Podcasts by Writing Excuses
Fifteen minutes long, because you
Further podcasts by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
Podcast on the topic Bücher
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Writing Excuses Episode 2: Blending the Familiar and the Original from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
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 s...
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Writing Excuses 6.30: Help! I Can’t End My Book! from 2011-12-26T01:58:14
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk endings, and how to troubleshoot common problems writers have with them.
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Writing Excuses 6.29: Character Foils from 2011-12-19T05:49:55
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about using character foils in building a story.
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Writing Excuses 6.28: Interstitial Art from 2011-12-12T00:49:44
Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman from the Interstitial Arts Foundation join Mary Robinette Kowal and Dan Wells to talk about the gaps between genres.
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Writing Excuses 6.27: Fantasy Setting Yard Sale from 2011-12-04T23:54:38
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard brainstorm some fantasy setting elements for you. Need a magic system on the cheap? How about a political power structure?
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Writing Excuses 6.26: Mystery Plotting from 2011-11-28T01:42:52
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about plotting a good mystery, especially as part of a non-mystery-genre book.
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Writing Excuses 6.25: When Characters do Dumb Things from 2011-11-21T01:44:31
Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about making characters do dumb things for smart reasons.
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Writing Excuses 6.24: From the Ridiculous to the Sublime from 2011-11-14T01:24:53
Andrew P. Mayer joins Howard, Mary, and Dan to talk about taking silly ideas and making seriously awesome stuff out of them.
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Writing Excuses 6.23: Pigeon Holes from 2011-11-07T00:02:50
Jonathan Maberry joins Howard, Dan, and Mary to discuss pigeonholes -- specifically, not ending up in one.
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Writing Excuses 6.22: Continuing Education for Writers from 2011-10-31T01:00
Mur Lafferty joins Howard, Mary, and Dan to talk about ways in which writers can continue their education.
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Writing Excuses 6.21: Brainstorming From Story Seeds from 2011-10-24T01:00:18
Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard each crank out the beginnings of a story from the same set of story seeds.
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Writing Excuses 6.20: Endings from 2011-10-17T01:11:52
Lou Anders joins Dan, Howard, and Mary for a discussion of endings.
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Writing Excuses 6.19: Pitching from 2011-10-10T01:53:42
Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about pitching -- a critical skill for new and established authors alike.
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6.18: The Hollywood Formula, with Lou Anders from 2011-10-02T23:35:25
Lou Anders joins Mary, Dan, and Howard at Dragon*Con for a discussion of the Hollywood Formula.
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Writing Excuses 6.17: Writing Assistants from 2011-09-25T23:13:46
Peter Ahlstrom, assistant to Brandon Sanderson, and Valerie Dowbenko, assistant to Pat Rothfuss, join Brandon and Dan to talk about what they do for "their authors."
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Writing Excuses 6.16: Gender Roles–Black, White, and Gray from 2011-09-19T01:42:03
Keffy Kehrli joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard at WorldCon 69 for a discussion of gender roles, gender identity, and transsexualism with the objective of being able to write these things believably a...
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Writing Excuses 6.15: Writing Other Cultures from 2011-09-12T01:00:04
Lauren Beukes joins the 'cast for a discussion of writing cultures that you're not personally a part of.
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Writing Excuses 6.14: Suspension of Disbelief from 2011-09-05T01:00:20
Patrick Rothfuss joins the crew at WorldCon 69 for a discussion of how to get readers to suspend their disbelief.
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Writing Excuses 6.13: World Building Communications Technology from 2011-08-29T01:46:56
Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary discuss communications technology, and how the ability for characters to communicate is a critical piece of your world-building, whether you're writing science-fictio...
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Writing Excuses 6.12: Revising For Description from 2011-08-22T01:00:44
"The wind rushed across his skin at several hundred miles per second, and registered as an itch." Brandon, Dan, and Mary tear into Howard's two-decade-old manuscript with an eye towards descriptions.
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Writing Excuses 6.11: Making Your Descriptions Do More Than One Thing from 2011-08-15T00:00:52
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard approach writing descriptions from several different angles and at least five disciplines in order to help you get more done with less purple.
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Writing Excuses 6.10: Scott Card’s M.I.C.E. Quotient from 2011-08-08T00:00:46
Mary walks Brandon, Dan, and Howard through the Milieu, Idea, Character, and Event (M.I.C.E.) quotient from Orson Scott Card, and then they retell the Billy Goats Gruff four times.
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Writing Excuses 6.9: Microcasting 2 Electric Boogaloo from 2011-07-31T15:29:52
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard take questions from the Twitterverse ranging from outlining, character creation, and plot-hole repair to skill development and writing groups.
