do Dumb Things
Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about making characters do dumb things for smart reasons.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
NaNoWriMo Pep-Talk from Mary
Mary Robinette Kowal offers encouragement to the 2011 NaNoWriMo crowd.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.24: From the Ridiculous to the Sublime
Andrew P. Mayer joins Howard, Mary, and Dan to talk about taking silly ideas and making seriously awesome stuff out of them.Our Sponsors:* Check out…
- Writing Excuses
NaNoWriMo Pep-Talk from Brandon
Brandon Sanderson offers a quick pep-talk for NaNoWriMo participants.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.23: Pigeon Holes
Jonathan Maberry joins Howard, Dan, and Mary to discuss pigeonholes -- specifically, not ending up in one.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.22: Continuing Education for Writers
Mur Lafferty joins Howard, Mary, and Dan to talk about ways in which writers can continue their education.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.21: Brainstorming From Story Seeds
Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard each crank out the beginnings of a story from the same set of story seeds.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.20: Endings
Lou Anders joins Dan, Howard, and Mary for a discussion of endings.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.19: Pitching
Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about pitching -- a critical skill for new and established authors alike.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my…
- Writing Excuses
6.18: The Hollywood Formula, with Lou Anders
Lou Anders joins Mary, Dan, and Howard at Dragon*Con for a discussion of the Hollywood Formula.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.17: Writing Assistants
Peter Ahlstrom, assistant to Brandon Sanderson, and Valerie Dowbenko, assistant to Pat Rothfuss, join Brandon and Dan to talk about what they do for "their…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.16: Gender Roles–Black, White, and Gray
Keffy Kehrli joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard at WorldCon 69 for a discussion of gender roles, gender identity, and transsexualism with the objective of being…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.15: Writing Other Cultures
Lauren Beukes joins the 'cast for a discussion of writing cultures that you're not personally a part of.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.14: Suspension of Disbelief
Patrick Rothfuss joins the crew at WorldCon 69 for a discussion of how to get readers to suspend their disbelief.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.13: World Building Communications Technology
Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary discuss communications technology, and how the ability for characters to communicate is a critical piece of your world-building…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.12: Revising For Description
"The wind rushed across his skin at several hundred miles per second, and registered as an itch." Brandon, Dan, and Mary tear into Howard's…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.11: Making Your Descriptions Do More Than One Thing
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard approach writing descriptions from several different angles and at least five disciplines in order to help you get more done…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.10: Scott Card’s M.I.C.E. Quotient
Mary walks Brandon, Dan, and Howard through the Milieu, Idea, Character, and Event (M.I.C.E.) quotient from Orson Scott Card, and then they retell the Billy…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.9: Microcasting 2 Electric Boogaloo
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard take questions from the Twitterverse ranging from outlining, character creation, and plot-hole repair to skill development and…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.8: What an Agent Does
Howard Tayler and Dan Wells interview literary agent Sara Crowe about what agents do for authors, and why having an agent might be the right thing for your…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.7: Brainstorming a Cyberpunk Story
Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary brainstorm a cyberpunk story using concepts pulled at random from a mythology textbook.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.6: Cyberpunk
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard take a high-level look at cyberpunk (the literary genre) for writers considering creating something along those lines.Our…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.5: Query Letters
Sara Crowe, literary agent with Harvey Klinger, joins Dan and Howard for a discussion of query letters.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.4: Microcasting
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard field questions from the Twitterverse -- commercial publishing, finding balance, structuring stories, defining moments, and…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.3: Professional Organizations
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about SFWA, NCS, and other professional organizations for writers and creators.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.2: Internal Motivations
Brandon, Mary, Dan, & Howard discuss putting character motivations on the page in support of plot, character arcs, and the story in general.Our Sponsors:*…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 6.1: Can Creativity be Taught?
Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard discuss creativity -- how to learn it, how to teach it, and how to get better at it.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.39: Filking and Writing Music with Tom Smith
Tom Smith joins Howard and Brandon at Penguicon for a discussion of Filk and some delightfully improvised music.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.38: Dialog with John Scalzi
John Scalzi joins Brandon and Howard for a discussion of dialog and how genre fiction writers can learn to do a better job with it.Our Sponsors:* Check out…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.37: Parody and Satire with Jim Hines
Jim Hines suffers abuse from Howard and Brandon as the three of them discuss parody, satire, and humor in front of a live audience at Penguicon.Our Sponsors:*…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.36: Non-Traditional Settings with Saladin Ahmed
Saladin Ahmed, Nebula- and Campbell-award nominee joins Brandon and Howard for a discussion of setting -- specifically, setting an epic fantasy in something…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.35: Brainstorming Urban Fantasy
Brandon, Dan, and Howard brainstorm an urban fantasy set in a big-box store in Park City, Utah.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.34: Story Bibles
Let's talk about bibles. Specifically, story bibles. What are they, why do we use them, why might we NOT use them, and what tools are working for us? Howard…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses on the 2011 Hugo Ballot
Writing Excuses Season 4 has been nominated for a "Best Related Work" Hugo.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.33: Alpha Readers
Brandon, Dan, and Howard discuss what an alpha reader is, is not, and where one might find these marvelous creatures.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.32: Urban Fantasy
We begin our discussion of Urban Fantasy with a discussion of definitions, which quickly devolves into an argument over what we are actually supposed to be…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.31: Writing Romance
Sarah Eden and Robison Wells join Dan and Howard at LTUE to talk about writing romance. Sarah writes in the romance genre, but we're not focusing on the genre…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.30: Writing Action
Dan and Howard are joined by Larry Correia and Robison Wells, and with the enthusiastic support of a live audience at LTUE they discuss writing action.Our…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.29: Rewriting
We were fortunate enough to record two episodes with Tracy Hickman and Dave Wolverton at Life, The Universe, and Everything XXIX. In this second installment…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.28: E-publishing
David Farland and Tracy Hickman discuss electronic publishing with Dan and Howard.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.27: Perseverance, with Sherrilyn Kenyon
Sherrilyn Kenyon joins Brandon, Dan, and Howard for a discussion of persevering as a writer.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.26: Scared for the Characters
Sherrilyn Kenyon tells us all how to make readers fear for the characters in her books.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.25: Writing in Other People’s Universes
So, you want to write a Star Wars book? Kevin J. Anderson joins Brandon, Dan, and Howard to tackle writing in other people's universes.Our Sponsors:* Check out…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.24: The Author’s Responsibility to the Reader
Kevin J. Anderson discusses author productivity with Brandon, Dan, and Howard.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.23: Life Day!
Mary Robinette Kowal and Dave Wolverton again join Dan and Howard, and this time we're talking about holidays in fantasy and science-fiction. This 'cast was…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.22: Film Considerations
Mary Robinette Kowal and Dave Wolverton join Dan and Howard for a discussion of movie considerations and formulas.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use…
- Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses 5.21: Alternate History
Mary Robinette Kowal and Eric Flint join Howard and Dan for a discussion of Alternate history - what, why, and how.Our Sponsors:* Check out MasterClass and use…