Writing Excuses cover art

All Episodes

Writing Excuses — 996 episodes

#
Title
1

21.27: The Expository Throttle

2

21.26: Setting the Pace

3

21.25: Follow the Bouncing Ball

4

21.24: Deconstructing the Seven Point Plot Structure

5

21.23: Barrier Breaking: Interruptions

6

21.22: The Order of the Telling

7

21.21: Rhythm and Words

8

21.20: Sequencing from Mega to Micro

9

21.19: Getting Everything Connected

10

21.18: Deconstructing the Three Act Structure

11

21.17: The Up and Down Escalators

12

21.16: Tension and Release as Call and Response

13

21.15: Using Contrast for Maximum Effect

14

21.14: Because at First, They Don’t Succeed

15

21.13: Does The Middle Have To Be Soggy?

16

21.12: Breaking Down Barriers- Environment

17

21.11: The Cold Open- Action

18

21.10: The Cold Open- Voice

19

21.09: Grounding The Reader

20

21.08: Setting Expectations

21

21.07: Deep Dive- “With Her Serpent Locks”

22

21.06: Begin and the Beginning

23

21.05: The Same But Different

24

21.04: Deconstructing the Hero's Journey

25

21.03: Deconstructing Plots

26

21.02: My Process is Not Your Process

27

21.01: Welcome to the New Year!

28

20.52: 2025 End-of-Year Wrap Up

29

20.51: Howard Tayler’s Personal Writing Process

30

20.50: Dan Wells’ Personal Writing Process

31

20.49: Using Tone and Mood

32

20.48: Now Go Write- How to Pitch Your Work

33

20.47: Now Go Write- All the Eggs in All the Baskets

34

20.46: Now Go Write- Break All The Rules (Part 2)

35

20.45: Now Go Write- Break All The Rules (Part 1)

36

20.44: Now Go Write- How to Handle Relationships

37

20.43: An Interview with Dr. Tara Lepore on Paleontology

38

20.42: Erin Roberts’ Personal Writing Process

39

20.41: DongWon Song’s Personal Writing Process

40

20.40: Mary Robinette Kowal’s Personal Writing Process

41

20.39: Wrapping up our Conversation about Lenses

42

20.38: An Interview with Charlie Jane Anders

43

20.37: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of Why

44

20.36: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of When

45

20.35: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of Where

46

20.34: Deep Dive into “All the Birds in the Sky” - Using the Lens of Who

47

20.33: Raising Children as a Metaphor for Writing

48

20.32: Revision and Character Consciousness Téa Obreht

49

20.31: Framing the Lens

50

20.30: Using Why To Shape Tone

51

20.29: Authorial Intent

52

20.28: The Lens of Tradition

53

20.27: The Lens of Why

54

20.26: Gaming as a Writing Metaphor

55

20.25: Writing Confrontation (LIVE Aboard the WX Cruise)

56

20.24: An Interview with Charles Duhigg

57

20.23: The Lens of the Senses

58

20.22: The Lens of Time

59

20.21: The Lens of Context

60

20.20: The Lens of Where and When

61

20.19: Cooking as a Writing Metaphor

62

20.18: LIVE: The Art of Teaching

63

20.17: An Interview with Christopher Schwarz

64

20.16: Second Person

65

20.15: Third Person Omniscient

66

20.14: Third Person Limited

67

20.13: First Person

68

20.12: Fashion as a Writing Metaphor

69

20.11: Kit Lit. Q&A Aboard the WX Cruise, with Mark Oshiro, Kate McKean, and Sandra Tayler

70

20.10: Interview with Chuck Tingle: Breaking the Rules

71

20.09: The Reaction of Who?!

72

20.08: Character Stakes and Fears

73

20.07: Motivation and Goals

74

20.06: History and Community

75

20.05: The Lens of Who

76

20.04: Puppetry as a Writing Metaphor

77

20.03: Polishing Your Writing Lens

78

20.02: Q&A Aboard the Writing Excuses Cruise, with Mark Oshiro and Kate McKean

79

20.01: Welcome to 2025!

80

19.52: End of Year Reflections: Navigating Speedbumps

81

19.51: And That Was That

82

19.50.5: An Interview with DIY MFA Founder Gabriela Pereira (BONUS EPISODE)

83

19.50: All Systems Go

84

19.49: Getting to Know You

85

19.48: Beginning With A Thrill

86

19.47.5: Interview with Andrew Buckley of the StoryCentric podcast (BONUS EPISODE)

87

19.47: Final Thoughts on Our Close Reading Series

88

19.46: An Interview on Structure with N.K. Jemisin

89

19.45: A Close Reading on Structure: Tying It All Together

90

19.44: A Close Reading on Structure: Tradition and Innovation

91

19.43: A Close Reading on Structure: Parallelism and Inversion

92

19.42: A Close Reading on Structure: Whose Perspective is it Anyways?

93

19.41: A Close Reading on Structure: An Overview and Why Fifth Season

94

19.40: An Interview on Tension with P. Djèlí Clark

95

19.39: A Close Reading on Tension: Tying It All Together

96

19.38: A Close Reading on Tension: Anticipation and Subversion

97

19.37: A Close Reading on Tension: Movement and Resolution

98

19.36: A Close Reading on Tension: Narrative vs. Contextual

99

19.35: A Close Reading on Tension: An Overview and Why Ring Shout

100

19.34: Grants and Fellowships

101

19.33: Workshops and Retreats

102

19.32: An Interview on Character with CL Clark

103

19.31: A Close Reading on Character: Tying it All Together

104

19.30: A Close Reading on Character: Agency vs. Choices

105

19.29: A Close Reading on Character: Barriers vs. Stakes

106

19.28: A Close Reading on Character: Internal vs External Identity

107

19.27: A Close Reading on Character: An Overview and Why We Chose C.L. Clark's Stories

108

19.26: Bringing Falconry into Writing

109

19.25: From the Classroom to the Page

110

19.24: An Interview on Worldbuilding with Arkady Martine

111

19.23: Tying It All Together (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)

112

19.22: Technology and Identity (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)

113

19.21: Language as a Tool (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)

114

19.20: How to Make Worlds Feel Big Without Overwhelming the Reader (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding: Focusing on Scale)

115

19.19: A Close Reading on Worldbuilding: An Overview and why A Memory Called Empire

116

19.18: How to Build Fictional Economies

117

19.17: Novellas- the Goldilocks of Publishing

118

19.16: An Interview with Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar

119

19.15: A Close Reading on Voice: Tying It All Together

120

19.14: A Close Reading on Voice- Epistolary Storytelling Through Voice

121

19.13: A Close Reading on Voice: Blue's Perspective - Confidence and Vulnerability

122

19.12: A Close Reading on Voice - Red's Perspective - Muscular Prose

123

19.11: A Close Reading on Voice- An Overview, and Why Time War

124

19.10: Introducing Our Close Readings Series

125

19.09: LIVE Recording - Rituals, Rites, and Traditions

126

19.08: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Working with an Editor

127

19.07: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Intention

128

19.06: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Length

129

19.05: LIVE Recording - Revisions with Mahtab Narsimhan

130

19.04: LIVE Recording - Pacing with Guest Fonda Lee

131

19.03: Behind The Scenes with our Producer and Recording Engineer

132

19.02: Q&A Episode with WX Core Cast

133

19.01: Interview with Abraham Verghese

134

18.53: Funding the Writing Life

135

18.52: Writing Inside The Box

136

18.51: So You Wanna Play With Format?