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Writing Excuses 6.8: What an Agent Does from 2011-07-25T01:10:40
Howard Tayler and Dan Wells interview literary agent Sara Crowe about what agents do for authors, and why having an agent might be the right thing for your career.
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Writing Excuses 6.7: Brainstorming a Cyberpunk Story from 2011-07-18T00:07:59
Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary brainstorm a cyberpunk story using concepts pulled at random from a mythology textbook.
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Writing Excuses 6.6: Cyberpunk from 2011-07-11T00:56:46
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard take a high-level look at cyberpunk (the literary genre) for writers considering creating something along those lines.
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Writing Excuses 6.5: Query Letters from 2011-07-04T01:00:56
Sara Crowe, literary agent with Harvey Klinger, joins Dan and Howard for a discussion of query letters.
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Writing Excuses 6.4: Microcasting from 2011-06-27T01:00:05
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard field questions from the Twitterverse -- commercial publishing, finding balance, structuring stories, defining moments, and more.
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Writing Excuses 6.3: Professional Organizations from 2011-06-20T02:00:50
Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about SFWA, NCS, and other professional organizations for writers and creators.
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Writing Excuses 6.2: Internal Motivations from 2011-06-13T02:00:35
Brandon, Mary, Dan, & Howard discuss putting character motivations on the page in support of plot, character arcs, and the story in general.
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Writing Excuses 6.1: Can Creativity be Taught? from 2011-06-06T00:00:29
Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard discuss creativity -- how to learn it, how to teach it, and how to get better at it.
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Writing Excuses 5.39: Filking and Writing Music with Tom Smith from 2011-05-30T01:00:41
Tom Smith joins Howard and Brandon at Penguicon for a discussion of Filk and some delightfully improvised music.
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Writing Excuses 5.38: Dialog with John Scalzi from 2011-05-23T01:21:24
John Scalzi joins Brandon and Howard for a discussion of dialog and how genre fiction writers can learn to do a better job with it.
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Writing Excuses 5.37: Parody and Satire with Jim Hines from 2011-05-16T02:16:11
Jim Hines suffers abuse from Howard and Brandon as the three of them discuss parody, satire, and humor in front of a live audience at Penguicon.
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Writing Excuses 5.36: Non-Traditional Settings with Saladin Ahmed from 2011-05-09T02:37:16
Saladin Ahmed, Nebula- and Campbell-award nominee joins Brandon and Howard for a discussion of setting -- specifically, setting an epic fantasy in something besides the traditional, Western Europea...
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Writing Excuses 5.35: Brainstorming Urban Fantasy from 2011-05-02T01:00:22
Brandon, Dan, and Howard brainstorm an urban fantasy set in a big-box store in Park City, Utah.
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Writing Excuses 5.34: Story Bibles from 2011-04-24T22:42:46
Let’s talk about bibles. Specifically, story bibles. What are they, why do we use them, why might we NOT use them, and what tools are working for us? Howard again plugs wikidpad, which he con...
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Writing Excuses 5.33: Alpha Readers from 2011-04-17T23:55:37
Brandon, Dan, and Howard discuss what an alpha reader is, is not, and where one might find these marvelous creatures.
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Writing Excuses 5.32: Urban Fantasy from 2011-04-10T22:27:37
We begin our discussion of Urban Fantasy with a discussion of definitions, which quickly devolves into an argument over what we are actually supposed to be talking about. Moving right along, we exp...
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Writing Excuses 5.31: Writing Romance from 2011-04-04T04:59:54
Sarah Eden and Robison Wells join Dan and Howard at LTUE to talk about writing romance. Sarah writes in the romance genre, but we’re not focusing on the genre — we’re talking abou...
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Writing Excuses 5.30: Writing Action from 2011-03-28T02:08:01
Dan and Howard are joined by Larry Correia and Robison Wells, and with the enthusiastic support of a live audience at LTUE they discuss writing action.
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Writing Excuses 5.29: Rewriting from 2011-03-21T00:00:14
We were fortunate enough to record two episodes with Tracy Hickman and Dave Wolverton at Life, The Universe, and Everything XXIX. In this second installment these masters of the craft school us on ...
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Writing Excuses 5.28: E-publishing from 2011-03-14T01:18:53
David Farland and Tracy Hickman discuss electronic publishing with Dan and Howard.
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Writing Excuses 5.27: Perseverance, with Sherrilyn Kenyon from 2011-03-07T01:00:26
Sherrilyn Kenyon joins Brandon, Dan, and Howard for a discussion of persevering as a writer.
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Writing Excuses 5.26: Scared for the Characters from 2011-02-28T05:11:21
Sherrilyn Kenyon tells us all how to make readers fear for the characters in her books.
