19.09: LIVE Recording - Rituals, Rites, and Traditions
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
3d ago
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 episode, we'll explore some of the following:  -How do you build traditions and rituals in your fictional world (choosing what becomes a tradition or ritual and what doesn’t)?  -How can you use rituals or traditions to advance a novel’s plot, give characters more depth, and create conflict?  -What are the pitfalls to avoid (depiction of closed practices, over-ritualizing common traditions)? Homework:  Pick a ritual or trad ..read more
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19.02: Q&A Episode with WX Core Cast
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
1M ago
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 next WX Retreats, check out: https://writingexcuses.com/retreats/  Or apply for our scholarships by January 31 at https://writingexcuses.com/scholarships/ This episode features questions from our writers, and those who attended our 2023 WXR Cruise to Alaska! We answered questions about success, what happens after you’re a NYTimes bestseller, and how you can record your own audiobook.  Homework:  Go listen to the most recent episo ..read more
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18.04: An Interview With Dan Wells
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
1M ago
Your 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 Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: htt ..read more
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19.01: Interview with Abraham Verghese
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
1M ago
In our first episode of 2024, we interviewed author and physician Abraham Verghese, who most recently published "The Covenant of Water." We talked with Verghese about how to convey technical information in fiction. Verghese explains how he shares medical and world-building details in the most engaging way. We also asked Verghese how to make things feel real without overwhelming your reader, and how he has mastered conveying the passing of time. We also discussed verisimilitude, translation, point of view, and revision (we love revision!). Homework:  From Abraham Verghese: Write a landsca ..read more
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19:02: Q&A Episode with WX Core Cast
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
2M ago
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 next WX Retreats, check out: https://writingexcuses.com/retreats/  Or apply for our scholarships by January 31 at https://writingexcuses.com/scholarships/ This episode features questions from our writers, and those who attended our 2023 WXR Cruise to Alaska! We answered questions about success, what happens after you’re a NYTimes bestseller, and how you can record your own audiobook.  Homework:  Go listen to the most recent episo ..read more
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18.47: NaNoWriMo Week 4 - Climaxes, or OH MY GOD NO
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
3M ago
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 how to write climaxes, how to write resolutions, and what exactly the three-quarter mark is.  How do you write a climax scene? How to keep your tension going while also finding some resolution. How do you keep track of what you promised your reader at the start of your book? Our hosts dive into these topics and share examples from their own published writing. We talk about how to write emotional resolutions before a novel’s climax.  We a ..read more
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18.45: NaNoWriMo Week 2 - Inciting Incident
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
3M ago
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 inciting incident.  What is an inciting incident? It is often the thing that goes wrong in your story. Within the first page, writers should have something go wrong. But what should this thing be? Our writers have some advice for questions you can ask yourself in order to understand your novel’s inciting incident.  Also, Dan shares a recipe for an inciting incident that he learned from screenwriting, and Mary Robinette talks about the t ..read more
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18.44: NaNoWriMo Week 1- Getting Started
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
3M ago
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 NaNoWriMo, all of our November episodes are going to focus on writing a novel or big project.  For our first week—starting! How do you start writing? What do you need to give your readers in at the beginning of your story? How much information is too much information? We answer all of these questions, and talk about how these factors will help shape your story, in our NaNoWriMo kickoff episode!  You have a few days left to prepare! Think ..read more
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17.46: Monstrous Awakening
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
7M ago
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 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 HelloFresh: http://hellofresh.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands ..read more
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18.36: The Soggy Middle Pays the Rent (or, "Stand Alone With Series Potential")
Writing Excuses
by Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
7M ago
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 and publishers (and are sometimes teachers and puppeteers and many other things)— talk through how they have written the middle of their books. The middle is where most of the story takes place. How do you keep track of your characters and plot? How do you bring it toward an end, and stick the landing? Well, we’ve got some ideas. And some advice to help you write the middle of your novel. Or short story. Or play. Or really… anything.  Home ..read more
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