Writing Excuses
216 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 8 years ago - ★★★★★ - 74 ratingsFifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.
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Episodes
Writing Excuses 8.8: Writing and Personal Health
February 25, 2013 03:03 - 20 minutes - 14.2 MBRobison Wells joins Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard to talk about health -- especially the mental kind.
Writing Excuses 8.7: Cliffhangers and Icebergs with Robison Wells
February 17, 2013 21:08 - 19 minutes - 13.2 MBRobison Wells joins the 'cast to talk to us about cliffhangers.
Writing Excuses 8.6: Retellings and Adaptations
February 11, 2013 02:08 - 16 minutes - 11.3 MBWhy would you retell a story that has already been told? Now, how would you go about doing it well?
Writing Excuses 8.5: Breaking the Rules
February 04, 2013 04:35 - 19 minutes - 13.3 MBThey're not rules, they're guidelines. Right? Let's talk about breaking "rules" of writing.
Writing Excuses 8.4: Side-Character Arcs
January 28, 2013 03:20 - 17 minutes - 11.7 MBDo you need arcs and development for side-characters?
Writing Excuses 8.3: Pets
January 21, 2013 18:43 - 17 minutes - 12.2 MBHow do you give a personality to the animal or animals in your story? How do you do it without being a crazy cat lady?
Writing Excuses 8.2: Hero’s Journey
January 13, 2013 23:00 - 17 minutes - 11.7 MBBrandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about the Hero's Journey. Finally.
Writing Excuses 8.1: Microcasting
January 06, 2013 23:38 - 17 minutes - 12.2 MBWe're back for the New Year, and we start by answering all your questions. Or at least eight of them.
Writing Excuses 7.54: Four Ways the Industry is Changing
December 31, 2012 01:20 - 19 minutes - 13.1 MBBrandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard each take a look at some changing aspect of the industry, and how they're reacting to that change.
Writing Excuses 7.53: Secret History
December 26, 2012 20:28 - 16 minutes - 11.5 MBHow is "Men in Black" like "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?" This week on Writing Excuses we talk about Secret History, and how to do it well.
Writing Excuses 7.52: Microcasting
December 17, 2012 01:58 - 17 minutes - 12.2 MBA fast-paced Q&A covering discouragement, magic systems, ideas, and our embarrassing early projects.
Writing Excuses 7.51: Brainstorming with Mary
December 12, 2012 17:06 - 18 minutes - 12.7 MBMary invites Brandon, Dan, and Howard to brainstorm a story with her.
Writing Excuses 7.50: Outlining the Mary Way
December 10, 2012 05:20 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MBMary Robinette Kowal schools Brandon, Dan, and Howard with her outlining system.
Writing Excuses 7.49: Beginnings Revisited
December 03, 2012 02:53 - 18 minutes - 12.9 MBWe've talked about where to start. Now Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about how to start -- what goes "in" when you're going "in late, out early."
NaNoWriMo 2012: Bonus Episode 4, with Mary & Brandon
November 29, 2012 15:21 - 3 minutes - 5.93 MBBrandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal provide last-minute writing advice to you NaNoWriMo'ers out there...
Writing Excuses 7.48: Pixar Rules for Writing a Compelling Story
November 26, 2012 02:44 - 18 minutes - 13 MBBrandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary review some of Emma Coats' "Pixar Rules" for storytelling
NaNoWriMo 2012: Bonus Episode 3, with Howard
November 23, 2012 16:24 - 2 minutes - 2.36 MBHoward Tayler gives NaNoWriMo participants a pep-talk on their way into the last week of the month.
Writing Excuses 7.47: Raising the Stakes
November 19, 2012 02:19 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBWhat are the things that matter to your characters? What things matter to your readers? After we get the obligatory ambiguity out of the way, we settle into talking about the "stakes" and the escalation thereof.