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Writing Excuses 5.25: Writing in Other People’s Universes from 2011-02-21T01:46:21
So, you want to write a Star Wars book? Kevin J. Anderson joins Brandon, Dan, and Howard to tackle writing in other people's universes.
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Writing Excuses 5.24: The Author’s Responsibility to the Reader from 2011-02-14T03:14:35
Kevin J. Anderson discusses author productivity with Brandon, Dan, and Howard.
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Writing Excuses 5.23: Life Day! from 2011-02-07T04:00:28
Mary Robinette Kowal and Dave Wolverton again join Dan and Howard, and this time we’re talking about holidays in fantasy and science-fiction. This ‘cast was recorded at Superstars Writi...
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Writing Excuses 5.22: Film Considerations from 2011-01-31T01:12:53
Mary Robinette Kowal and Dave Wolverton join Dan and Howard for a discussion of movie considerations and formulas.
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Writing Excuses 5.21: Alternate History from 2011-01-24T02:00:54
Mary Robinette Kowal and Eric Flint join Howard and Dan for a discussion of Alternate history - what, why, and how.
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Writing Excuses 5.20: More Dialog Exercises from 2011-01-17T01:00:28
Brandon, Dan, and Howard critique some dialog-only writing exercises from listeners.
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Writing Excuses 5.19: Fulfilling Promises to Your Readers from 2011-01-10T01:00:07
Brandon, Dan, and Howard give examples of making, keeping, and breaking promises to your readers.
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Writing Excuses 5.18: Offending Your Readers from 2011-01-03T02:50:08
Brandon, Dan, and Howard discuss avoiding unnecessary offense as writers.
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Writing Excuses 5.17: Dialog Exercises from 2010-12-28T03:27:51
Brandon, Dan, and Howard critique some tagless dialog submissions.
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Writing Excuses 5.16: Critiquing Dan’s First Novel from 2010-12-20T02:05:03
Late last season we took a look at Brandon’s first novel and did some line-editing and critiquing. It was so much fun we decided that Dan needed to take a turn in the dunking booth. He totall...
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Writing Excuses 5.12: Time Travel! from 2010-12-13T03:17:52
Brandon, Dan, and Howard each offer sage advice to their earlier selves.
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Writing Excuses 5.15: Steampunk with Scott Westerfeld from 2010-12-06T02:06:10
Scott Westerfeld joins Brandon and Howard for a discussion of Steampunk.
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Writing Excuses 5.14: Visual Components of Novels with Scott Westerfeld from 2010-11-29T02:12:52
Scott Westerfeld joins Brandon and Howard for a discussion of the visual components of novels.
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Writing Excuses 5.13: Writing the Second Book from 2010-11-22T02:46:20
John Brown joins Brandon, Dan, and Howard for a discussion of second novels, sequels, and the trick to doing it again.
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Writing Excuses 5.12: The Secret of Lincoln’s Gold from 2010-11-22T02:21:36
We sta … …ising but inev… … pendently wealthy, tha… [NO CARRIER]
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Writing Excuses 5.11: MicroPodcasting 2 from 2010-11-15T02:50:58
Brandon, Dan, and Howard field questions about doing bad things to characters, soliciting feedback, creature design, and outlining.
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Writing Excuses 5.10: John Brown and the Creative Process from 2010-11-08T02:00:47
The now cancer-free John Brown joins us again, this time for a discussion of the creative process. John has presented a seminar on this subject in the past, the focus of which is to teach people to...
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Writing Excuses 5.9: Character Arcs from 2010-11-01T00:10:07
John Brown joins us this week for a discussion of plot threads specific to characters. These can be the main plot thread, interesting sub-plots, or just things that shape characters. Sometimes they...
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Writing Excuses 5.8: The Excuses You’re Out Of from 2010-10-25T03:00:09
What are the excuses you make when you're not writing? Brandon, Dan, and Howard examine these, and offer advice for getting the writing done anyway.
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Writing Excuses 5.7: Avoiding Melodrama from 2010-10-17T23:36:36
Melodrama. What is it? What do people mean when they say something is too melodramatic? Usually they do NOT mean “it’s too much like a classical melodrama,” but it helps if we sta...
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Writing Excuses 5.6.01: Flash Fiction from 2010-10-12T13:49:04
Brandon, Dan, and Howard discuss Flash Fiction in less time than it took you to read this excerpt.
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Writing Excuses 5.6: MicroPodcasts from 2010-10-10T23:58:42
Fast-paced Q&A with Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
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Writing Excuses 5.5: Writing the Unfamiliar from 2010-10-04T03:00:10
Brandon, Dan, and Howard discuss "Write what you DON'T know."
