Writing Excuses
889 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 1.2K ratingsFifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.
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Episodes
18.27: Framing Stories
July 02, 2023 08:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBHave you ever framed a story within a story? Are you looking for a way to add structure or tension to your story? In this episode, we contemplate the value that can be added to your writing by putting it into a framework. Our hosts discuss various frameworks in fiction—from Frankenstein to Dark One: Forgotten to The House of the Spirits. [“Dark One: Forgotten” Deep Dive Ep. 4] Homework: Take something you’ve already written (or are currently writing), and add a frame story to it. Start ...
18.26: Broadening Your Writing Wheelhouse: Video Game Dialogue, RPG Adventures, & More
June 25, 2023 16:00 - 27 minutes - 25 MBLet’s talk about the things you can write that are not typically what we talk about—formats that aren't novels and short stories. In this episode, we’re thinking about scripts, RPG adventures, video game dialogue, etc. What other forms are out there, and how can you apply the skills you already have to a new form? [“Dark One: Forgotten” Deep Dive Ep. 3] Homework: Take something that you’re working on, and identify two other formats that might work well for it (audio, video game, you nam...
18.25: To Narrator or Not to Narrator
June 18, 2023 10:00 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBIn our second episode on Dan Wells’ audio-only book, “Dark One: Forgotten,” we provide you with tools and advice to consider when deciding whether or not to have a narrator. We also talk about location-aware dialogue, or how you can have your characters info dump without it being an info dump. Homework: Take something that you’ve already written, and adapt it for audio. Thing of the Week: Earbuds Podcast Collective, a curated list of podcasts Credits: Your hosts for this episode were...
18.24: “Dark One: Forgotten” Deep Dive
June 11, 2023 10:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBThe team grills Dan on his audio-only book “Dark One: Forgotten,” which he co-wrote with Brandon Sanderson. We find out how he wrote a book that became a six-part audio series, and why exactly that form is important. *Please listen to “Dark One: Forgotten” before listening to this episode!*. Homework: What's a thing you know, but everyone else has forgotten? Come up with a supernatural reason why this is. Thing of the Week: Zombies, Run! Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary ...
18.23: Our Advice on Giving Advice
June 04, 2023 08:00 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MB“Show don’t tell” is probably the most famous advice given to writers. But. . . we don’t necessarily agree. In our final episode of our deep dive into publishing, we tackle advice: How do you give it? When do you not? Our hosts tell us about the advice they wish they followed and the things they don’t tell their students. Also: Mary Robinette teaches us a trick about puppet fingers. Homework: Write a letter to yourself a year ago describing what kind of skills are they going to need in or...
18.22: On Mentorship: Sending the Elevator Back Down
May 28, 2023 10:00 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBHow can we make publishing more inclusive? What role does mentorship play? And how can you reframe competition as collaboration? All this and more in this episode. Homework: What's one thing that you can do to make someone else's path easier? Can you take a step towards doing this this week? Thing of the Week: After Five - newsletters from Suyi Davies Okungbowa Mentioned Links: On Sending the Elevator Back Down by DongWon Song Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette ...
18.21: The Empathy Gap: How to Understand What Your Publisher is Telling You
May 21, 2023 16:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBThe relationship between a writer and a publisher is… one that isn’t talked about enough. So we made an episode about rejection letters, email etiquette, and empathy. As a writer, how do you talk with a publisher? Well, luckily we have someone who knows all about the publishing world because they’re an agent at a large publishing house. DongWon offers advice on how to interact with publishers from the perspective of someone on the industry side. (If you’re new here: DongWon Song is an agen...
18.20: So You Want To Work In Publishing?
May 14, 2023 21:20 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBHave you ever thought of being a publisher, but don't know if it's the right choice for you? In this episode, DongWon (an agent at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency) walks you through this world and gives you some tips for how to decide if publishing is the right career for you. Homework: Come up with a list of 3 things you've read. Think of things that can act as comp titles for your professional career and/or personal brand. Thing of the Week: Letters to a Writer of Color Edited by Deepa ...
18.19: What is Publishing For, Anyway?