137

18.50: The Unreliable Narrator

138

18.49: Giving Your Story A Voice

139

18.48: NaNoWriMo Week 5 - Writing Endings

140

18.47: NaNoWriMo Week 4 - Climaxes, or OH MY GOD NO

141

18.46: NaNoWriMo Week 3 - Raising the Stakes

142

18.45: NaNoWriMo Week 2 - Inciting Incident

143

18.44: NaNoWriMo Week 1- Getting Started

144

18.43: Worldbuilding in Miniature

145

18.42: Creating Magic Outside of a System

146

18.41: Deep Dive: Erin's Short Fiction Extravaganza

147

18.40: How To Make Money From Your Hobby (with special guest Sandra Tayler!)

148

18.39: How To Write An Ending

149

18.38: How Do You Write A Series With Books That Stand Alone?

150

18.37: Mandatory Failure

151

18.36: The Soggy Middle Pays the Rent (or, "Stand Alone With Series Potential")

152

18.35: How to Organize Your Writing, or Managing the Mega-Arc

153

18.34: Seventeen Years of Foreshadowing

154

18.33.5: State Of The Podcast

155

18.33: Deep Dive: The Schlock Mercenary Finale

156

18.32: The Kirsten Vangsness Expansion Pack

157

18.31: Getting Personal: Mining Your Life for Themes

158

18.30: Planting Supernatural Seeds

159

18.29: Collaboration And Partnership

160

18.28: Writing Conversational Dialogue

161

18.27: Framing Stories

162

18.26: Broadening Your Writing Wheelhouse: Video Game Dialogue, RPG Adventures, & More

163

18.25: To Narrator or Not to Narrator

164

18.24: “Dark One: Forgotten” Deep Dive

165

18.23: Our Advice on Giving Advice

166

18.22: On Mentorship: Sending the Elevator Back Down

167

18.21: The Empathy Gap: How to Understand What Your Publisher is Telling You

168

18.20: So You Want To Work In Publishing?

169

18.19: What is Publishing For, Anyway?

170

18.18: Launching an Author Newsletter

171

18.17: Build Your Author Brand, 2023 Edition

172

18.16: Deep Dive: Publishing is Hard, by DongWon Song

173

18.15: Building a Mystery, Now With More Tools

174

18.14: Heavy Lifting with Microtension

175

18.13: Finding the Core Conflict

176

18.12: The Long Shadow of Unanswered Questions

177

18.11: Turning Up the Contrast With Juxtaposition

178

18.10: Anticipation is More Than Just Making Us Wait

179

18.09: Unpacking the Tension

180

18.08: Building a Mystery

181

18.07: Deep Dive into THE SPARE MAN

182

18.06: An Interview With Howard Tayler

183

18.05: An Interview with Mary Robinette Kowal

184

18.04: An Interview With Dan Wells

185

18.03: An Interview With Erin Roberts

186

18.02: An Interview with DongWon Song

187

18.01: Twenty Twenty-Three, By Way of Introduction

188

17.52: The WXR 2022 Q&A

189

17.51: Feel The Burn

190

17.50: Consistency, Inconsistency, and the Crushing Weight of Expectations

191

17.49: Bodies Are Magical

192

17.48: Bodies, Why? (Part III)

193

17.47: The Linguistics of Disability

194

17.46: Monstrous Awakening

195

17.45: Bodies, Tech, and Character

196

17.44: Bodies, Why? (Part II: Working Through Disability)

197

17.43: Bodies. Why? (Depicting Disability)

198

17.42: Eight Embodied Episodes About Disability

199

17.41: Picture Books are Books Too, with Special Guest Seth Fishman

200

17.40: Questions & Answers About Structure, with Special Guest Peng Shepherd

201

17.39: Writing Bodies and Intimacy, with K.M. Szpara

202

17.38: Oh No I Lost The Thread

203

17.37: Science and Fiction—It’s Not Just Science Fiction

204

17.36: Space for Everyone

205

17.35: Nuances of Dialog

206

17.34: Developing Subtext

207

17.33: Building Tension

208

17.32: Everything is About Conflict

209

17.31: Everyone Has an Agenda

210

17.30: Know Your Characters

211

17.29: The Job of Dialogue

212

17.28: Keys to Writing Dialog

213

17.27: Ensembles Behind the Scenes

214

17.26: Hanging Separately

215

17.25: Archetypes, Ensembles, and Expectations

216

17.24: Ensembles and Genre

217

17.23: Are We Stronger Together?

218

17.22: Establishing the Ensemble

219

17.21: Casting Your Story With Character Voice

220

17.20: Basics of Ensemble Characterization

221

17.19: Working in a Collaborative Environment

222

17.18: How to be Funny, with Jody Lynn Nye

223

17.17: Writing in the Public Domain

224

17.16: Miscellaneous Structures

225

17.15: Storytelling in the Footnotes

226

17.14: Structuring for Disordered or Order-less Reading Order

227

17.13: Structuring Around a Thing

228

17.12: Structuring a Story Within a Story

229

17.11: Structuring with Multiple Timelines

230

17.10: Structuring with Multiple POVs

231

17.9: Let’s Talk About Structure

232

17.8: The Alchemy of Creativity

233

17.7: Dissecting Influence

234

17.6: Hitting Reset Without Getting Hit Back

235

17.5: The Promise of the Brand

236

17.4: The Gun on the Mantel is Actually a Fish

237

17.3: Chekov’s Surprising Yet Inevitable Inverted Gun

238

17.2: It Was a Promise of Three Parts

239

17.1: Genre and Media are Promises

240

16.52: Structure is a Promise

241

16.51: Promises are a Structure

242

16.50: Worldbuilding Finale: Making Deliberate Choices

243

16.49: Magic and Technology: Two Sides of the Same Coin

244

16.48: Believable Worlds Part 2: Creating Texture

245

16.47: Believable Worlds Part 1: The Illusion of Real

246

16.46: World and Plot: The Only Constant is Change

247

16.45: World and Character Part 2: Moral Frame

248

16.44: World and Character Part 1: All Your Characters Are Biased

249

16.43: The Narrative Holy Trinity of World, Character, and Plot, with Fonda Lee

250

16.42: M.I.C.E. Quotient, After the Fact

251

16.41: Middles and Conflicts with M.I.C.E. Structure

252

16.40: Nesting Threads in the M.I.C.E. Quotient

253

16.39: Deep Dive into “Event”

254

16.38: Deep Dive into “Character”

255

16.37: Deep Dive Into “Inquiry”

256

16.36: Deep Dive into “Milieu”

257

16.35: What is the M.I.C.E. Quotient?