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Writing Excuses 5.4: Creating Suspense from 2010-09-27T02:26:32
Suspense! What is it? What isn't it? What is the relationship between suspense and mystery, and for that matter horror, humor, and adventure? This 'cast is chock full of pithy quotes, useful advice...
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Writing Excuses 5.3: First Person Viewpoint from 2010-09-19T22:37:41
Bree Despain joins Brandon, Dan, and Howard for a discussion of writing in the 1st-person
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WE 5.2: Character Quirks from 2010-09-12T22:38:01
Special guest Bree Despain of the Dark Divine trilogy joins us for a ‘cast on character quirks. A character quirk, avoiding the tautological definition, is something that makes your character...
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WE 5.1: Third Person Limited from 2010-09-07T19:53:25
We’ve talked about point of view before, but only in general terms: this time we delve into third-person limited in detail, explaining how to use it and when to use it and why. We apologize f...
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Writing Excuses 4.34: Q&A at Dragons&Fairy Tales from 2010-08-29T23:00:34
The last of our three recorded-live episodes is also the last episode of Writing Excuses Season 4. We took questions from the audience, and answered them with ABSOLUTE APLOMB. Questions asked inclu...
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Writing Excuses 4.33: Trunk Novels from 2010-08-23T03:17:34
Recorded live at Dragons & Fairy Tales, this episode is for anybody who has a novel or two (or more) sitting in the bottom of their trunk. What are the best ways to re-use old material you̵...
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Writing Excuses 4.32: First Paragraphs from 2010-08-16T02:44:40
Recorded live at Dragons & Fairy Tales in Eagle Mountain, Utah, this episode features the work of several brave souls who submitted their first paragraphs to us for critique. We are not America...
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Writing Excuses 4.31: Line Editing Dialog from 2010-08-09T02:00:30
A practical, example-filled look at tuning up rough dialog.
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Writing Excuses 4.30: Worldbuilding the Future from 2010-08-02T01:14:15
How to build a future setting for your novel by extrapolating from the present, working backwards from the story you want to tell, and getting those to meet in the middle.
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Writing Excuses 4.29: Line Editing from 2010-07-26T00:50:29
Brandon, Dan, and Howard demonstrate line-editing on an ancient manuscript.
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Writing Excuses 4.28: Brainstorming The End and Working Backwards from 2010-07-19T02:21:26
Brandon, Dan, and Howard start at the ending and work their way backwards for your enjoyment.
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Writing Excuses 4.27: Major Overhauls to Broken Stories from 2010-07-12T03:28:13
What do you do when, halfway through the book you’re writing, you realize it needs to be completely rebuilt? More importantly, how do you figure this out in the first place? This podcast came...
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Writing Excuses 4.26: Avoiding Stilted Dialog from 2010-07-05T16:45:26
"How do we avoid writing stilted dialog?" asked Brandon adverbially.
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Writing Excuses 4.25: Mating Plumage from 2010-06-27T23:00:51
James Dashner and Julie Wright talk covers, titles, and first lines with Brandon and Dan.
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Writing Excuses 4.24: Random Storytelling from 2010-06-20T23:00:24
James Dashner and Julie Wright join Brandon and Dan at CONduit in Salt Lake City, and may end up wishing they hadn’t. Brandon throws sets of story concepts at the crew, and asks them to quick...
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Writing Excuses 4.23: How to Break In to the Young Adult Market from 2010-06-13T23:00:35
Janci Patterson and Robison Wells have both sold books very recently. Brandon and Dan put them on the spot and ask how they did it.
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Writing Excuses 4.22: Q&A with L.E. Modesitt, Jr from 2010-06-07T00:45:28
Live from CONduit in Salt Lake City, L.E. Modessit Jr. and the Writing Excuses crew answer questions from the audience.
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Writing Excuses 4.21: Writing Practical Fantasy from 2010-05-31T04:26:06
L.E. Modesitt and Robison Wells join Brandon and Dan for a discussion of "practical" fantasy. Recorded live at CONduit in Salt Lake City.
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Writing Excuses 4.20: Strategies for Getting Published from 2010-05-24T03:00:06
Some new strategies for getting yourself published. Obviously we guarantee exactly none of them.
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Writing Excuses 4.19: Discovery Writing from 2010-05-17T03:00:58
How to approach discovery writing, with your hosts Brandon, Dan, and Howard
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Writing Excuses 4.18: How to Steal for Fun and Profit from 2010-05-10T00:58:14
Forget "Anxiety of Influence." Let's talk about how to borrow, beg, and outright steal from pop culture, history, and mythology.
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Writing Excuses 4.17: Living with the Artist from 2010-05-03T03:00:31
Sandra Tayler, Dawn Wells, and Kenny Pike take over the ‘cast with some coaching from Dan (and heckling from Howard) to talk about what it’s like to live with an artist. We cover the ...