May 07, 2023 23:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBIn this episode, we unpack what the publishing industry is, what exactly it does, and why it does it. We also outline the first steps for preparing to talk to an agent or publisher. Homework: If you had to sit down with a publisher today and convince them that there's a market for you book, how would you start doing it? Make a list of 3-5 titles that your book is similar to, and describe your target audience. Thing of the Week: Kate McKean’s Agents and Books on Substack Mentioned Link...
18.18: Launching an Author Newsletter
April 30, 2023 22:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBIt's 2023 and people still use email newsletters. For some reason they're more important than ever, so let's talk about building one. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
18.17: Build Your Author Brand, 2023 Edition
April 23, 2023 22:00 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBAn exploration of author branding and the social media tools we use. "Figure out who you are, and then do it on purpose" - Dolly Parton. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
18.16: Deep Dive: Publishing is Hard, by DongWon Song
April 16, 2023 22:00 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBPublishing is hard. Also, Publishing is Hard is a newsletter from DongWon Song. In this episode we grill them about it. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
18.15: Building a Mystery, Now With More Tools
April 09, 2023 22:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBBack in February, with Episode 18.8, we began exploring the process of writing a mystery story. That episode led us into a series of six episodes about tension, and the tools we use to create and manage it. And now, with this episode (and a toolbox full of tension) we're ready (we hope!) to revisit the creation of mystery stories. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., an...
18.14: Heavy Lifting with Microtension
April 02, 2023 22:00 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MBLet's take all our tension tools and apply them in tiny ways. A big application of tension might be an argument between two characters about a course of plot-important action. Microtension might be those characters arguing about how long to boil eggs. In this episode we'll explore some favorite applications of microtension, and the ways in which it can be layered to ramp up the larger, plot-focused tension. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Ro...
18.13: Finding the Core Conflict
March 26, 2023 22:00 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBIn our ongoing exploration of tension, the time has come to examine conflict. It can be shaped and delivered in numerous ways, but you have to know the core conflict before you can make anybody feel tense about it. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime ...
18.12: The Long Shadow of Unanswered Questions
March 19, 2023 22:00 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBOur continuing exploration of tension has taken us to a favorite technique: unanswered questions. Sure, this obviously applies to mysteries, but consider the question posed in romances: “will they get together?” In its simplest form, the unanswered question that forces a page-turn is "what happens on the next page?" In this episode we explore how to use unanswered questions to drive tension, and how to avoid some common pitfalls. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal...
18.11: Turning Up the Contrast With Juxtaposition
March 12, 2023 22:00 - 20 minutes - 19.1 MBOur deconstruction and categorization of tension continues this week with an exploration of Juxtaposition, which is a contrast between two elements that supplies tension by allowing the reader to insert themselves. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime ...
18.10: Anticipation is More Than Just Making Us Wait
March 05, 2023 23:00 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MBLast week we talked about tension, and promised that we'd be breaking it down into more pieces. This week we're discussing one of those pieces: Anticipation. We sub-divided it as follows: Surprise Suspense Humor Promises We talk about how to create anticipatory tension well, where the pitfalls are, and how this fits into the creation of our stories. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was recorded by Mar...
18.09: Unpacking the Tension
February 26, 2023 23:00 - 20 minutes - 18.9 MBFor the next several episodes we'll be talking about tension. That may seem like a lot of time to spend on just one word, but as we unpack the word 'tension' in this episode you'll see that there is plenty of material to work with. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://red...
18.08: Building a Mystery
February 19, 2023 23:00 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBAfter last week's deep dive into The Spare Man we're ready to talk more generally about mysteries, and the tools we use to write them. Obviously we can't cover all of that in just one episode, but don't worry. In upcoming episodes we'll explore more of these tools in detail. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out ro...
18.07: Deep Dive into THE SPARE MAN
February 12, 2023 23:00 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MBSpoiler Alert! This week is our deep dive into Mary Robinette Kowal's The Spare Man. It's a sci-fi mystery novel often described as "The Thin Man in space." Deep dive episodes are necessarily full of spoilers because we ask all kinds of how and why questions specific to the writing of the work in question. If you haven't yet read The Spare Man, you might consider doing that before listening to this episode. We're not the boss of you, but we believe you'll get more out of this episode and the...
