EPISODE · Sep 12, 2010 · 16 MIN
WE 5.2: Character Quirks
from Writing Excuses · host Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
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 memorable. We talk about good quirks, bad quirks, and how to tell the difference. We also laugh a lot because it was late and we were punchy. We also discuss ways in which stereotype-breaking quirks can be employed without delivering humor, and reasons why we might do this. Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain Regarding That "No Spoilers" Shouting-Match: If you haven't seen Avatar: The Last Airbender (animated) in its entirety yet, it's possible Bree gave something away in the last two minutes of the 'cast. Writing Prompt: A physical attribute that in some way influences the character's religion This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by Audible. Visit http://AudiblePodcast.com/excuse for a free trial membership*. *Note: From the Audible website, here are the terms of the free membership. Read the fine print, please! Audible® Free Trial Details Get your first 14 days of the AudibleListener® Gold membership plan free, which includes one audiobook credit. After your 14 day trial, your membership will renew each month for just $14.95 per month so you can continue to receive one audiobook credit per month plus members-only discounts on all audio purchases. A very small number of titles are more than one credit. Cancel your membership before your free trial period is up and you will not be charged. Thereafter, cancel anytime, effective the next billing cycle. Any unused audiobook credits will be lost at cancellation.Our Sponsors:* Check out HomeServe and use my code homeserve.com/excuses for a great deal: https://www.homeserve.com* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great deal: https://MasterClass.com* Check out Talkiatry and use my code Talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
What this episode covers
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 memorable. We talk about good quirks, bad quirks, and how to tell the difference. We also laugh a lot because it was late and we were punchy. We also discuss ways in which stereotype-breaking quirks can be employed without delivering humor, and reasons why we might do this. Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain Regarding That "No Spoilers" Shouting-Match: If you haven't seen Avatar: The Last Airbender (animated) in its entirety yet, it's possible Bree gave something away in the last two minutes of the 'cast. Writing Prompt: A physical attribute that in some way influences the character's religion This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by Audible. Visit http://AudiblePodcast.com/excuse for a free trial membership*. *Note: From the Audible website, here are the terms of the free membership. Read the fine print, please! Audible® Free Trial Details Get your first 14 days of the AudibleListener® Gold membership plan free, which includes one audiobook credit. After your 14 day trial, your membership will renew each month for just $14.95 per month so you can continue to receive one audiobook credit per month plus members-only discounts on all audio purchases. A very small number of titles are more than one credit. Cancel your membership before your free trial period is up and you will not be charged. Thereafter, cancel anytime, effective the next billing cycle. Any unused audiobook credits will be lost at cancellation. Our Sponsors: * Check out HomeServe and use my code homeserve.com/excuses for a great deal: https://www.homeserve.com * Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great deal: https://MasterClass.com * Check out Talkiatry and use my code Talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
NOW PLAYING
WE 5.2: Character Quirks
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
May 6, 2026 ·32m
Apr 1, 2026 ·28m
Mar 4, 2026 ·28m
Feb 4, 2026 ·32m
Dec 3, 2025 ·29m