Writing Excuses
Episodes
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 20: Plot- vs. Character-Driven Fiction
12 Oct 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Larry Correia, whose debut novel Monster Hunter International hit the market this summer, joins us for a discussion of plot-driven vs. character drive...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 19: Emotion in Fiction with John Brown
05 Oct 2009
Contributed by Lukas
John Brown joins us again, and tells us that fiction "is all about guiding an emotional response in a reader." We begin with a discussion of d...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 18: How To Not Repeat Yourself
28 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
John Brown rejoins us for this discussion of repetition. How do we, as writers, avoid repeating ourselves? We're not just talking about the liter...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 17: Characters & Worldbuilding Q&A with Mary Robinette Kowal
21 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Mary is back! We still had a Mary Robinette Kowal episode from WorldCon 67, and now you have it too! We take questions from the audience, and then ans...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 16: The Anti-Mary Sue Episode
13 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
John Brown, debut author of Servant of a Dark God, joins us for this discussion of the avoidance of self-insertion. In polite company we call this th...
Writing Excuses: Parsec Award Acceptance Speech
13 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
We won a Parsec Award at Dragon*Con, and it's a darn good thing we weren't there in person to give an acceptance speech. Otherwise this podcas...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 15: Writing Process Q&A, with Mary Robinette Kowal
06 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Robinette Kowal joins us again, live at WorldCon 67 in Montreal! This time we fell back on that tried-and-true "Questions from the Audience&#...
3.14: The Four Principles of Puppetry, with Mary Robinette Kowal
31 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Aside from being a delightful author and a Campbell award winner, Mary Robinette Kowal is a professional puppeteer. She joined us at WorldCon 67 in Mo...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 13: Dialects and In-World Jargon
24 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Howard here, folks. On behalf of the entire Writing Excuses team I'd like to apologize in advance for that which you are about to receive. You kno...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 12: Subplots
17 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Meanwhile, several side-characters found themselves looking for a sub-plot in the tavern. Something funny, or perhaps romantic to take the load off of...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 11: Trimming
09 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk "trimming." Why do it? Well... because your manuscript is longer than it needs to be. Yes, we're talking to you. AND you. A...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 10: The Dos and Don’ts of Attending Cons
03 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we discussed what kinds of events that you, the aspiring author, should be attending. This week we cover what you should and shouldn't b...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 9: Conventions You Should Be Attending
27 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
As genre-fiction writers we attend a lot of conventions. As aspiring genre-fiction writers you probably want to be attending conventions. But which on...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 8: What Star Trek Did Right
20 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
As we did with The Dark Knight and Watchmen (the comic, not the movie), once again we turn our searing critical insight on a major work of successful ...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 7: Genre Blending
13 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
You've seen it done... "Zombie Apocalypse in Space." "Perry Mason in the Armed Forces." It's genre blending, where the author...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 6: Dramatic Breaks
07 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
What are dramatic breaks? We open this episode with Howard very genuinely playing Doctor Watson to Brandon's Holmes, which is amusing because as i...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 5: How to Take Criticism
29 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
How do you take criticism? How do you react, if you even do react? Does criticism cause you to change the way you work? Criticism can come from your p...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 3: Stumping Howard at Conduit
22 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Howard here... I've learned that it's a really bad idea to run out for a bio-break between podcasts. When I returned to the packed panel room ...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 2: Keeping it Real with Aprilynne Pike
15 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
This episode was recorded live at CONduit in Salt Lake City with special guest Aprilynne Pike. Our topic: How do we "keep it real" when writin...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 4: Non Linear Story Telling
08 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Don't you just hate it when things unfold out of order? Why do writers do that? We explain why they do it, and how they do it, and then we discuss...
Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 1: World-Building History
01 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Season 3 of Writing Excuses! With eighteen hours and fourteen months of podcasting history behind us, it seems appropriate for us to talk a...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 33: How To Not Be Overwhelmed
25 May 2009
Contributed by Lukas
And here we are, at the final episode of Writing Excuses, Season 2. As promised, this episode is going to be super-useful to new writers, but it's...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 32: The Most Important Thing Dan Learned In The Last Year
18 May 2009
Contributed by Lukas
This the third in our series of retrospective episodes. The most important thing Dan learned this year? Being a full-time author is a lot different th...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 31: The Most Important Thing Brandon Learned In The Last Year
11 May 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Here's the second part of our three-part "what we learned this year" series. This time around Brandon tells us the most important thing he...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 30: The Most Important Thing Howard Learned In The Last Year
03 May 2009
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first of a three-part series in which Brandon, Dan, and Howard tell each other (and you, of course) about the most important thing each of...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 29: How not to end your book
27 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Let's talk about failure... but let's talk about it so that we can avoid it. How do you know if your ending has flopped? What kind of approa...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 28: Applying Critical Reading: “Watchmen”
20 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked about reading critically, reading as writers. This week we decided to apply that critical reading skill to Watchmen, the Hugo awar...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 27: Reading Critically
13 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
As a writer you obviously know how to read. But being a writer changes how you read, and what you read, and even why you read. Do you read more, or le...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 26: How Publishing is Changing in the new Century
06 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy Fulda, assistant editor at Baen's Universe and editor-in-chief and founder of Anthology Builder, joins us again while Dan Wells is out cele...
Writing Excuses Episode 632: Now that we’ve got time travel what do we do with it?
01 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
This... THIS is why speculative fiction writers should never be trusted with actual technology.Our Sponsors:* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* C...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 25: The Seven Deadly Sins of Slush Stories
30 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy Fulda fills in for Dan for this week's episode (he was sick, she was in town, huzzah!) but she's more than just "filling in." Sh...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 24: Writing Habits and Q&A with Tracy Hickman
24 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy Hickman joins us again at "Life, The Universe, and Everything," and in this episode we let Brandon ask him random questions while Dan an...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 23: Avoiding the Cliché with Tracy Hickman
16 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
We took Writing Excuses on the road last month for "Life, The Universe, and Everything," the symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy at Brigh...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 22: Marketing 201, Branding for Authors
09 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
"Branding," not "Brandon," just so we're clear. Brand-ING. We open with the definition of "branding," talking about what ...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 21: Fight Scenes
02 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Wells joins the Writing Excuses crew for a second 'cast, this time dealing with fight scenes. We talk about good blocking versus a bad blow-...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 20: Marketing 101 for Creators
23 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Howard takes the moderatorial lead on this episode in which he, Brandon, and Dan are joined by Rob Wells for a discussion of marketing. What is market...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 19: Do Creative Writing Classes Help
16 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Brandon and Dan met during a creative writing class at Brigham Young University, and Brandon went on to get a Master's Degree in the field. Howard...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 18: World Building Governments
09 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Let's get back to world-building, and dig into a tough one: government. In this case we're talking about government as part of the backdrop, r...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 17: Website Marketing for Authors
02 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Our producer Jordan Sanderson joins us for this week's installment, in which we likely make all kinds of enemies among the authorial community by ...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 16: Non-Human Races
26 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
The Writing Excuses crew returns to world-building, this time to discuss the creation of non-human races. Why do genre-fiction writers use aliens and ...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 15: Knowing When To Begin
19 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
When do you know when you're ready to begin? What does that question even mean? Apparently Brandon gets asked it a lot, though, so he posed it for...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 14: Writing Habits
12 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
We get asked a lot about our writing habits. So your Writing Excuses hosts spend the whole 'cast discussing their schedules, their work environmen...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 13: Violence
05 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
All three of your Writing Excuses hosts include a measure of violence in their written work. So Brandon, Dan, and Howard decide to clear the air a lit...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 12: Theme
29 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
For the first time in eleven episodes, we have a "normal" one. No special guests, no special locations, and no new format tricks. This episode...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 11: Talking Publishing and Writing with Dave Wolverton
22 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Dave Wolverton joins us for a third and final episode, and the Writing Excuses team pumps him for information before letting him escape. We find out w...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 10: The Boring Parts
15 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Dave Farland, aka Dave Wolverton again joins the Writing Excuses team, and helps us discuss boredom. Specifically, we cover how to deal with it, how ...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 9: Romance, with Dave Wolverton
08 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
This week (and for the following two weeks) the Writing Excuses crew is joined by author Dave Wolverton, who also writes under the name David Farland....
