Writing Excuses

The Writing Excuses Crew fields questions about crossed genres, literary fiction, magical realism, and more.

Mary, Dan, and Howard help Brandon brainstorm a story, this time featuring psychic birds.

We begin with an audio glitch and a jumbling of our usual intro. Why? Because it breaks rhythm, and sometimes you may actually want to do that. Narrative rhythm is the pattern of story elements and associated structures that help drive the reader's pace through a book. Consciously managed, narrative rhythm is a a critical pacing tool, but can also be used to point up important information, increase the impact of certain scenes, and even encourage the reader to take a breather. We talk about examples from film (it's not the same thing, but it's easy to make the point this way), as well as examples from our own work. Scenes and sequels, chapter breaks, cliffhangers, and more all come in to play here.  And of course you, fair listener, want to know how to manage narrative rhythm, and we cover some tips and tricks for that, too. 

Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard brainstorm a science-fiction short story featuring artificial intelligence

Mary, Howard, Dan, and Brandon talk about the things we do to feel like professionals.

The cast grills Howard about "Deus ex Nauseum," the bonus story from Emperor Pius Dei

Robison Wells discusses writing mentally ill characters with Brandon, Mary, and Dan.

Howard brainstorms with Brandon, Mary, and Dan on a Schlock Mercenary bonus story.

The team helps Howard brainstorm a story about big Pharma and Death...

Robison Wells joins Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard to talk about health -- especially the mental kind.

Robison Wells joins the 'cast to talk to us about cliffhangers.

Why would you retell a story that has already been told? Now, how would you go about doing it well?

They're not rules, they're guidelines. Right? Let's talk about breaking "rules" of writing.

Do you need arcs and development for side-characters?

How do you give a personality to the animal or animals in your story? How do you do it without being a crazy cat lady?

Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about the Hero's Journey. Finally.

We're back for the New Year, and we start by answering all your questions. Or at least eight of them.

Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard each take a look at some changing aspect of the industry, and how they're reacting to that change.

How is "Men in Black" like "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?" This week on Writing Excuses we talk about Secret History, and how to do it well.

A fast-paced Q&A covering discouragement, magic systems, ideas, and our embarrassing early projects.