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Writing Excuses 4.16: Breaking the Fourth Wall from 2010-04-26T02:00:07
What's the fourth wall? What happens when you break it? Should you be breaking it at all?
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Writing Excuses 4.15: Visual Components of Storytelling from 2010-04-19T03:00:20
A discussion of art and design elements and how they work with the stories we write.
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Writing Excuses 4.14: Brainstorming Science Ideas from 2010-04-12T00:45:20
A brainstorming session fueled by New Scientist's "13 More Things We Don't Understand" article.
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Writing Excuses 4.13: Juggling Multiple Viewpoints from 2010-04-05T03:00:52
How to write multiple viewpoints effectively, using the tool for the right reasons and avoiding pitfalls.
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Writing Excuses 4.12: Writing An Epic from 2010-03-29T02:00:34
Epic podcast! Except it's only fifteen minutes long... because you're in a hurry, and we'll tell you how to write an epic.
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Writing Excuses 4.11: Brainstorming From Headlines from 2010-03-22T02:47:06
Brandon, Dan, and Howard brainstorm as Producer Jordo reads headlines.
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Writing Excuses 4.10: Writing for Young Adults from 2010-03-14T22:14:05
Jessica Day George joins the Writing Excuses crew again, this time for a discussion of writing for young adults, and maybe for teens, or even middle-grade readers. This isn’t a podcast about ...
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Writing Excuses 4.9: How to Write Men, with Jessica Day George from 2010-03-08T03:00:43
Jessica Day George joins us again, this time to tell us how to write men. Brace yourselves for the bandying-about of generalities, for painting with broad brushes, and for assorted other potential...
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Writing Excuses 4.8: Working with Editors from 2010-03-01T02:17:06
Jessica Day George joins the Writing Excuses crew for a discussion of editors...
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Writing Excuses 4.7: Q&A with James Dashner from 2010-02-22T01:32:42
Recorded live at LTUE 2010, here’s a high-energy Q&A session with the Writing Excuses crew and our special guest James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner. We cover outlining vs. discovery...
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Writing Excuses 4.6: Pacing with James Dashner from 2010-02-15T01:39:10
This episode was recorded live at Life, The Universe, & Everything 28, The BYU Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy, and features, among other things, our largest audience ever. Oh, and Jam...
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Writing Excuses 4.5: Roleplaying Games as Tools for Story Telling from 2010-02-08T03:00:17
Roll for initiative, folks! Brandon, Dan, and Howard all play tabletop role-playing games, and sometimes even play together. The question of the hour (well… quarter-hour) is “how can th...
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Writing Excuses 4.4: Agents. Do you need one? from 2010-02-01T02:56:33
We’re going to wade into a recent e-brouhaha, but it’s not going to be the Amazon vs Macmillan one. No, this is the one where Dean Wesley Smith argued that authors do not need agents. B...
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Writing Excuses 4.3: How to Manage Your Influences from 2010-01-25T02:32:32
How do you avoid letting other people’s work creep into your own? We’re all influenced by the media we partake in whether we admit it or not. How much of those influences should we allo...
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Writing Excuses 4.2: Heroism from 2010-01-17T23:41:52
If you want to write a good, heroic hero, this is the podcast for you. We’re not necessarily talking about the archetypical, classically-defined, capital-H “Hero” in this podcast,...