258

16.34: Novels Are Layer Cakes

259

16.33: Tell, Don’t Show

260

16.32: First Page Fundamentals—THE KILLING FLOOR, by Lee Childs

261

16.31: First Page Fundamentals—MOBY DICK

262

16.30: First Page Fundamentals—THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE

263

16.29: Building Trust

264

16.28: Common First-Page Mistakes

265

16.27: Nobody Wants to Read a Book

266

16.26: Working With Teams

267

16.25: Breaking Into Game Writing

268

16.24: Worldbuilding for Games

269

BONUS EPISODE! 2021 WXR Early-Bird Announcement

270

16.23: Rules and Mechanics

271

16.22: Scenes and Set Pieces

272

16.21: Player Characters

273

16.20: Branching Narratives

274

16.19: Intro to Roleplaying Games

275

16.18: Poetry and the Fantastic

276

16.17: The Time To Rhyme

277

16.16: Poetic Structure: Part II

278

16.15: Poetic Structure, Part I

279

16.14: Poetic Language

280

16.13: Day Brain vs. Night Brain

281

16.12 : Singing Versus Speaking

282

16.11: What is Poetry?

283

16.10: Paying it Forward, with Kevin J. Anderson

284

16.9: Crossing The Revenue Streams

285

16.8: Smart Promotion

286

16.7: To Series, or Not to Series

287

16.6: Building Your Brand

288

16.5: Pros and Contracts

289

16.4: Networking

290

16.3: Publishing Pitfalls

291

16.02: Publishers Are Not Your Friends

292

16.01: Your Career is Your Business

293

15.52: Economy of Phrase, Being the Concentrated Concatenation of Complex Thoughts in Just a Very Few Words Which Must Fit In A Very Very Small Box, With Patrick Rothfuss

294

15.51: Feedback—When to Listen, and When to Ignore, with special guest Mahtab Narsimhan

295

15.50: Juggling Ensembles

296

15.49: Maintaining Passion for a Story, with special guest Mahtab Narsimhan

297

15.48: Deliberate Discomfort, Part Two

298

15.47: Worldbuilding Science Fiction, with Cory Doctorow

299

15.46: Crafting Chinese-American Characters

300

15.45: Worldbuilding Fantasy, with Patrick Rothfuss

301

15.44: Rebooting a Career

302

15.43: Audiobook Narration, with Bruce D Richardson

303

15.42: Writing The End

304

15.41: Researching the FCK out of Things, with Cory Doctorow

305

15.40: Researching for Writing the Other

306

15.39: Translation, with special guest Alex Shvartsman

307

15.38: Depicting Religions That Are Not Your Own

308

15.37: Writing Under Deadlines

309

15.36: Collaboration, with Shannon and Dean Hale

310

15.35: Tools for Writing and Worldbuilding, with Erin Roberts

311

15.34: Writing Deliberate Discomfort

312

15.33: The Long, Dark Second Act of the Soul

313

15.32: Short Story Markets

314

15.31: The Agent in the Room

315

15.30: Write What You Want To Know, with Laurell K. Hamilton

316

15.29: Barbie Pre-Writing, with Janci Patterson and Megan Walker

317

15.28: Small Evils

318

15.27: Alternate History, with Eric Flint

319

15.26: Taking the Chance, with David Weber

320

15.25: Using the MICE Quotient for Conflict

321

15.24: Keeping it Fresh, with Jim Butcher

322

15.23: Serialization

323

15.22 Writing For Children, with Shannon and Dean Hale

324

15.21: Writing About Children, with Shannon and Dean Hale

325

15.20: Mental Wellness and Writing

326

15.19: As You Know, This Episode Is About Exposition

327

15.18: Finding a Community, with Shauna Hoffman

328

15.17: Asexual Representation

329

15.16: Balancing Plot and Character

330

15.15: Dialog

331

15.14: Agent Query Trenches

332

15.13: Using Elections in Stories

333

15.12: Writing the Other—Being an Ally

334

15.11: Digital is Different, with Cory Doctorow

335

15.10: Evaluating Ideas

336

15.09: Choose Your Own Adventurous Publishing Path

337

15.08: Q&A on a Ship

338

15.07: Creating Chapters

339

15.06: Prose and Cons, with Patrick Rothfuss

340

15.05: Setting Goals for Your Career

341

15.04: Revision, with Patrick Rothfuss

342

15.03: Self Publishing

343

15.02: Writing Between the Lines

344

15.01: Evolution of a Career

345

14.52: Game Mastering and Collaborative Storytelling, with Natasha Ence

346

14.51: A Farewell to Worldbuilding

347

14.50: Write What You… No.

348

14.49: Customs and Mores

349

14.48: How to Practice Worldbuilding

350

14.47: Writing Characters With Physical Disabilities

351

14.46: Unusual Resources

352

14.45: Economics

353

14.44: Realism vs. Rule-of-Cool

354

14.43: Sequencing Your Career Genome

355

14.42: Alternate History

356

14.41: History

357

14.40: Deep vs. Wide

358

14.39: Positioning Your Book in the Marketplace

359

14.38: Volunteer Opportunities for Writers, with Jared Quan

360

14.37: Outlandish Impossibilities

361

14.36: Languages and Naming

362

14.35: What You Leave Out

363

14.34: Author Branding

364

14.33: Writing Imperfect Worlds

365

Worldbuilding Gender Roles

366

14.31: Cultural Setting as Conflict

367

14.30: Eating Your Way to Better Worldbuilding

368

14.29: Field Research

369

14.28: Warfare and Weaponry

370

14.27: Natural Setting as Conflict

371

14.26: Lessons from Aristotle, with Rob Kimbro

372

14.25: Choosing Your Agent

373

14.24: Political Intrigue

374

14.23: Governments Large and Small

375

14.22: Characters out of Their Depth

376

14.21: Writing The Other — Yes, You Can!

377

14.20: Allegory in Fiction

378

14.19: Religion and Ritual

379

14.18: Setting as Theme

380

14.17: It’s Like “Car Talk” meets “Welcome To Nightvale”

381

14.16: Your Setting is a Telegraph

382

14.15: Technology

383

14.14: When To Tell

384

WX 14.13: Obstacles vs. Complications

385

14.12: Writing The Other — Latinx Representation

386

14.11: Magic Without Rules

387

14.10: Magic Systems

388

14.9: Showing Off

389

14.8: Worldbuilding Q&A #1

390

14.7: How Weird is Too Weird?

391

14.6: Fantasy and Science Fiction Races

392

14.5: Viewpoint as Worldbuilding

393

14.04: Writing the Other—Bisexual Characters

394

14.03: World of Hats

395

14.02: Geography and Biomes

396

14.01: Worldbuilding Begins! Up Front, or On the Fly?