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 8: The Three Act Structure with Bob Defendi
01 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
With Brandon still mysteriously missing, Professor Bob Defendi returns to take Dan and Howard on a magical journey through the three-act format: every...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 7: Using Writing Formulas with Bob Defendi
24 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Howard, Dan, and guest Bob Defendi open this episode with some high literary humor. Bob fills in for Brandon as we discuss formulas writers use in cra...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 6: Endings
17 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 6, recorded live at Dragon's Keep opens with monkey noises and greeting-card pith, and ends with... well, we'll just let you listen. I...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 5: Writing Groups
11 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
So you've got a fantastic idea for a book or a short story, but where do you go from there? Who can give the incentive to write, the support to ke...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 4:View point, Plot Twists and Being a Part-Time Writer with Eric James Stone
03 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Eric James Stone joins us for our final Mountain-Con episode. This Q&A covers writing part-time (and Dan disqualifies himself from answering this ...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 3: Characters with Brandon Mull
27 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
No matter how grand your setting, how intense your conflicts, or how tight your plot, at some point you're going to need characters. Join us as we...
Writing Season 2 Episode 2: How to Write for Children with Brandon Mull
20 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Kids these days with their long hair and their love of reading. It's like, get off my lawn, am I right? But in other news, kids (meaning anything ...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Bonus Episode 1: Live at the Mistborn 3 Release
17 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
We talk among ourselves about some episodes of this podcast being "crunchy" and others being "fluffy." "Crunchy" episodes are ...
Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 1: Q&A on Setting and Characters at Mountain Con with John Brown
13 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
You didn't think we'd just keep going with the same old stuff forever, did you? Well, actually we are, but now we're calling it Season 2. ...
Writing Excuses Episode 35: Voice, Tone and Style
06 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone says you can't teach style--each writer just has to figure it out on his or her own. Well, we here at Writing Excuses have never met an ...
Writing Excuses Episode 34: What The Dark Knight Did Right
29 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Like all right-thinking people, we loved The Dark Knight--but because we are also writers obsessed with the craft of storytelling, we liked it for ver...
Writing Excuses Episode 33: Side Characters
22 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Just as no burger is complete without its fries, no protagonist is complete without his sidekick, or his mother, or his entomologist, or whatever side...
Writing Excuses Episodes 32: Talking Exposition with Patrick Rothfuss
15 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
In this, the last of our WorldCon 66 episodes, Brandon, Dan, and Howard interview Name of the Wind author Patrick Rothfuss. We discuss exposition, an...
Writing Excuses Episode 31: Talking RPG and Game Writing with Steve Jackson
08 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
One of the biggest areas of professional creative writing these days is game writing, and who better to talk to about it than Steve Jackson--yes, THE...
Writing Excuses Episode 30: Talking Revision with Moshe Feder
02 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Last week we talked to an editor, this week we talk to OUR editor: Brandon's and Dan's editor at Tor, Moshe Feder. It's a great opportunit...
Writing Excuses Episode 29: Talking Publishing with Lou Anders
25 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
So what exactly does an editor, do, anyway? We've already talked about the process of submitting to an editor; today we talk about the millions of...
Writing Excuses Episode 28: Writing for Webcomics with Phil and Kaja Foglio
18 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first of five episodes recorded on location at WorldCon 66 in the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. Brandon, Dan, and Howard are joine...
Writing Excuses Episode 27: World-Building Religion
11 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
The Writing Excuses team sits down to talk about religion as a world-building device: your characters probably believe in something, so what is it? Ho...
Writing Excuses Episode 26: Horror
05 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
What is horror? Why is it scary? HOW is it scary? Forced by their grandfather's will to spend an entire night in his spooky mansion, our podcaster...
Writing Excuses Episode 25: Viewpoint and Tense Part 2
28 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
We are pleased to present the second half of "Viewpoint and Tense," which, as we all know, is Tense. Part 1 was Viewpoint. It's not two p...
Writing Excuses Episode 24: Research
21 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
How much research do you do? Howard's answer: "Just enough to get by." In this podcast we talk about why we research, how we research, and...
Writing Excuses Episode 23: Viewpoint
15 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
You've heard about viewpoint, but do you really know what it means? Discover along with Howard the magic world of person, tense, and omniscience, ...
Writing Excuses Episode 22: Doing The Unpopular
07 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
As a writer it's sometimes difficult to decide between doing things the readers want, and things that are right for the story. But as Dan says, wr...
Writing Excuses Episode 21: Humor
30 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Enough of this highbrow literary crap--make with the funny! Or, if you're Howard, do both. In this this episode we talk about why to write humor, ...