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Writing Excuses 4.1: Types of Humor from 2010-01-11T17:07:55
Welcome to Writing Excuses Season 4, featuring new, shorter episode titles! Also, if you don’t count the bonus episodes or the Parsec Award Acceptance Speech, this is our 100th Episode! Brand...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 32: Collaboration from 2010-01-04T02:02:01
For starters, let’s clear the air. Yes, the first episode of the new year is also the last episode of Writing Excuses Season 3. And yes, we’ll be getting Season 2 and Season 3 on CDs pr...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 31: Tragedy from 2009-12-28T01:21:28
Tragedy. It’s just TRAGIC. Tragedy is also one of the classical forms that writers need to know how to work within. Why? Well… because the Greeks thought we should be forced to have str...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 29: Antiheroes from 2009-12-20T23:12:23
What is an Antihero? There are lots of definitions of this word, so Dan boils it down to just three: The Frodo, The Punisher, and The Talented Mister Ripley. And that third definition is the one Br...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 30: Unreliable Narrators from 2009-12-14T06:30:13
This episode totally would have updated earlier if I’d only known sooner that it was ready to go. Jordo says he emailed me early this evening, but if he HAD then you’d have been listeni...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 28: World-Building Gender Roles from 2009-12-07T03:28:10
Is there a disconnect? Brandon specifically introduces the episode as “World-building political correctness,” but the title here says “World-Building Gender Roles.” And then...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 27: Mixing Humor with Drama and Horror from 2009-12-01T18:07:38
A Monday without Writing Excuses is kind of like a Tuesday without Writing Excuses, only far less aggravating. With Brandon once again by our side(s), we venture once more into the realm of humor: ...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 26: NaNoWriMo from 2009-11-23T03:02:42
Dan, Howard, and Jordo descended into the basement at Dragon’s Keep where members of the local NaNoWriMo chapter were attempting to bolster their word-counts for the day. We talked to them ab...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 25: The Business of Writing Comics from 2009-11-16T06:11:36
Dan and Howard are again joined by Jake Black, who writes comics (and some other things) for a living. Jake tells us how he got into the business, and we talk about how this might be applied to oth...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 24: Writing Comics with Jake Black from 2009-11-09T02:13:35
Jake Black fills in for Brandon “#1 New York Times Bestselling Author” Sanderson this week, and that’s perfect because Jake writes comics and Brandon doesn’t. So mostly this...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 23: How to Write Without Twists from 2009-11-02T04:15:03
Question: Can you write a good book without a plot twist? Better question: is it a good book if your readers predicted what was coming? Best question: is a podcast about predictable prose itself pr...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 22: Idea to Story from 2009-10-25T23:23:29
You are going to love this episode. Seriously. Brandon throws an idea at Dan and Howard, and then we spend 15 minutes expanding on that idea as if we were going to base a story around it. You peopl...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 21: Pitfalls of Self Publishing with Larry Correia from 2009-10-19T02:28:51
Larry Correia is either the guy who did everything wrong and then broke into publishing anyway, or he’s the exception who proves the rule. He self-published Monster Hunter International, and ...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 20: Plot- vs. Character-Driven Fiction from 2009-10-12T03:55:54
Larry Correia, whose debut novel Monster Hunter International hit the market this summer, joins us for a discussion of plot-driven vs. character driven fiction. We start with a definition of terms ...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 19: Emotion in Fiction with John Brown from 2009-10-05T00:53:11
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 depression, which John (like many of us) had...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 18: How To Not Repeat Yourself from 2009-09-28T04:00:06
John Brown rejoins us for this discussion of repetition. How do we, as writers, avoid repeating ourselves? We’re not just talking about the literal re-use of words and phrases here. We’...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 17: Characters&Worldbuilding Q&A with Mary Robinette Kowal from 2009-09-21T00:55:12
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 answer them. Here are the questions: What do you d...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 16: The Anti-Mary Sue Episode from 2009-09-13T23:54:37
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 the “Mary Sue,” because it’s di...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 15: Writing Process Q&A, with Mary Robinette Kowal from 2009-09-06T22:47:02
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” format, so the topic is pretty much wha...
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3.14: The Four Principles of Puppetry, with Mary Robinette Kowal from 2009-08-31T04:44:58
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 Montreal, and totally schooled us in front of a l...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 13: Dialects and In-World Jargon from 2009-08-24T03:28:49
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 know how sometimes one of those crazy thoughts s...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 12: Subplots from 2009-08-17T01:05:59
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 the main story, but still tense enough to keep...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 11: Trimming from 2009-08-09T06:47:34
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. And you, too. None of you are exempt...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 10: The Dos and Don’ts of Attending Cons from 2009-08-03T02:12:23
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 be doing there. And we start with some donR...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 9: Conventions You Should Be Attending from 2009-07-27T01:24:49
As genre-fiction writers we attend a lot of conventions. As aspiring genre-fiction writers you probably want to be attending conventions. But which ones should you spend time and money on, and what...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 8: What Star Trek Did Right from 2009-07-20T20:35:56
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 storytelling talk about what they did right. If...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 7: Genre Blending from 2009-07-13T01:29:41
You’ve seen it done… “Zombie Apocalypse in Space.” “Perry Mason in the Armed Forces.” It’s genre blending, where the author takes themes prevalent in two ...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 6: Dramatic Breaks from 2009-07-07T16:59:45
What are dramatic breaks? We open this episode with Howard very genuinely playing Doctor Watson to Brandon’s Holmes, which is amusing because as it turns out, Howard uses dramatic breaks ever...
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Season 3 Episode 6 Delayed by Holiday Weekend from 2009-07-06T15:26:22
Last week we recorded four episodes, but apparently they haven’t been dropped into the hopper for posting yet. I blame the long weekend and good barbecue. As soon as the file has been process...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 5: How to Take Criticism from 2009-06-29T02:29:20
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 peers in a writing group, from editors sending y...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 3: Stumping Howard at Conduit from 2009-06-22T02:53:59
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 I could tell that everyone’s atti...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 2: Keeping it Real with Aprilynne Pike from 2009-06-15T03:41:06
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 writing speculative fiction? What does that even ...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 4: Non Linear Story Telling from 2009-06-08T07:02:04
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 how to avoid some common mistakes. Non-linea...
