Writing Excuses

Latest Episodes:

Writing Excuses 10.45: Q&A at the GenCon Writing Symposium, with Kameron Hurley, James L. Sutter, and Michael Underwood Nov 08, 2015

Show notes

Dan and Howard are joined by Kameron Hurley, James L. Sutter, and Michael Underwood for an anything-goes Q&A at the GenCon Indy Writing Symposium. We had reached the end of our two-hour block, but the audience hungered for the chance to ask their questions of these guests, so the Symposium gave us an extra half hour in the room. The audience had already been in this room for 120 minutes, but they wanted more more more, so we ran a bit long. Can you advise us about Writing the Other especially regarding avoiding cultural appropriation? (yes, this question deserves an entire symposium all by itself. We answered as best we could.) If you were trying to break in right now, what would you do, and how would you do it? How do you best handle slithering out of making a commitment to help someone with their writing, and how do you deliver bad news to those writers if you end up committing to help anyway. How soon do you telegraph a plot twist? How do you, as a non-writer, be a good resource to the writers in your life? Do you know your title at the beginning of the writing process, or does it come to you later? How do you know when you need another revision pass, vs. when you need to simply rewrite the whole thing again? *NOTE: Back in July we attempted to record an episode on cultural appropriation with several guests hailing from marginalized and commonly misappropriated cultures, races, and backgrounds. The discussion was wonderful, but the recording itself was unusable due to an equipment failure. We wanted to share it with you, but even our brilliant mastering engineer Alex couldn't make it listenable. We promise to address this topic in the future, and we've purchased all new recording gear to ensure that we capture the discussion correctly. This episode was recorded and mastered by Alex Jackson

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Writing Excuses 10.44: How Do I Fix What is Broken? Nov 01, 2015

Show notes

November is "Revision" month here in the Writing Excuses Season 10 Master Class, so while many of you may be tempted by NaNoWriMo, there's a different kind of work to be done... Delia Sherman joins us again, this time for a frank talk about the tools and techniques we use during our revisions. This episode was engineered aboard The Independence of the Seas by Bert Grimm, and mastered in a cloud fortress above Lake Michigan by Alex Jackson.

Writing Excuses 10.43: Q&A on Endings, with Delia Sherman Oct 25, 2015

Show notes

Delia Sherman joined us aboard the Independence of the Seas for our question-and-answer installment on endings. The questions came from the attendees at the Writing Excuses Workshop, which was, lest anyone forget, on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. The questions: Why do more short stories than novels end on tragic notes? How do you keep an ending from being predictable or boring? How do you write a stand-alone ending with sequel potential? What are the best ways to avoid infodump endings? Are there differences between writing the first novel in a series and other novels in the series? How do you know which questions to leave unanswered? What sort of attention do you give to your last lines? This episode was engineered aboard The Independence of the Seas by Bert Grimm, and mastered in a soundproofed bullet-train by Alex Jackson.

Writing Excuses 10.42: How In The World Do I Tie All This Together? Oct 18, 2015

Show notes

Nalo Hopkinson joins us again, at sea, for our second Master Class installment on endings. We cover some of the reasons why an ending might not be working, and then talk about the sorts of diagnoses that will help you solve the problem. You'll likely need to dig deep in your toolbox. Our episodes covering the MICE quotient, promises made to the readers, and the Hollywood formula may be worth reviewing in this process.

Writing Excuses 10.41: Your Character’s Moral Pendulum Oct 11, 2015

Show notes

Brad Beaulieu and Jaym Gates join us from the GenCon Indy Writing Symposium to talk about good versus evil, and how your character might swing between the two. And it's all about that swing. Moral grey areas are more interesting if we move through them. We talk about how we swing the pendulum, what difficulties we encounter, and what sorts of things we want to have happen to our reader when it moves.

Writing Excuses 10.40: What’s the Difference Between Ending and Stopping? Oct 04, 2015

Show notes

Nalo Hopkinson joins us for this episode, which we recorded before a live audience of Out Of Excuses Workshop & Retreat attendees. October's master class episodes focus on endings, and in this first installment we talk about what an ending really is. It's obviously the last part of the book, but the gestalt of "ending" is so much more than just "The End," and it's important that we understand all that before committing ourselves to being done writing it. (Note: You can start writing your ending any time you want. Stopping writing your ending, and being done with it? There's the rub.) This episode was engineered aboard The Independence of the Seas by Bert Grimm, and mastered ashore in a secret laboratory by Alex Jackson.

Writing Excuses 10.39: Q&A on Plot Twists with Kevin J. Anderson Sep 27, 2015

Show notes

Kevin J. Anderson joined us at Sasquan/WorldCon 73 to take questions about plot twists. Here are the questions that came in from our live audience: Genre Twists: good, bad, or ugly? Can you compare and contrast a good plot twist with a bad one? What is the biggest mistake professional authors make with regarding plot twists?

Writing Excuses 10.38: How Does Context Shape Dialog? Sep 20, 2015

Show notes

Our second installment for the Master Class's month of context covers the way dialog between characters may change meaning depending upon the context you create for them. This context may be the setting or genre, and it may also be the "beats" in which you describe what a person is doing while speaking. We talk about how to make this work for you, how to avoid some of the common pitfalls in writing dialog. Liner Notes: Howard mentioned episode 10.11: Project-in-Depth: "Parallel Perspectives". If you need to go back and have a listen, now it's easier!

Writing Excuses 10.37: Being a Good Panelist and a Great Moderator, with Susan J. Morris and Marc Tassin Sep 13, 2015

Show notes

This month's wildcard episode comes to you from the 2015 GenCon Indy Writers' Symposium, where Dan and Howard had the opportunity to interview Susan J. Morris and Marc Tassin. Susan is one of the finest moderators the symposium has ever seen, and Marc directs the event, building the schedule around good panelists and great moderators. Their advice is insightful, fresh, and spot-on. If you ever find yourself scheduled to speak on, or moderate, a panel, this episode is a great listen for beginning your preparation.

Writing Excuses 10.36: How Does Context Shape Plot Twists? Sep 06, 2015

Show notes

We've talked about plot twists before. This episode covers the way in which the type of plot twist is dependent on, or signaled by, the context of the story. Getting plot twists right may mean surprising the reader, but it's just as important to have the twist surprise the character. SPOILER ALERT: Avengers: Age of Ultron, and The Sixth Sense, among others. It's hard to talk about plot twists without talking about some really good ones. This month's master-class topic is "Context," but the Q&A at the end of the month (coming real soon!) is on plot twists, featuring a special guest who joined us at Sasquan, the 73rd Annual World Science Fiction Convention.

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