Writing Excuses

Hosted ByBrandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells & Howard Tayler

Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Daniel Wells discuss writing techniques in a fast-paced, 15-minute format.


All Episodes

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

Today, we’re talking about the tension that is actually happening on the page, and the contextual tension is what the reader is bringing to the table. Ring Shout lives...

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

Compared to This is How You Lose The Time War, which we read earlier this year, Ring Shout deals with a very real world. This discordance, where authors make...

19.34: Grants and Fellowships

Today we have a wildcard episode for you! We are talking about all the different ways you can sustain your writing career. Our host, Erin Roberts, has done an...

19.33: Workshops and Retreats

Today we’re taking a break from our Close Reading Series to discuss writing workshops and retreats! We dive into how to find and prepare to attend a workshop or...

19.32: An Interview on Character with CL Clark

We sat down with CL Clark to talk about character—specifically, how they build different POV characters in the compressed space of a short story. We dive into plot processing...

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

Today, we’re taking a higher view on the techniques we’ve been talking about over the last four episodes and focusing on how you can use our takeaways in your...

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

We have a theory that we want to work through on today’s episode: agency is the ability to take action, whereas choices are more about the interior life of...

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

Our episode today focuses on C.L. Clark’s short story “You Perfect Broken Thing” for how the character’s stakes shape the barriers facing her. We use this story to examine...

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

Today, we’re focusing on C.L. Clark’s  “The Cook,” as we explore external and internal expression. We chose this story because it’s a remarkably physical and touchable story with myriad...

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