397

13.52: Working Dad is a Spaceman

398

13.51: Wrap-up on the Year of Character

399

13.50: What Writers Get Wrong, with Zoraida Córdova

400

13.49: How to Finish

401

13.48: Character Death and Plot Armor

402

13.47: Q&A on Fixing Characters

403

13.46: The Unsexy Side of Space, with Bart Smith and Ben Hewett

404

NaNoWriMo 2018 Bonus Episode, with Mercedes Lackey

405

13.45: Next Level Narration

406

NaNoWriMo 2018 Mini-Episode 2

407

13.44: Alien Characters

408

NaNoWriMo 2018 Mini-Episode 1

409

13.43: Characters Who Are Smarter Than You Are

410

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

411

13.41: Fixing Character Problems, Part II

412

13.40: Fixing Character Problems, Part I

413

13.39: What Writers Get Wrong, With Wendy Tolliver

414

13.38: How to Find and Use Alpha Readers

415

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

416

13.36: Confronting the Default

417

13.35: Cliché vs. Archetype

418

13.34: Q&A on Character Arcs

419

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

420

13.33: Reading Outside the Box

421

13.32: How To Handle Weighty Topics

422

13.31: Learning to Listen as a Writer

423

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

424

13.29: Iconic Heroes

425

13.28: What Writers Get Wrong, with Wildstyle

426

13.27: Characters as Foils

427

13.26: Character Relationships

428

13.25: Our Journey With Character

429

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

430

13.23: Internal Conflicts

431

13.22: Character Arcs

432

13.21: Q&A on Character Depth and Motivation

433

13.20: Fear and Writing, with Emma Newman

434

13.19: Backstories

435

13.18: Naturally Revealing Character Motivation

436

13.17: What Writers Get Wrong, with Jamahl Crouch

437

13.16: Avoiding Flat Characters

438

13.15: What Writers Get Wrong, with Mike Stop Continues

439

13.14: Character Nuance

440

13.13: Character Voice

441

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

442

13.11: Writing Secondary Characters, with Charlaine Harris

443

13.10: Handling a Large Cast

444

13.9: Quick Characterization

445

13.8: Making Characters Distinctive

446

13.7: What Writers Get Wrong, with Lou Perry

447

13.6: External Conflicts for Characters

448

13.5: Villain, Antagonist, Obstacle

449

13.4: Protagonists Who Aren’t Sympathetic

450

13.3: What Writers Get Wrong, with Aliette de Bodard

451

13.2: Writing Active Characters

452

13.1: Hero, Protagonist, Main Character

453

12.53: Writing Excuses True Confessions

454

12.52: Cross-Genres as Gateways

455

12.51: Constructed Languages, with Dirk Elzinga

456

12.50: Form and Function

457

12.49: Non-linear Narratives

458

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

459

12.47: Screenwriting and the Writers Room, with JD Payne

460

12.46: Reinventing Yourself

461

12.45: Structuring a Series

462

12.44: NaNoWriMo 2017 Primer

463

12.43: Serialized Storytelling

464

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

465

12.41: Raising the Stakes

466

12.40: Structuring a Novel

467

12.39: Q&A on Short(er) Fiction

468

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

469

12.37: Subplots

470

12.36: Structuring a Mid-Length Piece

471

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

472

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

473

12.33: How to be Brief, Yet Powerful

474

12.32: Structuring a Short Piece

475

12.31: What Makes a Good Monster, with Courtney Alameda

476

12.30: Tools for Writers

477

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

478

12.28: Trimming and Expanding

479

12.27: Choosing a Length

480

12.26: Q&A on Outlining and Discovery Writing

481

12.25: Hiring an Editor, with Callie Stoker

482

12.24: Creating Great Outlines

483

12.23: Proposals, Pitches, and Queries

484

12.22: Hybrid Outlining and Discovery Writing

485

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

486

12.20: Retrofitting Structure into a First Draft

487

12.19: Structure on the Fly

488

12.18: Gendered Dialect, with J.R. Johansson

489

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

490

12.16: Writing Crime Fiction with Brian Keene

491

12.15: Pacing With Chapters

492

12.14: Controlling Pacing with Structure

493

12.13: Beautiful Prose, Purple Prose

494

12.12: Words as Words, with Linda Addison

495

12.11: Diction

496

12.10: Developing Your Own, Personal Style

497

12.9: Q&A on Viewpoint

498

12.8 Short Stories as Exploration, with Tananarive Due

499

12.7: Description Through the Third Person Lens

500

12.6: Variations on Third Person

501

12.5: Literary Fiction

502

12.4: Hybrid Viewpoints

503

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

504

12.2: How to Nail Character Voice in First Person

505

12.1: Variations on First Person

506

11.52: Elemental Ensemble Q&A, With Claudia Gray

507

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

508

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

509

11.49: Elemental Ensemble, with Michael Damien Thomas

510

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

511

11.48: Elemental Issue Q&A, with DongWon Song

512

11.47: Issue as a Subgenre, with Steven Barnes

513

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

514

11.45: Elemental Issue, with Desiree Burch

515

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

516

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

517

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

518

11.43: Elemental Drama Q&A, with Tananarive Due

519

11.42: Elemental Drama as a Sub-Genre

520

11.Bonus-01: Characterization and Differentiation, with Robin Hobb

521

11.41: The Editor’s Wish List, with Navah Wolfe

522

11.40: Elemental Drama

523

11.39: Elemental Relationship Q&A, with Greg van Eekhout

524

11.38: The Elemental Relationship as a Sub-Genre

525

11.37: Casting Your Book, with Gama Martinez

526

11.36: The Elemental Relationship

527

11.35: Elemental Humor Q&A with Victoria Schwab

528

11.34: Humor as a Sub-Genre

529

11.33: Crossover Fiction, with Victoria Schwab

530

11.32: The Element of Humor

531

11.31: Futurism, with Trina Marie Phillips

532

11.30: Elemental Thriller Q&A

533

11.29: Elemental Thriller as a Subgenre

534

11.28: Impostor Syndrome, with Alyssa Wong

535

11.27: The Elemental Thriller

536

11.26: Elemental Mystery Q&A

537

11.25: Elemental Mystery is Everywhere

538

11.24: Stakes!

539

11.23: The Element of Mystery

540

11.22: Examining Unconscious Biases, with Shannon Hale

541

11.21: Q&A on Elemental Horror, with Steve Diamond

542

11.20: Horror as a Subgenre

543

11.19: Fashion for Writers, with Rebecca McKinney

544

11.18: Elemental Horror

545

11.17: Elemental Adventure Q&A

546

11.16: Adventure as a Subgenre

547

11.15: The Environment, with L.E. Modessit, Jr.