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Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 1: World-Building History from 2009-06-01T15:33:31
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 about history, and how to write it. We talk abou...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 33: How To Not Be Overwhelmed from 2009-05-25T14:05:32
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 going to be extra-super-useful to one new wr...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 32: The Most Important Thing Dan Learned In The Last Year from 2009-05-18T03:30:05
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 than he thought it would be. How different? What ...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 31: The Most Important Thing Brandon Learned In The Last Year from 2009-05-11T05:10:59
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 learned this year. Summed up? Gimmicks c...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 30: The Most Important Thing Howard Learned In The Last Year from 2009-05-03T23:34:08
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 them has learned in the past year. We start wi...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 29: How not to end your book from 2009-04-27T03:40:57
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 approaches to ending a story should you be av...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 28: Applying Critical Reading:“Watchmen” from 2009-04-20T00:49:17
Last week we talked about reading critically, reading as writers. This week we decided to apply that critical reading skill to Watchmen, the Hugo award-winning graphic novel by Alan Moore, illustra...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 27: Reading Critically from 2009-04-13T00:43:24
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 less as a writer? How do you read so that your re...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 26: How Publishing is Changing in the new Century from 2009-04-06T00:37:04
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 celebrating his birthday. We discuss the rise of ...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 25: The Seven Deadly Sins of Slush Stories from 2009-03-30T02:04:46
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.” She’s FEATURED. Nancy is the assist...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 24: Writing Habits and Q&A with Tracy Hickman from 2009-03-24T04:45:17
Tracy Hickman joins us again at “Life, The Universe, and Everything,” and in this episode we let Brandon ask him random questions while Dan and Howard chime in with comments that hopefu...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 23: Avoiding the Cliché with Tracy Hickman from 2009-03-16T14:19:07
We took Writing Excuses on the road last month for “Life, The Universe, and Everything,” the symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy at Brigham Young University. The Guests of Honor we...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 22: Marketing 201, Branding for Authors from 2009-03-09T02:53:28
“Branding,” not “Brandon,” just so we’re clear. Brand-ING. We open with the definition of “branding,” talking about what it is, and (just as importantly) ...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 21: Fight Scenes from 2009-03-02T04:16:40
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-by-blow, and cover a few of the factors that m...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 20: Marketing 101 for Creators from 2009-02-23T03:27:02
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 marketing? What’s the difference between market...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 19: Do Creative Writing Classes Help from 2009-02-16T16:32:14
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 has no formal training in the field. This be...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 18: World Building Governments from 2009-02-09T05:51:29
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, rather than political intrigue as part of th...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 17: Website Marketing for Authors from 2009-02-02T07:31:40
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 exposing the many things they’re doing ...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 16: Non-Human Races from 2009-01-26T03:50:15
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 monsters, short folk, tusked folk, or any other...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 15: Knowing When To Begin from 2009-01-19T04:46:43
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 the group. How do you know when that story i...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 14: Writing Habits from 2009-01-12T04:23:28
We get asked a lot about our writing habits. So your Writing Excuses hosts spend the whole ‘cast discussing their schedules, their work environments, and the things they do to make themselves...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 13: Violence from 2009-01-05T04:32:25
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 little bit. Why do we write about violence? What d...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 12: Theme from 2008-12-29T06:35:40
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 grows out of Howard’s ignorance R...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 11: Talking Publishing and Writing with Dave Wolverton from 2008-12-22T03:50:41
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 why he uses two names (David Farland and Dave Wo...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 10: The Boring Parts from 2008-12-15T03:15:54
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 to go about writing those “boring parts...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 9: Romance, with Dave Wolverton from 2008-12-08T04:22:18
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 fou...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 8: The Three Act Structure with Bob Defendi from 2008-12-01T09:07:47
With Brandon still mysteriously missing, Professor Bob Defendi returns to take Dan and Howard on a magical journey through the three-act format: every step, every element, every nuance of this very...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 7: Using Writing Formulas with Bob Defendi from 2008-11-24T03:44:18
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 crafting stories. But how do we prevent those stor...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 6: Endings from 2008-11-17T00:42:29
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 stor...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 5: Writing Groups from 2008-11-11T05:50:36
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 keep going when it gets hard, and the tough lov...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 4:View point, Plot Twists and Being a Part-Time Writer with Eric James Stone from 2008-11-03T03:19:57
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 question in future episodes), setting deadlines...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 3: Characters with Brandon Mull from 2008-10-27T14:05:22
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 discuss what makes a character interesting, ...
