Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.
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 taught for her Patreon, Mary Robinette breaks down how these elements shape a reader’s emotional experience—and why they deserve as much attention as plot or…
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 immediately understand its category, vibe, and why it matters? They break pitching into two parts—content (what you say) and presentation (how you say…
Dan shares his experience of rebuilding and reinventing his writing career from his section of our forthcoming book Now Go Write. Our hosts walk through practical ways that writers can diversify their work— from writing for RPGs and video games to writing in a new genre like middle grade or nonfiction —…
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. With DongWon and Mary Robinette, Erin explores the classic advice to “show, don’t tell,” and the debate over whether magic needs a system. We…
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 newsletter!) Erin explores four classic writing “rules,” when it’s worth breaking them, and what that can reveal about your own craft. Today, our hosts…
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 our newsletter to learn when our book is coming out! So, for our next few episodes, we’ll have each host share one of the topics that they have written…
Erin and Howard sat down with paleontologist Dr. Tara Lepore for a fascinating dive into the science—and storytelling potential—of deep time. Dr. Lepore explains why paleontology is about far more than dinosaurs and how mammal teeth can reveal “birth certificates” millions of years old. We hope you come away with…
Erin describes her own writing process as “a bunch of random practices thrown into a bag and shaken up.” And maybe this approach reminds you of your own writing practice! Nevertheless, for today’s episode, Erin managed to organize her processes into four categories: getting work, getting in, getting done, getting…
We’re continuing our episodes focusing on our hosts’ personal writing practices. Like Mary Robinette’s. DongWon’s involves a bit of… chaos. DongWon’s day job as a literary agent is demanding and unpredictable, so they often have to fit in their writing process into their free time. They are also often collaborating…
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 one that works for you. So, we’re going to let each of our hosts spend an episode explaining their own…