NaNoWriMo 2012: Bonus Mini-Episode 2, with Dan & Rob
November 15, 2012 02:33 - 4 minutes - 3.96 MBDan Wells and Robison Wells give you a pep talk for the second week of NaNoWriMo.
Writing Excuses 7.46: Project in Depth The Emperor’s Soul
November 12, 2012 03:23 - 23 minutes - 16 MBBrandon talks in depth about his novella "The Emperor's Soul"
NaNoWriMo 2012: Bonus Mini-Episode 1, with Brandon & Mary
November 08, 2012 15:52 - 2 minutes - 1.93 MBBrandon and Mary take time out from World Fantasy to encourage everyone participating in NaNoWriMo.
Writing Excuses 7.45: Microcasting
November 05, 2012 08:37 - 18 minutes - 13 MBIt’s microcasting time! This week we take a crack at the following listener questions: What percentage of a rough draft makes it into print? What are the pitfalls of jumping from novels to short fiction, and vice versa? Do you need to start with short fiction first? (This answer involves this link to Jim C. … Continue reading Writing Excuses 7.45: Microcasting →
Writing Excuses 7.44: Writing for Comics with Jim Zub
October 29, 2012 00:25 - 17 minutes - 12 MBJim Zub talks writing comics with Brandon, Howard, and Mary at GenCon Indy
Writing Excuses 7.43: Tie-in Fantasy Fiction with James L Sutter
October 22, 2012 03:33 - 16 minutes - 11 MBJames L. Sutter, Pathfinder editor with Paizo, talks to us about tie-in fiction.
Writing Excuses 7.42: Contemporary YA Fiction
October 15, 2012 02:47 - 16 minutes - 11.3 MBJanci Patterson joins us to talk about contemporary YA , her debut novel "Chasing the Skip," and writing from a pitch.
Writing Excuses 7.41: Seven-Point Story Structure
October 07, 2012 22:38 - 19 minutes - 13.2 MBDan Wells walks us through the seven-point story structure format he uses, and then we demonstrate by brainstorming this on a sample story.
Writing Excuses 7.40: Writing the Other
October 01, 2012 00:52 - 19 minutes - 13.1 MBMaurice Broaddus joins us to talk about "writing the other" -- writing other cultures, races, genders -- basically anybody who isn't much like you.
Writing Excuses 7.39: Death
September 23, 2012 23:57 - 18 minutes - 12.6 MBKilling characters for all the right reasons, and knowing what the wrong ones are.
Writing Excuses 7.38: Writing Love Scenes
September 16, 2012 22:29 - 17 minutes - 12.1 MBShanna Germain joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard for a frank discussion of love scenes.
Writing Excuses 7.37: Pantsing
September 10, 2012 01:39 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBPantsing! What are we even talking about? We’re talking about discovery writing, but apparently some folks think it’s more fun to call it “seat-of-your-pants” writing. In this cast we cover this exhilarating process, and how it might best be applied. Mary uses the “yes-but, no-and” trick. Dan starts with an end in mind, and then … Continue reading Writing Excuses 7.37: Pantsing →
Writing Excuses 7.35: Brainstorming with Dan
September 02, 2012 22:00 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBDan needs help writing a short story, so Brandon, Mary, and Howard endeavor to help him. Hopefully this will be educational for the rest of you.
Writing Excuses 7.36: Writing Gaming Fiction with Monte Cook
August 27, 2012 01:10 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBRPG Luminary Monte Cook joins us at GenCon Indy 2012 to talk about writing for games, and the perils of trying to adapt game play back into prose.
Writing Excuses 7.34: How to Start the Next One
August 19, 2012 22:00 - 18 minutes - 12.9 MBFinishing one project means it's time to start the next one. And no, it's not necessarily going to get easier...
Writing Excuses 7.33: Authentic Emotion
August 13, 2012 00:34 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBEmote! Now do it authentically! In this episode we'll explain how we do it, and hopefully help you do it better.