548

11.14: The Element of Adventure

549

11.13: Elemental Idea Q&A

550

11.12: Idea as Subgenre, With Nancy Fulda

551

11.11: Self Publishing in 2016, with Michaelbrent Collings

552

11.10: Idea, as Genre, with Nancy Fulda

553

11.09: Q&A on the Element of Wonder

554

11.08: Wonder as a Subgenre

555

11.07: The Convention Survival Kit, with Gail Carriger

556

11.06: The Element of Wonder

557

11.05: Writing and World Building for Role Playing Games

558

11.04: Newton’s Laws of Writing

559

11.03: Layering The Elemental Genres

560

11.2: How To Get The Most Out Of A Conference, with Kathy Chung

561

Writing Excuses 11.1: Introduction to Elemental Genre

562

Writing Excuses 10.52: Moving On, with Ellen Kushner

563

Writing Excuses 10.51: Q&A on Showing Your Work, with Daniel José Older

564

Writing Excuses 10.50: How to Hand-Sell Your Manuscript to Agents and Editors, with Michael Underwood and Marco Palmieri

565

Writing Excuses 10.49: What Do I Do With This Thing Now?

566

Writing Excuses 10.48: Project in Depth, The Devil’s Only Friend

567

Writing Excuses 10.47: Q&A on Revision

568

Writing Excuses 10.46: How Do I Make This Pretty?

569

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

570

Writing Excuses 10.44: How Do I Fix What is Broken?

571

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

572

Writing Excuses 10.42: How In The World Do I Tie All This Together?

573

Writing Excuses 10.41: Your Character’s Moral Pendulum

574

Writing Excuses 10.40: What’s the Difference Between Ending and Stopping?

575

Writing Excuses 10.39: Q&A on Plot Twists with Kevin J. Anderson

576

Writing Excuses 10.38: How Does Context Shape Dialog?

577

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

578

Writing Excuses 10.36: How Does Context Shape Plot Twists?

579

Writing Excuses 10.35: Breaking In, With Charlie N. Holmberg

580

Writing Excuses 10.34: Q&A on Pacing

581

Writing Excuses 10.33: Combat, with Marie Brennan

582

Writing Excuses 10.32: How Do I Control the Speed of the Story?

583

Writing Excuses 10.31: How Do I Control the Reader’s Sense of Progress?

584

Writing Excuses 10.30: Q&A on Middles, with Marie Brennan

585

Writing Excuses 10.29: Why Should My Characters Fail Spectacularly?

586

Writing Excuses 10.28: Polytheism in Fiction, with Marie Brennan

587

Writing Excuses 10.27: Why Can’t I Just Jump to the Ending?

588

Writing Excuses 10.26: Q&A on Scenes and Description

589

Writing Excuses 10.25: What Makes a Scene?

590

Writing Excuses 10.24: Hooking Younger Readers

591

Writing Excuses 10.23: Can You Tell Me How To Show?

592

Writing Excuses 10.22: Project-in-Depth—Of Noble Family

593

Writing Excuses 10.21: Q&A on World Building

594

Writing Excuses 10.20: How Do I Write a Story, Not an Encyclopedia?

595

Writing Excuses 10.19: Intrigue

596

Writing Excuses 10.18: Build an Entire World? Are You Crazy?

597

Writing Excuses 10.17: Q&A on Beginnings

598

Writing Excuses 10.16: What Do I Do With All This Blank Space?

599

Writing Excuses 10.15: Worldbuilding Wilderness with Wes Chu

600

Writing Excuses 10.14: How Much of the Beginning Needs to Come First?

601

Writing Excuses 10.13: Where is My Story Going?

602

Writing Excuses 10.12: Story structure Q&A, with Special Guest Wesley Chu

603

Writing Excuses 10.11: Project In Depth: “Parallel Perspectives”

604

Writing Excuses 10.10: Q&A with the I Ching

605

Writing Excuses 10.9: Where is My Story Coming From?

606

Writing Excuses 10.8: Q&A on Character

607

Writing Excuses 10.7: Who Are All These People?

608

Writing Excuses 10.6: The Worldbuilding Revolves Around Me (“The Magical 1%”)

609

Writing Excuses 10.5: What Do You Mean My Main Character is Boring?

610

Writing Excuses 10.4: Q&A on Ideas

611

2015 Hugo Award Eligibility – SHADOWS BENEATH

612

Writing Excuses 10.3: Lovecraftian Horror

613

Writing Excuses 10.2: I Have an Idea; What Do I Do Now?

614

Writing Excuses 10.1: Seriously, Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

615

Writing Excuses 9.54: Capstone to Season 9

616

Writing Excuses 9.53: Writing For Fun

617

Writing Excuses Season 9.52: From the Page to the Stage

618

Writing Excuses 9.51: Q&A At The Retreat

619

Writing Excuses 9.50: Writing for the Enfranchised Reader

620

Writing Excuses 9.48: Neurobolics of Characters

621

Writing Excuses 9.49: Hiding the Open Grave

622

Writing Excuses 9.47: Conversation With a Bookseller

623

Writing Excuses 9.46: Disability in Narrative

624

Writing Excuses 9.45: Tools for Writing from Oral Storytelling

625

Writing Excuses 9.44: Getting in the Writer’s Mindset with Peter Beagle

626

Writing Excuses 9.43: Writing Mysteries

627

Writing Excuses 9.42: The Convention-Author Relationship, with Deirdre Saoirse Moen

628

Registration is open for the 2015 Out of Excuses Writing Workshop and Retreat

629

Writing Excuses 9.41: Fan Writing, with Christopher J. Garcia

630

Writing Excuses 9.40: Understanding Royalties, with Paul Stevens

631

Writing Excuses 9.39: Publicity for Books

632

Writing Excuses 9.38: Q&A at Westercon

633

9.37: Training A Critique Group, with Kathleen Dalton Woodbury

634

Writing Excuses 9.36: Writing Instruction

635

Writing Excuses 9.35: What to do when you disagree with your editor

636

Writing Excuses 9.34: Science Fiction as Science Education

637

Writing Excuses 9.33: Microcasting

638

Writing Excuses 9.32: Adjusting Character Proactivity

639

Writing Excuses 9.31: Critiquing “An Honest Death”

640

Writing Excuses 9.30: Critiquing A Fire in the Heavens

641

Writing Excuses 9.29: Part 2 of 2, Critiquing Sixth of the Dusk

642

Writing Excuses 9.28: Part 1 of 2, Critiquing Sixth of the Dusk

643

Writing Excuses 9.27: Pre-writing

644

Writing Excuses 9.26: Adjusting Character Competence

645

Writing Excuses 9.25: Adjusting Character Sympathy

646

Writing Excuses 9.24: Side Quests

647

Writing Excuses 9.23: World Building Without Breaking Viewpoint

648

Writing Excuses 9.22: Microcasting

649

Writing Excuses 9.21: Sanderson’s 3rd Law

650

Writing Excuses 9.20: Creator vs Creation

651

Writing Excuses 9.19: Showing Emotion

652

Writing Excuses 9.18: Microcasting

653

Writing Excuses 9.17: Microcasting

654

Writing Excuses 9.16: Coming up with a New Ending Halfway Through

655

Writing Excuses 9.15: Becoming a Writer—Full Disclosure

656

Writing Excuses 9.14: How to have an Opinion as a Public Figure

657

Writing Excuses 9.13: Three Pronged Character Development

658

Writing Excuses 9.12: Microcasting! Twice in a row!