18.06: An Interview With Howard Tayler
February 05, 2023 23:00 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler In this episode we interview Howard Tayler, one of the founding members of the podcast, and the creator of Schlock Mercenary. The first question: how did this twenty-year ride change you? And a later question: what comes next? Liner Notes: We'll eventually do a deep dive on the final three books of the Schlock Mercenary saga. You can read for free starting here. Credits: This episode was recorded by Ma...
18.05: An Interview with Mary Robinette Kowal
January 29, 2023 23:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler In this episode Howard Tayler conducts our interview with Mary Robinette Kowal, leading with a wide-open question: "Where did you even?" Mary Robinette talks to us about how she came to the world of writing, and some of the amazing things she picked up along the way. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today ...
18.04: An Interview With Dan Wells
January 22, 2023 23:00 - 21 minutes - 20 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler In this episode Erin Roberts very enthusiastically launches our interview with "OG" Dan Wells with a delightfully difficult question, paraphrased thusly: "is there advice you gave back in the early days that you still stand by today?" There are lots of other questions, including one about bacon! Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson Our Sponsors: * Chec...
18.03: An Interview With Erin Roberts
January 15, 2023 23:00 - 17 minutes - 16.4 MBAs we announced in the first episode of the year (and in this press release), DongWon Song and Erin Roberts are joining us as permanent cast members. Today we're conducting an interview with Erin Roberts. She is newer to career writing than any of the rest of us, but her contributions to Writing Excuses have already been invaluable. In this episode we'll learn a bit more about why, and about what Erin will bring to the program going forward. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall C...
18.02: An Interview with DongWon Song
January 08, 2023 23:00 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler As we announced in last week's episode (and in this press release), DongWon Song and Erin Roberts are joining us as permanent cast members. In this episode we conduct an interview with DongWon Song, plumbing a few depths, and learning a bit more about what they can teach all of us. Liner Notes: DongWon Song's newsletter, Publishing is Hard, can be found at publishingishard.com. It's free, but paid subs...
18.01: Twenty Twenty-Three, By Way of Introduction
January 01, 2023 23:00 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler We begin 2023 with some big changes, and in this episode we'll discuss those, starting with some changes to the core cast. DongWon Song and Erin Roberts are joining us as permanent cast members, and Brandon Sanderson is stepping aside with "emeritus" status. But the episode isn't just announcements. We each talk about where we are career-wise, what we're working on, and what we're excited to bring to t...
17.52: The WXR 2022 Q&A
December 25, 2022 23:00 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBYour Hosts: Brandon, Dan, Mary Robinette, and Howard This Q&A session was recorded before a live audience aboard ship at WXR 2022, Here are some paraphrasings of the questions our attendees asked: How do you make your world feel big without infodumping? How do you balance a sense of progress with an unreliable narrator? How can I make two magic systems work in the same setting when one is underpowered, and the protagonist uses the weaker one? Have you ever based characters on yourself, or on...
17.51: Feel The Burn
December 18, 2022 22:20 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBLet's talk about burnout. It's been a long few years (with some of those years feeling like decades) so this may seem timely, but burnout can happen during otherwise ordinary times. Ignoring it or simply trying to "burn smarter, not harder" can have serious repercussions. In this episode we talk about why we burn out, how we recognize it, how we deal with it, and how we (eventually) recover from it. Your Hosts: Dongwon Song, Piper J. Drake, Peng Shepherd, Marshall Carr, Jr., and Erin Rober...
17.50: Consistency, Inconsistency, and the Crushing Weight of Expectations
December 11, 2022 23:00 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBYour Hosts: Howard Tayler, Dongwon Song, and Dan Wells Thanks to some last-minute schedule changes, we almost didn't have an episode for today. Only three cast members were able to make it to the session, and none of those three had the syllabus. But we forged ahead anyway, and recorded an episode about why we felt it was important to record an episode. That may sound like one too many layers of meta, but just wait until we add the layers in which this actually applies to writing! Liner Note...
17.49: Bodies Are Magical
December 04, 2022 23:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette, C.L. Polk, Fran Wilde, and Howard Tayler Let's put a stake in the ground here: disabilities do not grant magical powers. And yet that exact trope can be found in multiple genres, across multiple mediums. In this episode we talk about why this happens, and how we might better portray the magical awesomeness found in our bodies. Credits: This episode was recorded by Daniel Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to g...
