Writing Excuses Episode 11: The Business of Writing

Writing Excuses Episode 19: Plot Twists: 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 from a solid outline or discover your plot as you go, we've got tricks and tools for you. by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 9: Sci-Fi Sub-Genre: 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 make sure you know your audience. - Sub-genres covered: Space Opera, Military, Hard SF, and Cyberpunk. - by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Bonus Episode 1: Remembering Gary Gygax: Brandon, Howard and Dan talk about their first exposure to RPG games, Gary Gygax and the influence he had on them and the industry. by Writing Excuses

7 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 1: Brainstorming: 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 Page by Writing Excuses

17 min listen

Writing Excuses Bonus Episode 2: Rules of Writing Excuses: 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 rules/tricks that we use to keep ourselves on task. by Writing Excuses

3 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 7: Villains: Are flaws necessary for villains? What traits make for a really good (err... evil?) villain? What's the difference between Sauron and Gollum? ("That's the LAST time I send you out shopping for Gollums, son...") - Liner Notes: The Evil Overlord List, by Writing Excuses

14 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 23: Viewpoint: 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, and how you can use them to tell your story. It's a short journey, as quests go, by Writing Excuses

17 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 21: Humor by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 5: Heroes and Protagonists: 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? Some of these questions are answered in this episode while others are better left unexplained. - by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 8: Sci-Fi Genre: 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. by Writing Excuses

14 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 15: Costs and Ramifications of Magic: 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-consistent rules your readers can follow (per Sanderson's First Law and last week's 'cast) you need to co... by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 6: Flaws vs Handicaps: 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? by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 17: This Sucks and I’m a Horrible Writer: The Writing Excuses crew tackles writer's block again, this time approaching the "This Sucks And I'm A Horrible Writer" mindset. Dan relates his Neil Gaiman anecdote, Brandon explains why he'd written so many books before getting published, by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 2: Blending the Familiar and the Original: How do you know when your setting of high school kids solve supernatural mysteries becomes cliché? Brandon, Howard and Dan discuss how you create unique concepts by blending familiar topics with something new and original and how to avoid possible pit... by Writing Excuses

15 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 10: Pacing: Pacing... it's all about keeping the tension up, keeping things snappy, and keeping the reader interested. This week the Writing Excuses crew delivers some tips, tricks, and tools you can use to get your story flowing in all the right ways. - Also, by Writing Excuses

15 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 18: Q&A at Conduit: 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 Willis join us as we take questions from the crowd. The four of us discuss voicing characters, by Writing Excuses

17 min listen

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 6: Endings: 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. Is it a storybook ending? What IS a storybook ending? What is a whiz-bang ending? Is the ending the ending, by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 12: Submitting to Editors Part 1: 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 us understand the submission process, including acting like a professional, doing your research, by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 11: The Business of Writing: 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 that you can make the jump to writing full-time? How do you manage your time? by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 14: Magic Systems and their Rules: 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 and cons of each method. We'll also yak for a while about the differences between Superman and Gandalf,... by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 4: Beginnings: 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 start a book and what's important about the first line. by Writing Excuses

15 min listen

Writing Excuses Episodes 32: Talking Exposition with Patrick Rothfuss: In this, the last of our WorldCon 66 episodes, Brandon, Dan, and Howard interview Name of the Wind author Patrick Rothfuss. We discuss exposition, and how not to bore people as you move them through the learning curve. by Writing Excuses

19 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 13: Submitting to Editors Part 2: 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 about work you've already submitted, and how to butter them up by asking about their current projects. by Writing Excuses

15 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 28: Writing for Webcomics with Phil and Kaja Foglio: 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 joined by Phil and Kaja Foglio, and we discuss writing for webcomics... no, wait... by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 9: Romance, with Dave Wolverton: 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. This week's topic? ROMANCE. What can four adult males possibly have to say about the subject? by Writing Excuses

17 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 29: Talking Publishing with Lou Anders: 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 vital things that happen after an editor says "I want to buy your book." Not only that, by Writing Excuses

16 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 3: Killing your Darlings: 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 image of a chimp wearing a tux. - Brandon's Deleted Scenes - Howard's Original Time-Travel Outline by Writing Excuses

17 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 20: More Q&A from Conduit: Writer Eric James Stone joins the Writing Excuses crew for our third Conduit installment. We tackle questions from the audience again (except for when Brandon throws a question AT the audience, which still had Mike Stackpole in it.) - by Writing Excuses

18 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 16: Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard: Howard kicks this off with his own sure-fire cure for Writers' Block, "BIC HOK:" Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard. The Writing Excuses team takes off from there, discussing the different kinds of Writers' Block, and how to overcome each of them. by Writing Excuses

15 min listen

Writing Excuses Episode 25: Viewpoint and Tense Part 2: 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 podcasts that both talk about tense and viewpoint, it's two totally different podcasts that share a title for some ... by Writing Excuses

15 min listen

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Writing Excuses Episode 11: The Business of Writing

Writing Excuses Episode 11: The Business of Writing

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