Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.
John Brown joins us this week for a discussion of plot threads specific to characters. These can be the main plot thread, interesting sub-plots, or just things that shape characters. Sometimes they’re things we do deliberately, and sometimes we discovery-write our way into these arcs. We talk about how we…
Brandon, Dan, and Howard discuss “Write what you DON’T know.”
Suspense! What is it? What isn’t it? What is the relationship between suspense and mystery, and for that matter horror, humor, and adventure? This ‘cast is chock full of pithy quotes, useful advice, and anecdotal examples.
Bree Despain joins Brandon, Dan, and Howard for a discussion of writing in the 1st-person
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…
The last of our three recorded-live episodes is also the last episode of Writing Excuses Season 4. We took questions from the audience, and answered them with ABSOLUTE APLOMB. Questions asked include: How did we, as beginning writers, manage to write while holding down day-jobs and/or going to school? What…
Brandon, Dan, and Howard start at the ending and work their way backwards for your enjoyment.
James Dashner and Julie Wright join Brandon and Dan at CONduit in Salt Lake City, and may end up wishing they hadn’t. Brandon throws sets of story concepts at the crew, and asks them to quickly frame serious stories with a solid settings and cool characters. The first set of…
Some new strategies for getting yourself published. Obviously we guarantee exactly none of them.
Sandra Tayler, Dawn Wells, and Kenny Pike take over the ‘cast with some coaching from Dan (and heckling from Howard) to talk about what it’s like to live with an artist. We cover the ups and the downs, and share embarrassing anecdotes because we know you want to hear them,…