17.48: Bodies, Why? (Part III)
November 27, 2022 23:00 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette, C.L. Polk, Fran Wilde, and Howard Tayler Let's talk about pain. It hurts, yes, but we all experience it, so writing about it can be a great point of connection between the writer and the reader. Also, writing about it can hurt. Liner Notes: We referenced "No, I'm Fine," by Howard Tayler, and "The Visions Take Their Toll: Disability and the Cost of Magic," by Dominic Parisien Credits: This episode was recorded by Daniel Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our ...
17.47: The Linguistics of Disability
November 20, 2022 23:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette, C.L. Polk, Fran Wilde, and Howard Tayler This is the "talking about how to talk about" talk. We begin by reviewing the difference between the medical model and the social model of disability. Liner Notes: This TikTok provides a nice explanation of the medical and social models of disability. There's also this essay, "The Linguistics of Disability" over at Fireside Fiction. Credits: This episode was recorded by Daniel Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sp...
17.46: Monstrous Awakening
November 13, 2022 23:00 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette, C.L. Polk, Fran Wilde, and Howard Tayler Okay, before we start, you have homework: Please take a few minutes to read this essay by Fran Wilde entitled "You Wake Up Monstrous." That will give you context for our discussion, which is about how body horror and other monstrous-ness is a tool we should be employing with great care. Credits: This episode was recorded by Daniel Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to g...
17.45: Bodies, Tech, and Character
November 06, 2022 23:00 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette, C.L. Polk, Fran Wilde, and Howard Tayler Let's talk about technological body-modification! It's a common element in science fiction, but it's also an increasingly important part of the world we're living in right now. Liner Notes: In this episode we referenced "Happenstance," and Amy Purdy's quickstep from Dancing With The Stars. Credits: This episode was recorded by Daniel Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today t...
17.44: Bodies, Why? (Part II: Working Through Disability)
October 30, 2022 22:00 - 27 minutes - 24.9 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette, Fran Wilde, C.L. Polk, and Howard Tayler Let's talk for a bit about writing while disabled. This can mean anything from scheduling your craft around doctor's appointments, to learning to operate on a limited budget as defined by your body. You might be asking "I'm not disabled, so how does this pertain to me?" Well... you're not disabled currently. Eventually, as we age, we all experience disability. Liner Notes: Howard tweeted about his experience at the hand cli...
17.43: Bodies. Why? (Depicting Disability)
October 23, 2022 21:00 - 22 minutes - 20.2 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette and Howard Tayler, with special guests Fran Wilde, C.L. Polk, and William Alexander Whether or not you're writing from your own experience, depicting disability in fiction is fraught. In this episode we'll talk about some of the dos and don'ts in order to provide you with guidelines for disability depiction. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosett...
17.42: Eight Embodied Episodes About Disability
October 16, 2022 22:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette and Howard Tayler, with special guests Fran Wilde, C.L. Polk, and William Alexander For the next eight episodes we'll be talking about bodies, and how they don't all work the same way, and how this can be applied to our writing. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support th...
17.41: Picture Books are Books Too, with Special Guest Seth Fishman
October 09, 2022 22:00 - 18 minutes - 17 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson, and Howard Tayler, with special guest Seth Fishman Seth Fishman, author of seven picture books (as well as lots of longer-form stuff), joins us to talk about writing picture books, including some of the business and publication aspects. No-Context Pull Quote: "Your art is so bad we're going to hire someone to draw badly for you." Credits: This episode was recorded live by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson Our Spo...
17.40: Questions & Answers About Structure, with Special Guest Peng Shepherd
October 02, 2022 22:00 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson, and Howard Tayler, with special guest Peng Shepherd Peng Shepherd joined us aboard Liberty of the Seas for WXR 2022, and returned with us to the topic of story structures. In this episode we answer questions from our live audience. The questions include: How do you make sure you've got the right number of plot threads? How do you spread the structure of a given plot line across multiple books? How do you avoiding having subplots...
