Writing Excuses
Episodes
19.30: A Close Reading on Character: Agency vs. Choices
28 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We have a theory that we want to work through on today’s episode: agency is the ability to take action, whereas choices are more about the interior ...
19.29: A Close Reading on Character: Barriers vs. Stakes
21 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our episode today focuses on C.L. Clark’s short story “You Perfect Broken Thing” for how the character's stakes shape the barriers facing he...
19.28: A Close Reading on Character: Internal vs External Identity
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we’re focusing on C.L. Clark’s “The Cook,” as we explore external and internal expression. We chose this story because it's a rem...
19.27: A Close Reading on Character: An Overview and Why We Chose C.L. Clark's Stories
07 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we introduce our next close reading series—we’re focusing on character through the lens of three of C.L. Clark’s short stories: “You P...
19.26: Bringing Falconry into Writing
30 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we are joined by the incredible falconer Krista Hong Edwards. Krista was kind enough to take our hosts out with her falcons, and we had the most...
19.25: From the Classroom to the Page
23 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Learning is great, but how do you translate it into doing without getting overwhelmed? What is the difference between learning in the classroom and ex...
19.24: An Interview on Worldbuilding with Arkady Martine
16 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We've spent the last month talking about "A Memory Called Empire, and now, we are so excited to welcome the author, Arkady Martine, to the sho...
19.23: Tying It All Together (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)
09 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, the gang talks about their final thoughts on Martine’s “A Memory Called Empire.” We conclude with some lessons we’ve learned through an...
19.22: Technology and Identity (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)
02 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The imago technology lies at the heart of this novel thematically and narratively. How does this technology create a world, delineate Mahit's cult...
19.21: Language as a Tool (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)
26 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What cultural and worldbuilding information is embedded within the smallest of word choices? Today, we dive into three specific sections from througho...
19.20: How to Make Worlds Feel Big Without Overwhelming the Reader (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding: Focusing on Scale)
19 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you use language and scale to focus your writing? Today, we think about scale and movement across vast spaces. What do characters’ movements ...
19.19: A Close Reading on Worldbuilding: An Overview and why A Memory Called Empire
12 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why is worldbuilding is essential in your writing? Today, we answer this question and dive into some working definitions of how we want to talk about ...
19.18: How to Build Fictional Economies
05 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes we know the action and themes of your story, but you don’t know how to build an economy that supports those. Well today, we explain just h...
19.17: Novellas- the Goldilocks of Publishing
28 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you find the right size for your story? And speaking of size, what do novellas do differently than both short stories and novels? What even is ...
19.16: An Interview with Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar
21 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we get to talk to the inimitable Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar. Amal and Max are on the podcast to tell us about how they wrote a book togeth...
19.15: A Close Reading on Voice: Tying It All Together
14 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As we conclude our first deep dive of our close reading series, we want to explore how the evolution of voice helped carry readers throughout "Thi...
19.14: A Close Reading on Voice- Epistolary Storytelling Through Voice
07 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What's epistolary writing? Well, it's writing through letters. But it's also a lot more than that. As we continue to dive into the concept...
19.13: A Close Reading on Voice: Blue's Perspective - Confidence and Vulnerability
31 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On our third episode diving into Voice through the novella “This Is How You Lose The Time War,” we begin to explore the different voices that make...
19.12: A Close Reading on Voice - Red's Perspective - Muscular Prose
24 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we are doing a very close read of Red's opening narration and how Red’s voice communicates both character and world in an effective and e...
19.11: A Close Reading on Voice- An Overview, and Why Time War
17 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The book that became a New York Times Bestseller because of a tweet. Well, it won LOTS of awards when it came out, but it was rediscovered by a Twitte...
19.10: Introducing Our Close Readings Series
10 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve probably seen us posting about our Close Reading Series, and in his episode, we finally officially introduce it! For most of the remainder o...
19.09: LIVE Recording - Rituals, Rites, and Traditions
03 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Erin and DongWon are joined by Fonda Lee and Mahtab Narsimhan for a special episode about creating traditions in your fictional writing. In this...
19.08: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Working with an Editor
25 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An agent, an editor, and a writer walk into a Zoom room and record a podcast... but really... that's (part of) what this episode is!First off, a r...
19.07: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Intention
18 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For our second episode in this three-part series on revising your NaNoWriMo novel—or any other larger project you have—we are diving into intentio...
19.06: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Length
11 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ali Fisher, editor at Tor Books and member of the podcast Rude Tales of Magic, joins us for a three-part series on editing. First up: length! How do y...
19.05: LIVE Recording - Revisions with Mahtab Narsimhan
04 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some writers love revisions and some would rather scrub the toilet than revise their writing. On this episode, we are joined by author Mahtab Narsimha...
19.04: LIVE Recording - Pacing with Guest Fonda Lee
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Pacing is one of the most subjective and difficult aspects of storytelling to get right. What is pacing? How do you know what the right pace is for a ...
19.03: Behind The Scenes with our Producer and Recording Engineer
21 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A few months ago, we were on a cruise ship in Alaska recording podcast episodes for 2024!This live recording features a Q&A with cruise attendees,...
