Writing Excuses

Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about plotting a good mystery, especially as part of a non-mystery-genre book.

This your third week of NaNoWriMo, and Dan's here to tell you your wordcount should be at around 38,000. He also tells us how NaNoWriMo helped him write faster and keep to a schedule, and that you (yes YOU) are awesome.

Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about making characters do dumb things for smart reasons.

Mary Robinette Kowal offers encouragement to the 2011 NaNoWriMo crowd.

Andrew P. Mayer joins Howard, Mary, and Dan to talk about taking silly ideas and making seriously awesome stuff out of them.

Brandon Sanderson offers a quick pep-talk for NaNoWriMo participants.

Jonathan Maberry joins Howard, Dan, and Mary to discuss pigeonholes -- specifically, not ending up in one.

Mur Lafferty joins Howard, Mary, and Dan to talk about ways in which writers can continue their education.

Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard each crank out the beginnings of a story from the same set of story seeds.

Lou Anders joins Dan, Howard, and Mary for a discussion of endings.

Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about pitching -- a critical skill for new and established authors alike.

Lou Anders joins Mary, Dan, and Howard at Dragon*Con for a discussion of the Hollywood Formula.

Peter Ahlstrom, assistant to Brandon Sanderson, and Valerie Dowbenko, assistant to Pat Rothfuss, join Brandon and Dan to talk about what they do for "their authors."

Keffy Kehrli joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard at WorldCon 69 for a discussion of gender roles, gender identity, and transsexualism with the objective of being able to write these things believably and accurately.

Lauren Beukes joins the 'cast for a discussion of writing cultures that you're not personally a part of.

Patrick Rothfuss joins the crew at WorldCon 69 for a discussion of how to get readers to suspend their disbelief.

Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary discuss communications technology, and how the ability for characters to communicate is a critical piece of your world-building, whether you're writing science-fiction, fantasy, or pretty much anything else.

"The wind rushed across his skin at several hundred miles per second, and registered as an itch." Brandon, Dan, and Mary tear into Howard's two-decade-old manuscript with an eye towards descriptions.

Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard approach writing descriptions from several different angles and at least five disciplines in order to help you get more done with less purple.

Mary walks Brandon, Dan, and Howard through the Milieu, Idea, Character, and Event (M.I.C.E.) quotient from Orson Scott Card, and then they retell the Billy Goats Gruff four times.