659

Writing Excuses 9.11: Microcasting

660

Writing Excuses 9.10: Engaging Characters

661

Writing Excuses 9.9: What to do When Truth is Stranger than Fiction

662

Writing Excuses 9.8: When is your Handwavium Good Enough?

663

Writing Excuses 9.7: Last Pass Revisions with Eric James Stone

664

Writing Excuses 9.6: The Experience of Time

665

Writing Excuses 9.5: Hijacking the Knowledge You Already Have, with Mette Ivie Harrison

666

Writing Excuses 9.4: Artificial Intelligence with Nancy Fulda

667

Writing Excuses 9.3: Character Perception vs. Narrative Perception with Nancy Fulda

668

Writing Excuses 9.2: Hard Science Fiction with Eric James Stone

669

Writing Excuses 9.1: Chronology of a Book Deal with Eric James Stone

670

Writing Excuses 8.52: You Think You Don’t Have Time to Write, with Mette Ivie Harrison

671

Writing Excuses 8.51: Creative non-fiction with Mette Ivie Harrison

672

Writing Excuses 8.50: Q&A with Mercedes Lackey

673

Writing Excuses 8.49: Hard Social Science Fiction with Joel Shepherd

674

Writing Excuses 8.48: Long-Form Storytelling with Sam Logan

675

Writing Excuses 8.47: Roguishness with Scott Lynch

676

Writing Excuses 8.46: Editing with Aeryn Rudel

677

Writing Excuses 8.45: Gencon Q&A With Wesley Chu

678

Writing Excuses 8.44: Talking Publishing with Tom Doherty

679

Writing Excuses 8.43: Realistic Melee Fighting with Wesley Chu

680

Writing Excuses 8.42: The Internal Heckler vs. The Internal Editor

681

Writing Excuses 8.41: Out of Excuses Retreat Microcasting

682

Writing Excuses 8.40: Publishing with Bill Schafer

683

Writing Excuses 8.39: Dystopian Fiction with Cherie Priest

684

Writing Excuses 8.38:Out of Excuses Retreat Q&A #2

685

Writing Excuses 8.37: When Fail Happens in Your Career

686

Writing Excuses 8.36: Transitioning Characters in Prominence

687

Writing Excuses 8.35: Digging Yourself Out of Holes with Jeph Jacques

688

Writing Excuses 8.34: Survivorship Bias

689

Writing Excuses 8.33: Making Non-Human Characters Relatable

690

Writing Excuses 8.32: Microcasting

691

Writing Excuses 8.31: Combining Dialogue, Blocking, and Description

692

Writing Excuses 8.30: Writing Reluctant Characters

693

Writing Excuses 8.29: Out of Excuses Retreat Q&A #1

694

Writing Excuses 8.28: Your First Contract

695

Writing Excuses 8.27: Chapter Breakdowns

696

Writing Excuses 8.26: Space Opera

697

Writing Excuses 8.25: Middle Grade with E.J. Patten

698

Writing Excuses 8.24: Project in Depth–Kiss Me Twice

699

Writing Excuses 8.23: Microcasting

700

Writing Excuses 8.22: Pre-writing with E.J. Patten

701

Writing Excuses 8.21: What the Avengers did Right

702

Writing Excuses 8.20: The Short Story, with Mary Robinette Kowal

703

Writing Excuses 8.19: Writing and Convention Culture

704

Writing Excuses 8.18: Blocking

705

Writing Excuses 8.17: Microcasting

706

Writing Excuses 8.16: Brainstorming with Brandon Again

707

Writing Excuses 8.15: Narrative Rhythm

708

Writing Excuses 8.14: Brainstorming with Brandon

709

Writing Excuses 8.13: Fake It Till You Make it

710

Writing Excuses 8.12: Project in Depth — Deus ex Nauseum

711

Writing Excuses 8.11: Abnormal Psychology

712

Writing Excuses 8.10: Brainstorming With Howard Again

713

Writing Excuses 8.9: Brainstorming with Howard

714

Writing Excuses 8.8: Writing and Personal Health

715

Writing Excuses 8.7: Cliffhangers and Icebergs with Robison Wells

716

Writing Excuses 8.6: Retellings and Adaptations

717

Writing Excuses 8.5: Breaking the Rules

718

Writing Excuses 8.4: Side-Character Arcs

719

Writing Excuses 8.3: Pets

720

Writing Excuses 8.2: Hero’s Journey

721

Writing Excuses 8.1: Microcasting

722

Writing Excuses 7.54: Four Ways the Industry is Changing

723

Writing Excuses 7.53: Secret History

724

Writing Excuses 7.52: Microcasting

725

Writing Excuses 7.51: Brainstorming with Mary

726

Writing Excuses 7.50: Outlining the Mary Way

727

Writing Excuses 7.49: Beginnings Revisited

728

NaNoWriMo 2012: Bonus Episode 4, with Mary & Brandon

729

Writing Excuses 7.48: Pixar Rules for Writing a Compelling Story

730

NaNoWriMo 2012: Bonus Episode 3, with Howard

731

Writing Excuses 7.47: Raising the Stakes

732

NaNoWriMo 2012: Bonus Mini-Episode 2, with Dan & Rob

733

Writing Excuses 7.46: Project in Depth The Emperor’s Soul

734

NaNoWriMo 2012: Bonus Mini-Episode 1, with Brandon & Mary

735

Writing Excuses 7.45: Microcasting

736

Writing Excuses 7.44: Writing for Comics with Jim Zub

737

Writing Excuses 7.43: Tie-in Fantasy Fiction with James L Sutter

738

Writing Excuses 7.42: Contemporary YA Fiction

739

Writing Excuses 7.41: Seven-Point Story Structure

740

Writing Excuses 7.40: Writing the Other

741

Writing Excuses 7.39: Death

742

Writing Excuses 7.38: Writing Love Scenes

743

Writing Excuses 7.37: Pantsing

744

Writing Excuses 7.35: Brainstorming with Dan

745

Writing Excuses 7.36: Writing Gaming Fiction with Monte Cook

746

Writing Excuses 7.34: How to Start the Next One

747

Writing Excuses 7.33: Authentic Emotion

748

Writing Excuses 7.32: Astronomy 101 for Writers

749

Writing Excuses 7.31: Project in Depth — Hollow City

750

Writing Excuses 7.30: Micocasting…Again!