19.02: Q&A Episode with WX Core Cast
14 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We have a LIVE podcast recording from September 2023, when we were hosting one of our writing retreats on a cruise ship in Alaska! (To learn about our...
19.01: Interview with Abraham Verghese
07 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In our first episode of 2024, we interviewed author and physician Abraham Verghese, who most recently published "The Covenant of Water." We ta...
18.53: Funding the Writing Life
31 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rent isn't paid in words alone. How do all of us, in various stages of our careers, keep ourselves afloat as we go about the writing life? We'...
18.52: Writing Inside The Box
24 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Your short story should definitely be a novel." It's something writers are often told when they write short stories. What tips and tricks...
18.51: So You Wanna Play With Format?
17 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Are you interested in experimenting with different writing forms? Do you want to try an unusual or different way of writing? Well this week, we have a...
18.50: The Unreliable Narrator
10 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
All unreliable narrators aren't unreliable in the same way. How do they differ and how does that change the way that we write them? Erin shares he...
18.49: Giving Your Story A Voice
03 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean if your writing is voice-y? How do you give your character a natural voice? We approach this question from the high-level perspect...
18.48: NaNoWriMo Week 5 - Writing Endings
26 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the last week of National Novel Writing Month! It’s okay if you aren’t going to finish your book, and it’s also okay if you don’t h...
18.47: NaNoWriMo Week 4 - Climaxes, or OH MY GOD NO
19 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s week four of NaNoWriMo! Or, National Novel Writing Month, which happens every year for the month of November. This week, we are talking about h...
18.46: NaNoWriMo Week 3 - Raising the Stakes
12 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are now three weeks into NaNoWriMo—where writers are attempting to write a novel in the month of November. For this episode, our writers talk abo...
18.45: NaNoWriMo Week 2 - Inciting Incident
05 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the first official week of National Novel Writing Month (or, almost the end of this week)! In this episode, we dive into how to write an in...
18.44: NaNoWriMo Week 1- Getting Started
29 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to National Novel Writing Month! For November, writers all over the world are trying to complete a novel, or write 50,000 words. In honor of N...
18.43: Worldbuilding in Miniature
22 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you're writing short fiction, how much of your world do you even need to figure out? Should you have it all written out? Can you just wing it? ...
18.42: Creating Magic Outside of a System
15 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you write about magic? How do you build a world with magic and spells and potions? We dive into the rules and laws behind magical worlds. We of...
18.41: Deep Dive: Erin's Short Fiction Extravaganza
08 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you write short stories or enjoy speculative fiction, this episode is for you. Our host Erin Roberts has written short stories, interactive fiction...
18.40: How To Make Money From Your Hobby (with special guest Sandra Tayler!)
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Or, The Business of the End of Schlock MercenaryHow did Howard start making money from his hobby of drawing and writing comics? How did he self-publ...
18.39: How To Write An Ending
24 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deep Dive: Sergeant In MotionHow do you write an ending to a book? How do you finish something you’ve been writing for over 20 years? Howard Tayler ...
18.38: How Do You Write A Series With Books That Stand Alone?
17 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deep Dive: A Function of FirepowerHow do you write the middle of a book? How do you write an ending to a story? For this week’s episode about writin...
18.37: Mandatory Failure
10 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We talk with Howard Tayler about the story structure of a story with a BIG disaster in the middle - one which we don't recover from until the next...
18.36: The Soggy Middle Pays the Rent (or, "Stand Alone With Series Potential")
03 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you write the middle of a book? How do you end your book? How do you know what to write next? This week, our hosts —who all work as a writers...
18.35: How to Organize Your Writing, or Managing the Mega-Arc
27 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Let’s talk about organization! This week, we’re talking about how and what to keep track of— characters, places, names, etc. How do you organize...
18.34: Seventeen Years of Foreshadowing
20 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
18.34: 17 Years of ForeshadowingWhat can Normal Gossip teach us about foreshadowing and artful storytelling? Thinking about the 20 books that make up...
18.33.5: State Of The Podcast
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bonus Episode! Our first ever half-numbered episode! We are making some changes here on the podcast, and we wanted to talk to you about them. We hired...
18.33: Deep Dive: The Schlock Mercenary Finale
13 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The first episode in our eight-episode Deep Dive into Howard’s weekly webcomic strip, Schlock Mercenary. We grill Howard on how he taught himself to...
18.32: The Kirsten Vangsness Expansion Pack
06 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We have a special guest episode! Kirsten Vangsness, Criminal Minds star, joins us to talk about her experience as a writer, actor, and playwright. She...
18.31: Getting Personal: Mining Your Life for Themes
30 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In our final episode diving into how and why Dan wrote “Dark One: Forgotten,” talk about how you can take something personal and mine it for ficti...
18.30: Planting Supernatural Seeds
23 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you slowly reveal the supernatural in an obviously supernatural story? How can you prepare your audience for a reveal without disclosing it too...
18.29: Collaboration And Partnership
16 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What are the best practices for collaboration? How do you write in an established intellectual property (IP)? How do you write a new story in an estab...
