Writing Excuses

13.42: Writing Excuses Talks to an Astronaut, with Special Guest Kjell Lindgren

Oct. 21, 2018

18:25

13.41: Fixing Character Problems, Part II

Oct. 14, 2018

22:36

13.40: Fixing Character Problems, Part I

Oct. 7, 2018

16:06

13.39: What Writers Get Wrong, With Wendy Tolliver

Sept. 30, 2018

17:47

13.38: How to Find and Use Alpha Readers

Sept. 23, 2018

20:17

13.37: What Writers Get Wrong, with J.Y. Yang

Sept. 16, 2018

20:06

13.36: Confronting the Default

Sept. 9, 2018

18:17

13.35: Cliché vs. Archetype

Sept. 2, 2018

20:29

13.34: Q&A on Character Arcs

Aug. 26, 2018

19:17

13.b1: Bonus Episode — Elephants and Death, with Lawrence Schoen

Aug. 22, 2018

18:10

13.33: Reading Outside the Box

Aug. 19, 2018

20:41

13.32: How To Handle Weighty Topics

Aug. 12, 2018

30:00

13.31: Learning to Listen as a Writer

Aug. 5, 2018

20:46

13.30: Project in Depth, THE CALCULATING STARS, with Kjell Lindgren

July 29, 2018

31:22

13.29: Iconic Heroes

July 22, 2018

18:33

13.28: What Writers Get Wrong, with Wildstyle

July 15, 2018

17:06

13.27: Characters as Foils

July 8, 2018

18:52

13.26: Character Relationships

July 1, 2018

21:23

13.25: Our Journey With Character

June 24, 2018

18:25

13.24: What Writers Get Wrong, with Piper, Aliette, and Wesley, with special guest Ken Liu