17.39: Writing Bodies and Intimacy, with K.M. Szpara
September 25, 2022 22:00 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBYour Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, Dongwon Song, Piper J. Drake, & Howard Tayler, with special guest K. M. Szpara CONTENT WARNING: this episode is about adult acts and adult bodies, and we won't be using euphemisms. K.M. Szpara joined us at WXR 2022 for this discussion of writing bodies and intimacy, with a particular focus on which kinds of words to use for things. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr. before a live audience aboard Liberty of the Seas. It was mastered by A...
17.38: Oh No I Lost The Thread
September 18, 2022 22:00 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBYour Hosts: Howard Tayler, C.L. Polk, Marshall Carr, Jr., and Mary Robinette Kowal Oh no! You've put the project down for long enough that you've lost your place in it! Whatever will you do? For starters, you can listen to this episode. We've been there, and one of us is there right now. We talk about the different problems you're likely facing, and how to overcome them in order to find the thread and get moving again. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by...
17.37: Science and Fiction—It’s Not Just Science Fiction
September 11, 2022 22:00 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBYour Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Cady Coleman The fictional side of science and the scientific side of fiction are part of the discipline of science communication, often called SciComm. In this episode Cady Coleman joins us to talk about how science fiction fits into the field of SciComm, and how the stories we tell can affect the people who read them. Credits: This episode was recorded before a live audience by Rob Kowal, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check ...
17.36: Space for Everyone
September 04, 2022 22:00 - 19 minutes - 18.2 MBYour Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Cady Coleman Chemist, USAF Colonel, and NASA Astronaut Cady Coleman joins us to talk about actual travel to actual space, and how that's a thing which is increasingly available to people who are not in the employ of government space agencies. Also, we discuss how the demographics of space travelers are changing, and how this is creating safer space travel for everyone. Credits: This episode was recorded before a live audience by Rob Kowal, and...
17.35: Nuances of Dialog
August 28, 2022 22:00 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBYour Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Maurice Broaddus, and Howard Tayler We wrap up our eight-episode dialog master class with a discussion of nuance, which is difficult to describe in a blurb because it's... well, nuanced. That may sound a bit recursive, but our discussion dives deep into the meta. Credits: This episode was recorded by Daniel Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! ...
17.34: Developing Subtext
August 21, 2022 22:00 - 19 minutes - 17.8 MBYour Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Maurice Broaddus, and Howard Tayler We begin this episode with a quick exploration of the terminology, and what we mean when we say "text," "context," and "subtext." Subtext exists between text and context. It's the information which isn't actually in the text, but which we are able to divine based on the context. And in this episode we talk about how to use context and text to provide subtext to the reader. Credits: This episode was recorded by D...
17.33: Building Tension
August 14, 2022 22:00 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBYour Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Maurice Broaddus, and Howard Tayler Tension! In this episode we discuss the ways dialog can build and/or maintain tension, especially when placed in context with the rest of the scene. Liner Notes: A great article about tension for those who (like Howard) may need a solid working definition -Toward a general psychological model of tension and suspense Credits: This episode was recorded by Daniel Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsor...
17.32: Everything is About Conflict
August 07, 2022 22:00 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBYour Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Maurice Broaddus, and Howard Tayler Everything is about conflict? Really? Well, yes. Maybe not in the action-movie sense, but conflict is everywhere, even among people whose goals, objectives, and methodologies are in alignment. This, of course, means that it exists among your cast of characters, and it will inform the way the talk to one another. Liner Notes: We mentioned this famous Monty Python sketch about wanting to have an argument. Credits:...
17.31: Everyone Has an Agenda
July 31, 2022 22:00 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBYour Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Maurice Broaddus, and Howard Tayler We've mentioned "area of intention" earlier in this dialog master class, but now the concept gets the spotlight. If all of your characters have their own agendas, their own areas of intention, then the dialog between them should reflect that. Credits: This episode was recorded by Daniel Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifeti...
17.30: Know Your Characters
July 24, 2022 22:00 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBYour Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Maurice Broaddus, and Howard Tayler How well do you know your characters? Sure, you might know their age, nationality, and perhaps wardrobe, but how well do you know their internal characteristics? Do you know them well enough that you can write dialog that sounds like them? In this episode we discuss how you might approach this problem. Credits: This episode was recorded by Daniel Thompson, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors: * Check out...