18.28: Writing Conversational Dialogue
09 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you write dialogue that sounds natural? We have some things to keep in mind when you write conversations between characters. When people conver...
18.27: Framing Stories
02 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have 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 ...
18.26: Broadening Your Writing Wheelhouse: Video Game Dialogue, RPG Adventures, & More
25 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Let’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 epis...
18.25: To Narrator or Not to Narrator
18 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In our second episode on Dan Wells’ audio-only book, “Dark One: Forgotten,” we provide you with tools and advice to consider when deciding wheth...
18.24: “Dark One: Forgotten” Deep Dive
11 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 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 b...
18.23: Our Advice on Giving Advice
04 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“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 ...
18.22: On Mentorship: Sending the Elevator Back Down
28 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can we make publishing more inclusive? What role does mentorship play? And how can you reframe competition as collaboration? All this and more in ...
18.21: The Empathy Gap: How to Understand What Your Publisher is Telling You
21 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The relationship between a writer and a publisher is… one that isn’t talked about enough. So we made an episode about rejection letters, email eti...
18.20: So You Want To Work In Publishing?
14 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have 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 Morh...
18.19: What is Publishing For, Anyway?
07 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 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...
18.18: Launching an Author Newsletter
30 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It'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 S...
18.17: Build Your Author Brand, 2023 Edition
23 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An 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 Sp...
18.16: Deep Dive: Publishing is Hard, by DongWon Song
16 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Publishing is hard. Also, Publishing is Hard is a newsletter from DongWon Song. In this episode we grill them about it.Our Sponsors:* Check out Gusto:...
18.15: Building a Mystery, Now With More Tools
09 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Back 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 abou...
18.14: Heavy Lifting with Microtension
02 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Let'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 cou...
18.13: Finding the Core Conflict
26 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 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 th...
18.12: The Long Shadow of Unanswered Questions
19 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our continuing exploration of tension has taken us to a favorite technique: unanswered questions. Sure, this obviously applies to mysteries, but consi...
18.11: Turning Up the Contrast With Juxtaposition
12 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our deconstruction and categorization of tension continues this week with an exploration of Juxtaposition, which is a contrast between two elements th...
18.10: Anticipation is More Than Just Making Us Wait
05 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last 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...
18.09: Unpacking the Tension
26 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For 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 wor...
18.08: Building a Mystery
19 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After 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. Obvious...
18.07: Deep Dive into THE SPARE MAN
12 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Spoiler 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 ...
18.06: An Interview With Howard Tayler
05 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler In this episode we interview Howard Tayler, one of the fou...
18.05: An Interview with Mary Robinette Kowal
29 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler In this episode Howard Tayler conducts our interview with ...
18.04: An Interview With Dan Wells
22 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler In this episode Erin Roberts very enthusiastically launche...
18.03: An Interview With Erin Roberts
15 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As 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 member...
18.02: An Interview with DongWon Song
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler As we announced in last week's episode (and in this pr...
18.01: Twenty Twenty-Three, By Way of Introduction
01 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Your 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...
17.52: The WXR 2022 Q&A
25 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your 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 p...
17.51: Feel The Burn
18 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Let'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 ...
17.50: Consistency, Inconsistency, and the Crushing Weight of Expectations
11 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Howard Tayler, Dongwon Song, and Dan Wells Thanks to some last-minute schedule changes, we almost didn't have an episode for today. On...
17.49: Bodies Are Magical
04 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your 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 pow...
17.48: Bodies, Why? (Part III)
27 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your 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 ...
17.47: The Linguistics of Disability
20 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, C.L. Polk, Fran Wilde, and Howard Tayler This is the "talking about how to talk about" talk. We begin by reviewi...
17.46: Monstrous Awakening
13 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your 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 thi...
17.45: Bodies, Tech, and Character
06 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, C.L. Polk, Fran Wilde, and Howard Tayler Let's talk about technological body-modification! It's a common element ...
17.44: Bodies, Why? (Part II: Working Through Disability)
30 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your 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 fr...
17.43: Bodies. Why? (Depicting Disability)
23 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette and Howard Tayler, with special guests Fran Wilde, C.L. Polk, and William Alexander Whether or not you're writing fr...
17.42: Eight Embodied Episodes About Disability
16 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette and Howard Tayler, with special guests Fran Wilde, C.L. Polk, and William Alexander For the next eight episodes we'll b...
17.41: Picture Books are Books Too, with Special Guest Seth Fishman
09 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson, and Howard Tayler, with special guest Seth Fishman Seth Fishman, author of seven pictu...
17.40: Questions & Answers About Structure, with Special Guest Peng Shepherd
02 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson, and Howard Tayler, with special guest Peng Shepherd Peng Shepherd joined us aboard Li...
17.39: Writing Bodies and Intimacy, with K.M. Szpara
25 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette Kowal, Dongwon Song, Piper J. Drake, & Howard Tayler, with special guest K. M. Szpara CONTENT WARNING: this episode is...
17.38: Oh No I Lost The Thread
18 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your 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'...
17.37: Science and Fiction—It’s Not Just Science Fiction
11 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your Hosts: Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Cady Coleman The fictional side of science and the scientific side of fiction are part of the disci...