Writing Excuses 7.32: Astronomy 101 for Writers
August 06, 2012 02:02 - 16 minutes - 11.7 MBEric James Stone joins the cast to talk astronomy as a tool for world-building
Writing Excuses 7.31: Project in Depth — Hollow City
July 30, 2012 01:07 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBSpoilers galore as we discuss "Hollow City," in depth, with author Dan Wells
Writing Excuses 7.30: Micocasting…Again!
July 23, 2012 00:00 - 19 minutes - 13.1 MBThe crew fields questions about criticism, suspension of disbelief, tension, and more.
Writing Excuses 7.29: The Villain Problem
July 15, 2012 15:28 - 18 minutes - 12.4 MBWhat do you do when your villain is more interesting and engaging than your hero? The first step? Admit that this is a problem...
Writing Excuses 7.28: Project in Depth– Glamour in Glass
July 09, 2012 02:48 - 23 minutes - 15.8 MBMary Robinette Kowal talks in depth about her novel Glamour In Glass, fielding questions from Brandon, Dan, and Howard.
Writing Excuses 7.27: The Problem of Originality
July 02, 2012 15:34 - 16 minutes - 11.2 MBDo we value originality too much? What does it mean to be original, and how can we, as authors, write wonderful things when all of the good ideas have already been used?
Writing Excuses 7.26: Q&A at UVU part 2
June 25, 2012 00:23 - 19 minutes - 13.4 MBRecorded live at Utah Valley University, here’s another Q&A episode from the LTUE Symposium! The questions: What was Brandon’s plan with Mistborn and the themes regarding establishment? Why does Kelsier shrug so much? (This leads into a fun discussion of “tells.”) How do you know when to stop a chapter? What about expanding it? How … Continue reading Writing Excuses 7.26: Q&A at UVU part 2 →
Writing Excuses 7.25: Writing Capers
June 17, 2012 23:33 - 17 minutes - 12 MBCapers and Heists as a plot form, with lots of movies cited as examples.
Writing Excuses 7.24: Project in Depth — Way of Kings
June 10, 2012 23:00 - 23 minutes - 16.1 MBBrandon answers "The Way of Kings" questions from Mary, Howard, and Dan.
Writing Excuses 7.23: Time Travel
June 03, 2012 21:45 - 17 minutes - 12.1 MBRecorded live, our regular 'casters discuss time travel, and somehow manage not to become any of their own parents, or even uncles.
Writing Excuses 7.22: Microcasting
May 27, 2012 23:27 - 19 minutes - 13.2 MBA microcast is our word for an asynchronous Q&A episode: you ask us tons of questions online, either through twitter or facebook or our listenermail account (on the sidebar), and we want to answer as many of them as we can. Not every answer can fill an entire episode, though, so we take the smaller … Continue reading Writing Excuses 7.22: Microcasting →
Writing Excuses 7.21: Project In Depth — Force Multiplication
May 21, 2012 03:35 - 21 minutes - 14.9 MBHoward answers questions about "Force Multiplication," (the 12th Schlock Mercenary book) as posed by Brandon, Dan, and Mary.
Writing Excuses 7.20: Cathartic Horror
May 14, 2012 04:26 - 19 minutes - 13.4 MBMichael R. Collings and Michaelbrent Collings discuss cathartic horror with Brandon, Dan, and Mary in front of a live audience at UVU.
Writing Excuses 7.19: Q&A at UVU
May 07, 2012 03:33 - 16 minutes - 11 MBA Q&A with James Dashner covering paragraph edits, plotting, writing prequels to existing series, and more.
Writing Excuses 7.18: Discovering your Voice
April 30, 2012 00:22 - 18 minutes - 12.6 MBWhat is your "voice" and how do you identify it? James Artimus Owen joins us for this discussion before a live audience at Life, The Universe, and Everything at Utah Valley University.
Writing Excuses 7.17: Guns and Fiction
April 23, 2012 04:30 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MBGuest and gun-nut Larry Correia joins the Writing Excuses crew to talk firearms, fiction, and common mistakes.