751

Writing Excuses 7.29: The Villain Problem

752

Writing Excuses 7.28: Project in Depth– Glamour in Glass

753

Writing Excuses 7.27: The Problem of Originality

754

Writing Excuses 7.26: Q&A at UVU part 2

755

Writing Excuses 7.25: Writing Capers

756

Writing Excuses 7.24: Project in Depth — Way of Kings

757

Writing Excuses 7.23: Time Travel

758

Writing Excuses 7.22: Microcasting

759

Writing Excuses 7.21: Project In Depth — Force Multiplication

760

Writing Excuses 7.20: Cathartic Horror

761

Writing Excuses 7.19: Q&A at UVU

762

Writing Excuses 7.18: Discovering your Voice

763

Writing Excuses 7.17: Guns and Fiction

764

Writing Excuses 7.16: Continuing with Mary’s Outline

765

Writing Excuses 7.15: Editing Mary’s Outline

766

Writing Excuses 7.14: Writing Excuses

767

Writing Excuses 7.13: Man Vs. Nature

768

Writing Excuses 7.12: Writing the Omniscient Viewpoint

769

Writing Excuses 7.11: More Microcasting

770

Writing Excuses 7.10: Importance of Criticism, with David Brin

771

Writing Excuses 7.9: Microcasting

772

Writing Excuses 7.8: The City as a Character

773

Writing Excuses 7.7: Historical Fantasy

774

Writing Excuses 7.6: Behind the Marshmallow

775

Writing Excuses 7.5: Sensory Writing

776

Writing Excuses 7.4: Brevity

777

Writing Excuses 7.3: Fauna and Flora

778

Writing Excuses 7.2: World Building Flora and Fauna

779

Writing Excuses 7.1 When Good Characters Go Bad

780

Writing Excuses 6.30: Help! I Can’t End My Book!

781

Writing Excuses 6.29: Character Foils

782

Writing Excuses 6.28: Interstitial Art

783

Writing Excuses 6.27: Fantasy Setting Yard Sale

784

NaNoWriMo Pep-talk from Howard

785

Writing Excuses 6.26: Mystery Plotting

786

NaNoWriMo Pep-Talk from Dan

787

Writing Excuses 6.25: When Characters do Dumb Things

788

NaNoWriMo Pep-Talk from Mary

789

Writing Excuses 6.24: From the Ridiculous to the Sublime

790

NaNoWriMo Pep-Talk from Brandon

791

Writing Excuses 6.23: Pigeon Holes

792

Writing Excuses 6.22: Continuing Education for Writers

793

Writing Excuses 6.21: Brainstorming From Story Seeds

794

Writing Excuses 6.20: Endings

795

Writing Excuses 6.19: Pitching

796

6.18: The Hollywood Formula, with Lou Anders

797

Writing Excuses 6.17: Writing Assistants

798

Writing Excuses 6.16: Gender Roles–Black, White, and Gray

799

Writing Excuses 6.15: Writing Other Cultures

800

Writing Excuses 6.14: Suspension of Disbelief

801

Writing Excuses 6.13: World Building Communications Technology

802

Writing Excuses 6.12: Revising For Description

803

Writing Excuses 6.11: Making Your Descriptions Do More Than One Thing

804

Writing Excuses 6.10: Scott Card’s M.I.C.E. Quotient

805

Writing Excuses 6.9: Microcasting 2 Electric Boogaloo

806

Writing Excuses 6.8: What an Agent Does

807

Writing Excuses 6.7: Brainstorming a Cyberpunk Story

808

Writing Excuses 6.6: Cyberpunk

809

Writing Excuses 6.5: Query Letters

810

Writing Excuses 6.4: Microcasting

811

Writing Excuses 6.3: Professional Organizations

812

Writing Excuses 6.2: Internal Motivations

813

Writing Excuses 6.1: Can Creativity be Taught?

814

Writing Excuses 5.39: Filking and Writing Music with Tom Smith

815

Writing Excuses 5.38: Dialog with John Scalzi

816

Writing Excuses 5.37: Parody and Satire with Jim Hines

817

Writing Excuses 5.36: Non-Traditional Settings with Saladin Ahmed

818

Writing Excuses 5.35: Brainstorming Urban Fantasy

819

Writing Excuses 5.34: Story Bibles

820

Writing Excuses on the 2011 Hugo Ballot

821

Writing Excuses 5.33: Alpha Readers

822

Writing Excuses 5.32: Urban Fantasy

823

Writing Excuses 5.31: Writing Romance

824

Writing Excuses 5.30: Writing Action

825

Writing Excuses 5.29: Rewriting

826

Writing Excuses 5.28: E-publishing

827

Writing Excuses 5.27: Perseverance, with Sherrilyn Kenyon

828

Writing Excuses 5.26: Scared for the Characters

829

Writing Excuses 5.25: Writing in Other People’s Universes

830

Writing Excuses 5.24: The Author’s Responsibility to the Reader

831

Writing Excuses 5.23: Life Day!

832

Writing Excuses 5.22: Film Considerations

833

Writing Excuses 5.21: Alternate History

834

Writing Excuses 5.20: More Dialog Exercises

835

Writing Excuses 5.19: Fulfilling Promises to Your Readers

836

Writing Excuses 5.18: Offending Your Readers

837

Writing Excuses 5.17: Dialog Exercises

838

Writing Excuses 5.16: Critiquing Dan’s First Novel

839

Writing Excuses 5.12: Time Travel!

840

Writing Excuses 5.15: Steampunk with Scott Westerfeld

841

Writing Excuses 5.14: Visual Components of Novels with Scott Westerfeld

842

Writing Excuses 5.13: Writing the Second Book

843

Writing Excuses 5.12: The Secret of Lincoln’s Gold

844

Writing Excuses 5.11: MicroPodcasting 2

845

Writing Excuses 5.10: John Brown and the Creative Process

846

Writing Excuses Bonus Episode! Voting in the Service of a Dark God

847

Writing Excuses 5.9: Character Arcs

848

Writing Excuses 5.8: The Excuses You’re Out Of

849

Writing Excuses 5.7: Avoiding Melodrama

850

Writing Excuses 5.6.01: Flash Fiction

851

Writing Excuses 5.6: MicroPodcasts

852

Writing Excuses 5.5: Writing the Unfamiliar

853

Parsec Acceptance Speech 2010

854

Writing Excuses 5.4: Creating Suspense

855

Writing Excuses 5.3: First Person Viewpoint

856

WE 5.2: Character Quirks

857

WE 5.1: Third Person Limited

858

Writing Excuses 4.34: Q&A at Dragons & Fairy Tales

859

Writing Excuses 4.33: Trunk Novels

860

Writing Excuses 4.32: First Paragraphs

861

Writing Excuses 4.31: Line Editing Dialog

862

Writing Excuses 4.30: Worldbuilding the Future

863

Writing Excuses 4.29: Line Editing

864

Writing Excuses 4.28: Brainstorming The End and Working Backwards

865

Writing Excuses 4.27: Major Overhauls to Broken Stories

866

Writing Excuses 4.26: Avoiding Stilted Dialog

867

Writing Excuses 4.25: Mating Plumage

868

Writing Excuses 4.24: Random Storytelling

869

Writing Excuses 4.23: How to Break In to the Young Adult Market

870

Writing Excuses 4.22: Q&A with L.E. Modesitt, Jr

871

Writing Excuses 4.21: Writing Practical Fantasy

872

Writing Excuses 4.20: Strategies for Getting Published

873

Writing Excuses 4.19: Discovery Writing

874

Writing Excuses 4.18: How to Steal for Fun and Profit

875

Writing Excuses 4.17: Living with the Artist

876

Writing Excuses 4.16: Breaking the Fourth Wall

877

Writing Excuses 4.15: Visual Components of Storytelling

878

Writing Excuses 4.14: Brainstorming Science Ideas

879

Writing Excuses 4.13: Juggling Multiple Viewpoints

880

Writing Excuses 4.12: Writing An Epic

881

Writing Excuses 4.11: Brainstorming From Headlines

882

Writing Excuses 4.10: Writing for Young Adults

883

Writing Excuses 4.9: How to Write Men, with Jessica Day George

884

Writing Excuses 4.8: Working with Editors

885

Writing Excuses 4.7: Q&A with James Dashner

886

Writing Excuses 4.6: Pacing with James Dashner

887

Writing Excuses 4.5: Roleplaying Games as Tools for Story Telling

888

Writing Excuses 4.4: Agents. Do you need one?