June 17, 2018

22:33

13.23: Internal Conflicts

June 10, 2018

26:44

13.22: Character Arcs

June 3, 2018

16:09

13.21: Q&A on Character Depth and Motivation

May 27, 2018

20:07

13.20: Fear and Writing, with Emma Newman

May 20, 2018

19:41

13.19: Backstories

May 13, 2018

19:32

13.18: Naturally Revealing Character Motivation

May 6, 2018

19:00

13.17: What Writers Get Wrong, with Jamahl Crouch

April 29, 2018

16:17

13.16: Avoiding Flat Characters

April 22, 2018

16:42

13.15: What Writers Get Wrong, with Mike Stop Continues

April 15, 2018

19:04

13.14: Character Nuance

April 8, 2018

17:44

13.13: Character Voice

April 1, 2018

23:38

13.12: Q&A on Heroes, Villains, and Main Characters

March 25, 2018

17:13

13.11: Writing Secondary Characters, with Charlaine Harris

March 18, 2018

17:13

13.10: Handling a Large Cast

March 11, 2018

23:12

13.9: Quick Characterization

March 4, 2018

18:15

13.8: Making Characters Distinctive

Feb. 25, 2018

21:20

13.7: What Writers Get Wrong, with Lou Perry

Feb. 18, 2018

14:56

13.6: External Conflicts for Characters

Feb. 11, 2018

20:33

13.5: Villain, Antagonist, Obstacle

Feb. 4, 2018

18:20

13.4: Protagonists Who Aren’t Sympathetic

Jan. 28, 2018

20:05

13.3: What Writers Get Wrong, with Aliette de Bodard

Jan. 21, 2018

22:15

13.2: Writing Active Characters

Jan. 14, 2018

19:22

13.1: Hero, Protagonist, Main Character

Jan. 7, 2018

17:27

12.53: Writing Excuses True Confessions

Dec. 31, 2017

29:27

12.52: Cross-Genres as Gateways

Dec. 24, 2017

17:46

12.51: Constructed Languages, with Dirk Elzinga

Dec. 17, 2017

18:51

12.50: Form and Function

Dec. 10, 2017

22:58

12.49: Non-linear Narratives

Dec. 3, 2017

17:39

12.48: Q&A on Novels and Series, with Brian McClellan

Nov. 26, 2017

24:59

12.47: Screenwriting and the Writers Room, with JD Payne

Nov. 19, 2017

19:16

12.46: Reinventing Yourself

Nov. 12, 2017

21:18

12.45: Structuring a Series

Nov. 5, 2017

23:09

12.44: NaNoWriMo 2017 Primer

Oct. 29, 2017

18:40

12.43: Serialized Storytelling

Oct. 22, 2017

22:24

12.42: Adapting Your Stories for Game Play, with Alan Bahr

Oct. 15, 2017

14:27

12.41: Raising the Stakes

Oct. 8, 2017

20:15

12.40: Structuring a Novel

Oct. 1, 2017

18:53

12.39: Q&A on Short(er) Fiction

Sept. 24, 2017

20:01

12.38: What Do Editors Really Want, with Toni Weisskopf and Cat Rambo

Sept. 17, 2017

17:13

12.37: Subplots

Sept. 10, 2017

20:32

12.36: Structuring a Mid-Length Piece

Sept. 3, 2017

19:50

12.35: Short Fiction Markets, with Spencer Ellsworth and guest host Beth Meacham

Aug. 27, 2017

16:32

12.34: Fulfilling the Reader’s Fantasy, with Brian McClellan

Aug. 20, 2017

20:08

12.33: How to be Brief, Yet Powerful

Aug. 13, 2017

20:35

12.32: Structuring a Short Piece

Aug. 6, 2017

22:03

12.31: What Makes a Good Monster, with Courtney Alameda

July 30, 2017

17:48

12.30: Tools for Writers

July 23, 2017

20:44

12.29: “Oh Crap, the Cops are Here!” with Joe McKinney

July 16, 2017

20:49

12.28: Trimming and Expanding

July 9, 2017

19:46

12.27: Choosing a Length

July 2, 2017

21:49

12.26: Q&A on Outlining and Discovery Writing

June 25, 2017

20:29

12.25: Hiring an Editor, with Callie Stoker

June 18, 2017

18:50

12.24: Creating Great Outlines

June 11, 2017

20:46

12.23: Proposals, Pitches, and Queries

June 4, 2017

21:29

12.22: Hybrid Outlining and Discovery Writing

May 28, 2017

18:57

12.21: Narrative Bumper Pool, with Bill Fawcett and Carrie Patel

May 21, 2017

20:26

12.20: Retrofitting Structure into a First Draft

May 14, 2017

21:23

12.19: Structure on the Fly

May 7, 2017

19:30

12.18: Gendered Dialect, with J.R. Johansson

April 30, 2017

19:02

12.17: Q&A on Style, Diction, and Paragraphing

April 23, 2017

23:11

12.16: Writing Crime Fiction with Brian Keene

April 16, 2017

19:57

12.15: Pacing With Chapters

April 9, 2017

21:24

12.14: Controlling Pacing with Structure

April 3, 2017

20:26

12.13: Beautiful Prose, Purple Prose

March 26, 2017

22:34

12.12: Words as Words, with Linda Addison

March 19, 2017

21:07

12.11: Diction

March 12, 2017

19:58

12.10: Developing Your Own, Personal Style

March 5, 2017

19:13

12.9: Q&A on Viewpoint

Feb. 26, 2017

25:02

12.8 Short Stories as Exploration, with Tananarive Due

Feb. 19, 2017

14:26

12.7: Description Through the Third Person Lens

Feb. 12, 2017

20:27

12.6: Variations on Third Person

Feb. 5, 2017

19:13

12.5: Literary Fiction

Jan. 29, 2017

20:18

12.4: Hybrid Viewpoints

Jan. 22, 2017

19:11

12.3: Project in Depth, “Risk Assessment,” by Sandra Tayler

Jan. 15, 2017

23:44

12.2: How to Nail Character Voice in First Person

Jan. 8, 2017

21:27

12.1: Variations on First Person

Jan. 1, 2017

23:49

11.52: Elemental Ensemble Q&A, With Claudia Gray

Dec. 24, 2016

24:54

11.51: Ensemble as a Sub-Genre, with Lynne M. Thomas

Dec. 18, 2016

17:02

11.50: Hand-Selling Your Book to Potential Readers, with Michael R. Underwood

Dec. 11, 2016

24:06

11.49: Elemental Ensemble, with Michael Damien Thomas

Dec. 4, 2016

24:17

11.Bonus-04: Fantasy Food, with Elizabeth Bear and Scott Lynch

Nov. 29, 2016

17:56

11.48: Elemental Issue Q&A, with DongWon Song

Nov. 27, 2016

22:20

11.47: Issue as a Subgenre, with Steven Barnes

Nov. 20, 2016

24:21

11.46: Colonialism, with Steven Barnes, Tempest Bradford, DongWon Song, and Shveta Thakrar

Nov. 13, 2016

27:02

11.45: Elemental Issue, with Desiree Burch

Nov. 6, 2016

24:30

11.Bonus-03: Some Books Have Maps in the Front, with Maurice Broaddus, Mur Lafferty, and James Sutter

Nov. 3, 2016

19:45

11.Bonus-02: Horrifying the Children, with Darren Shan

Nov. 1, 2016

23:32

11.44: Project in Depth, GHOST TALKERS, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Oct. 30, 2016

33:14

11.43: Elemental Drama Q&A, with Tananarive Due

Oct. 23, 2016

19:27

11.42: Elemental Drama as a Sub-Genre

Oct. 16, 2016

21:16