Writing Excuses Episode 20: More Q&A from Conduit
23 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Writer Eric James Stone joins the Writing Excuses crew for our third Conduit installment. We tackle questions from the audience again (except for when...
Writing Excuses Episode 19: Plot Twists
16 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Stackpole, author and podcaster, joined us at CONduit, and the four of us tackled plot twists in front of a live audience. Whether you write f...
Writing Excuses Episode 18: Q&A at Conduit
09 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
While at CONduit, we recorded three episodes of Writing Excuses in front of an audience, and this is the first of those. In this episode we have Dan W...
Writing Excuses Episode 17: This Sucks and I’m a Horrible Writer
02 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
The Writing Excuses crew tackles writer's block again, this time approaching the "This Sucks And I'm A Horrible Writer" mindset. Dan r...
Writing Excuses Episode 16: Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard
26 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Howard kicks this off with his own sure-fire cure for Writers' Block, "BIC HOK:" Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard. The Writing Excuses tea...
Writing Excuses Episode 15: Costs and Ramifications of Magic
19 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
This week the Writing Excuses team discusses magic again, this time focusing on the cost of magic. Whether or not your magic system has internally-con...
Writing Excuses Episode 14: Magic Systems and their Rules
12 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Does magic need rules? Sometimes yes and sometimes no; our intrepid podcasters talk about how to know which situation is which, and explore the pros a...
Writing Excuses Episode 13: Submitting to Editors Part 2
05 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
In part two of our chat with editor Stacy Whitman, we discuss more about how to interact with editors: how to approach them at cons, how to inquire ab...
Writing Excuses Episode 12: Submitting to Editors Part 1
28 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
This week, special guest Stacy Whitman joins us from Mirrorstone books (an imprint of Wizards of the Coast). Stacy works there as an editor, and helps...
Writing Excuses Episode 11: The Business of Writing
21 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
So... you're ready for the big-time. You're a writer, and the writing is almost paying the bills. Hurray! Now, how do you balance your life so...
Writing Excuses Episode 10: Pacing
14 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Pacing... it's all about keeping the tension up, keeping things snappy, and keeping the reader interested. This week the Writing Excuses crew deli...
Writing Excuses Episode 9: Sci-Fi Sub-Genre
07 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
This week we continue our discussion on Science Fiction with a discussion of various Sub-genres, why they're different, and what you can do to mak...
Writing Excuses Episode 8: Sci-Fi Genre
31 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of our series on genres, we discuss why people write Sci-Fi, what you need to know to write Sci-Fi, and how much we all love unicorns.Our...
Writing Excuses Bonus Episode 2: Rules of Writing Excuses
24 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
If you're new to Writing Excuses, or if you're just curious about some of the terminology we use, let us break it down for you. These are the ...
Writing Excuses Episode 7: Villains
24 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Are flaws necessary for villains? What traits make for a really good (err... evil?) villain? What's the difference between Sauron and Gollum? (...
Writing Excuses Episode 6: Flaws vs Handicaps
17 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Is there a difference between the two? How do you use each appropriately in your writing? And how lovable can a group of mercenaries be?Our Sponsors...
Writing Excuses Bonus Episode 1: Remembering Gary Gygax
10 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Brandon, Howard and Dan talk about their first exposure to RPG games, Gary Gygax and the influence he had on them and the industry.Our Sponsors:* Chec...
Writing Excuses Episode 5: Heroes and Protagonists
10 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
What makes a good hero? Why is Dirk Pitt so cool? Why do people like Superman? And why does Howard-with-a-chest-cold start to sound like Barry White? ...
Writing Excuses Episode 4: Beginnings
03 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
The first line of any story is the most important. People get drawn in to a book because of the first line. Brandon, Howard and Dan talk about how to...
Writing Excuses Episode 3: Killing your Darlings
25 Feb 2008
Contributed by Lukas
How do you make your novel better? Sometimes you have to cut out the part you like best. Don't believe me? Before I posted this I had attached an ...
Writing Excuses Episode 2: Blending the Familiar and the Original
18 Feb 2008
Contributed by Lukas
How do you know when your setting of high school kids solve supernatural mysteries becomes cliché? Brandon, Howard and Dan discuss how you create un...
Writing Excuses Episode 1: Brainstorming
11 Feb 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Brandon, Howard and Dan discuss where their ideas come from and Howard tells us a little too much about his love of Pepsi. wikidPad Home PageOur Spons...