889

Writing Excuses 4.3: How to Manage Your Influences

890

Writing Excuses 4.2: Heroism

891

Writing Excuses 4.1: Types of Humor

892

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 32: Collaboration

893

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 31: Tragedy

894

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 29: Antiheroes

895

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 30: Unreliable Narrators

896

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 28: World-Building Gender Roles

897

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 27: Mixing Humor with Drama and Horror

898

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 26: NaNoWriMo

899

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 25: The Business of Writing Comics

900

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 24: Writing Comics with Jake Black

901

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 23: How to Write Without Twists

902

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 22: Idea to Story

903

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 21: Pitfalls of Self Publishing with Larry Correia

904

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 20: Plot- vs. Character-Driven Fiction

905

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 19: Emotion in Fiction with John Brown

906

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 18: How To Not Repeat Yourself

907

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 17: Characters & Worldbuilding Q&A with Mary Robinette Kowal

908

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 16: The Anti-Mary Sue Episode

909

Writing Excuses: Parsec Award Acceptance Speech

910

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 15: Writing Process Q&A, with Mary Robinette Kowal

911

3.14: The Four Principles of Puppetry, with Mary Robinette Kowal

912

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 13: Dialects and In-World Jargon

913

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 12: Subplots

914

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 11: Trimming

915

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 10: The Dos and Don’ts of Attending Cons

916

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 9: Conventions You Should Be Attending

917

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 8: What Star Trek Did Right

918

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 7: Genre Blending

919

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 6: Dramatic Breaks

920

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 5: How to Take Criticism

921

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 3: Stumping Howard at Conduit

922

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 2: Keeping it Real with Aprilynne Pike

923

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 4: Non Linear Story Telling

924

Writing Excuses Season 3 Episode 1: World-Building History

925

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 33: How To Not Be Overwhelmed

926

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 32: The Most Important Thing Dan Learned In The Last Year

927

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 31: The Most Important Thing Brandon Learned In The Last Year

928

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 30: The Most Important Thing Howard Learned In The Last Year

929

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 29: How not to end your book

930

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 28: Applying Critical Reading: “Watchmen”

931

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 27: Reading Critically

932

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 26: How Publishing is Changing in the new Century

933

Writing Excuses Episode 632: Now that we’ve got time travel what do we do with it?

934

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 25: The Seven Deadly Sins of Slush Stories

935

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 24: Writing Habits and Q&A with Tracy Hickman

936

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 23: Avoiding the Cliché with Tracy Hickman

937

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 22: Marketing 201, Branding for Authors

938

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 21: Fight Scenes

939

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 20: Marketing 101 for Creators

940

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 19: Do Creative Writing Classes Help

941

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 18: World Building Governments

942

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 17: Website Marketing for Authors

943

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 16: Non-Human Races

944

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 15: Knowing When To Begin

945

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 14: Writing Habits

946

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 13: Violence

947

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 12: Theme

948

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 11: Talking Publishing and Writing with Dave Wolverton

949

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 10: The Boring Parts

950

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 9: Romance, with Dave Wolverton

951

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 8: The Three Act Structure with Bob Defendi

952

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 7: Using Writing Formulas with Bob Defendi

953

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 6: Endings

954

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 5: Writing Groups

955

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 4:View point, Plot Twists and Being a Part-Time Writer with Eric James Stone

956

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 3: Characters with Brandon Mull

957

Writing Season 2 Episode 2: How to Write for Children with Brandon Mull

958

Writing Excuses Season 2 Bonus Episode 1: Live at the Mistborn 3 Release

959

Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 1: Q&A on Setting and Characters at Mountain Con with John Brown

960

Writing Excuses Episode 35: Voice, Tone and Style

961

Writing Excuses Episode 34: What The Dark Knight Did Right

962

Writing Excuses Episode 33: Side Characters

963

Writing Excuses Episodes 32: Talking Exposition with Patrick Rothfuss

964

Writing Excuses Episode 31: Talking RPG and Game Writing with Steve Jackson

965

Writing Excuses Episode 30: Talking Revision with Moshe Feder

966

Writing Excuses Episode 29: Talking Publishing with Lou Anders

967

Writing Excuses Episode 28: Writing for Webcomics with Phil and Kaja Foglio

968

Writing Excuses Episode 27: World-Building Religion

969

Writing Excuses Episode 26: Horror

970

Writing Excuses Episode 25: Viewpoint and Tense Part 2

971

Writing Excuses Episode 24: Research

972

Writing Excuses Episode 23: Viewpoint

973

Writing Excuses Episode 22: Doing The Unpopular

974

Writing Excuses Episode 21: Humor

975

Writing Excuses Episode 20: More Q&A from Conduit

976

Writing Excuses Episode 19: Plot Twists

977

Writing Excuses Episode 18: Q&A at Conduit

978

Writing Excuses Episode 17: This Sucks and I’m a Horrible Writer

979

Writing Excuses Episode 16: Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard

980

Writing Excuses Episode 15: Costs and Ramifications of Magic

981

Writing Excuses Episode 14: Magic Systems and their Rules

982

Writing Excuses Episode 13: Submitting to Editors Part 2

983

Writing Excuses Episode 12: Submitting to Editors Part 1

984

Writing Excuses Episode 11: The Business of Writing

985

Writing Excuses Episode 10: Pacing

986

Writing Excuses Episode 9: Sci-Fi Sub-Genre

987

Writing Excuses Episode 8: Sci-Fi Genre

988

Writing Excuses Bonus Episode 2: Rules of Writing Excuses

989

Writing Excuses Episode 7: Villains

990

Writing Excuses Episode 6: Flaws vs Handicaps

991

Writing Excuses Bonus Episode 1: Remembering Gary Gygax

992

Writing Excuses Episode 5: Heroes and Protagonists

993

Writing Excuses Episode 4: Beginnings

994

Writing Excuses Episode 3: Killing your Darlings

995

Writing Excuses Episode 2: Blending the Familiar and the Original

996

Writing Excuses Episode 1: Brainstorming