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Writing Season 2 Episode 2: How to Write for Children with Brandon Mull from 2008-10-20T04:28:43
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 from chapter books to mature YA) read a TON, ...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Bonus Episode 1: Live at the Mistborn 3 Release from 2008-10-17T03:42:09
We talk among ourselves about some episodes of this podcast being “crunchy” and others being “fluffy.” “Crunchy” episodes are the ones where we have hard advice ...
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Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 1: Q&A on Setting and Characters at Mountain Con with John Brown from 2008-10-13T06:58:38
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. This season begins with a series of episo...
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Writing Excuses Episode 35: Voice, Tone and Style from 2008-10-06T15:43
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 ultimatum we didn’t immediately ch...
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Writing Excuses Episode 34: What The Dark Knight Did Right from 2008-09-29T14:46:26
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 very specific, very nerdy reasons. Join us as...
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Writing Excuses Episode 33: Side Characters from 2008-09-22T21:55:57
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 character you decide to give him. This week we...
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Writing Excuses Episodes 32: Talking Exposition with Patrick Rothfuss from 2008-09-15T12:49:11
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 throug...
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Writing Excuses Episode 31: Talking RPG and Game Writing with Steve Jackson from 2008-09-08T03:40:26
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 Steve Jackson. We start off trying to talk...
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Writing Excuses Episode 30: Talking Revision with Moshe Feder from 2008-09-02T14:32:58
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 opportunity to learn more about how an author and e...
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Writing Excuses Episode 29: Talking Publishing with Lou Anders from 2008-08-25T04:38:08
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 say...
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Writing Excuses Episode 28: Writing for Webcomics with Phil and Kaja Foglio from 2008-08-18T12:21:42
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 writi...
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Writing Excuses Episode 27: World-Building Religion from 2008-08-11T02:46:37
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? How does it affect their lives? How does it chang...
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Writing Excuses Episode 26: Horror from 2008-08-05T01:36:57
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 podcasters gather to discuss the nuts and bolts of wha...
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Writing Excuses Episode 25: Viewpoint and Tense Part 2 from 2008-07-28T15:31:44
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 vi...
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Writing Excuses Episode 24: Research from 2008-07-21T02:25:43
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 when we feel like we’ve researched...
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Writing Excuses Episode 23: Viewpoint from 2008-07-15T02:12:45
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. ...
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Writing Excuses Episode 22: Doing The Unpopular from 2008-07-07T14:04:16
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, writers can get away with doing things to reade...
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Writing Excuses Episode 21: Humor from 2008-06-30T14:21:44
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, how to write humor, how to recognize hum...
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Writing Excuses Episode 20: More Q&A from Conduit from 2008-06-23T03:09:57
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, whi...
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Writing Excuses Episode 19: Plot Twists from 2008-06-16T03:08:51
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 yo...
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Writing Excuses Episode 18: Q&A at Conduit from 2008-06-09T03:13:28
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 cro...
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Writing Excuses Episode 17: This Sucks and I’m a Horrible Writer from 2008-06-02T02:11:27
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, Brando...
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Writing Excuses Episode 16: Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard from 2008-05-26T02:13:23
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 di...
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Writing Excuses Episode 15: Costs and Ramifications of Magic from 2008-05-19T01:09:36
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 Sand...
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Writing Excuses Episode 14: Magic Systems and their Rules from 2008-05-12T14:47:43
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 fo...
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Writing Excuses Episode 13: Submitting to Editors Part 2 from 2008-05-05T05:11:21
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 ho...
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Writing Excuses Episode 12: Submitting to Editors Part 1 from 2008-04-28T03:28:47
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, includin...
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Writing Excuses Episode 11: The Business of Writing from 2008-04-21T12:39
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 ...
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Writing Excuses Episode 10: Pacing from 2008-04-14T05:18:31
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...
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Writing Excuses Episode 9: Sci-Fi Sub-Genre from 2008-04-07T04:56:53
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 cov...
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Writing Excuses Episode 8: Sci-Fi Genre from 2008-03-31T04:40:51
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.
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Writing Excuses Bonus Episode 2: Rules of Writing Excuses from 2008-03-24T04:04:58
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 ...
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Writing Excuses Episode 7: Villains from 2008-03-24T02:19:17
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...
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Writing Excuses Episode 6: Flaws vs Handicaps from 2008-03-17T02:36:33
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?
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Writing Excuses Episode 5: Heroes and Protagonists from 2008-03-10T03:37:52
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 ep...
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Writing Excuses Episode 4: Beginnings from 2008-03-03T05:52:27
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 t...
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Writing Excuses Episode 3: Killing your Darlings from 2008-02-25T06:16:19
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’...
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