Writing Excuses
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Writing Excuses
Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.
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20.49: Using Tone and Mood
This week, Mary Robinette pulls back the curtain on some of fiction’s sneakiest power tools: tone and mood. Drawing from a recent craft class she taug...
20.48: Now Go Write- How to Pitch Your Work
In this episode, DongWon digs into one of the business topics of our upcoming craft book: pitching. How do you talk about your work so other people im...
20.47: Now Go Write- All the Eggs in All the Baskets
Dan shares his experience of rebuilding and reinventing his writing career from his section of our forthcoming book Now Go Write. Our hosts walk throu...
20.46: Now Go Write- Break All The Rules (Part 2)
In this episode, Erin returns with the final two “rules” from her section of our forthcoming book Now Go Write—and why it might be worth breaking them...
20.45: Now Go Write- Break All The Rules (Part 1)
In this episode, Erin shares a sneak peek from her section of our forthcoming book, Now Go Write. (To learn more about our book, sign up for our newsl...
20.44: Now Go Write- How to Handle Relationships
We have an exciting announcement! Writing Excuses is publishing a book, Now Go Write, which will feature writing from all of our hosts! Sign up for ou...
20.43: An Interview with Dr. Tara Lepore on Paleontology
Erin and Howard sat down with paleontologist Dr. Tara Lepore for a fascinating dive into the science—and storytelling potential—of deep time. Dr. Lepo...
20.42: Erin Roberts’ Personal Writing Process
Erin describes her own writing process as, “a bunch of random practices thrown into a bag and shaken up." Nevertheless, for today’s episode, Erin mana...
20.41: DongWon Song’s Personal Writing Process
We’re continuing our episodes focusing on our hosts’ personal writing practices. Like Mary Robinette’s. DongWon’s involves a bit of… chaos.
Don...
20.40: Mary Robinette Kowal’s Personal Writing Process
A lot of people ask published authors what their writing process is like, as if it is a key to being able to write. The only important process is the...
20.39: Wrapping up our Conversation about Lenses
Today our hosts tell you why you don’t need to listen to all of our episodes—or even most of them. Each of our five hosts weighs in on how you can com...
20.38: An Interview with Charlie Jane Anders
We had the absolute joy of sitting down with Charlie Jane Anders, the author of the book we’ve focused on for our last four episodes (All the Birds in...
20.37: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of Why
This is our final episode before we have Charlie Jane Anders on the podcast to talk about her writing process next week! Today we’re talking about int...
20.36: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of When
If you still want to read All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, you can purchase it here!
We are looking today at the lens of when. B...
20.35: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of Where
If you still want to read All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, you can purchase it here!
Today we’re talking about places and place-...
20.34: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of Who
Last season we took different works to represent different concepts. But this season, we’re looking at a single work— All the Birds in the Sky by Char...
20.33: Raising Children as a Metaphor for Writing
Throughout this season, we have been doing a series of episodes that feature different metaphors for writing. Today, we’re talking about raising child...
20.32: Revision and Character Consciousness Téa Obreht
Téa Obreht is a short story writer and novelist. Her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife, won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction, and was a 2011 National Boo...
20.31: Framing the Lens
This year, we’ve been looking at writing through various different lenses. In two weeks, on August 24th, we’ll begin a 5-part deep dive into these len...
20.30: Using Why To Shape Tone
Tone is one of those words people use in many different ways when talking about fiction. On today’s episode, our hosts break down what it means, how w...
20.29: Authorial Intent
What the heck is authorial intent? Does it matter? And how do intentions end up on the page without cluttering or overwhelming the story? Today, our h...
20.28: The Lens of Tradition
Every story has been told. Okay, maybe not, but most stories have a tradition/ influence/ history/ genre/ style that they draw upon, even if only slig...
20.27: The Lens of Why
We are joined by author Mark Oshiro, who primarily writes YA and middle grade books and was a guest teacher aboard our 2024 cruise! (Our 2025 cruise i...
20.26: Gaming as a Writing Metaphor
What separates the way we experience a game versus the way we experience a prose narrative? Erin Roberts has written for many games, and she loves gam...
20.25: Writing Confrontation (LIVE Aboard the WX Cruise)
Our hosts explore how to write compelling confrontations—whether physical fights or emotional arguments—in a live episode recorded on the Writing Excu...
20.24: An Interview with Charles Duhigg
How can listening inform the way you write? We decided to ask Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author—best known...
20.23: The Lens of the Senses
How does a room sound? Does your childhood have a taste? What is the smell of summer?
In this episode, we dive into the sensory layers that anc...
20.22: The Lens of Time
Time isn't just a backdrop—it’s a powerful tool in storytelling. In this episode, we explore how time shapes narratives, beyond just plot structure. F...
20.21: The Lens of Context
This week, we’re digging into context—what it is, why it matters, and how it can totally transform your storytelling. Whether you're working in fantas...
20.20: The Lens of Where and When
Today we’re talking about setting, which in speculative fiction is often called worldbuilding. But once you’ve finished building the world, how do you...
20.19: Cooking as a Writing Metaphor
What does cooking have to do with writing? In this episode, we explore how the creative choices we make in the kitchen—whether it’s improvising with m...
20.18: LIVE: The Art of Teaching
This episode was recorded live at our 2024 Writing Excuses Cruise. (Did you know that we host a writing retreat on a cruise every year!?! You can lear...
20.17: An Interview with Christopher Schwarz
This season, we’ve been exploring different approaches to writing through the lens of other crafts and their respective toolkits. We had the pleasure...
20.16: Second Person
People often think of first person POV as the most intimate voice. But in a way, we think second person might be more intimate. With second person, yo...
20.15: Third Person Omniscient
With today’s episode, we are continuing our discussion on proximity by focusing on another POV: third person omniscient. In omniscient POV, the narrat...
20.14: Third Person Limited
Third person limited is one of the most popular storytelling lenses. Yet it is often understood differently by various authors and readers. So today w...
20.13: First Person
We’re now going to have a few episodes focusing on the lens of proximity—specifically, how close you are to a character. Today, we’re talking about fi...
20.12: Fashion as a Writing Metaphor
Today, we’re returning to different personal metaphors for how we all think about writing and storytelling. In this episode, we’re talking about how D...
20.11: Kit Lit. Q&A Aboard the WX Cruise, with Mark Oshiro, Kate McKean, and Sandra Tayler
This episode was recorded live at our 2024 Writing Excuses Cruise. (Did you know that we host a writing retreat on a cruise every year!?! You can lear...
20.10: Interview with Chuck Tingle: Breaking the Rules
Today we have the pleasure of talking with author (and longtime listener!) Chuck Tingle. We invited him on the podcast to talk about breaking the rule...