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Writing Excuses

Writing Excuses

Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler

Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.

1591 - 19:12: A Close Reading on Voice - Red's Perspective - Muscular Prose
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  • 1591 - 19:12: A Close Reading on Voice - Red's Perspective - Muscular Prose

    Today, we are doing averyclose read of Red's opening narration and how Red’s voice communicates both character and world in an effective and efficient way. We read several sections aloud and dive into what each sensory detail is doing. Also Mary Robinette talks about what she thinks is the most effective way to draw your readers attention to something. 

    Thing of the Week:Planet Crafter 

    Homework: Take a sentence from your work in progress and rewrite it to adjust the age of the character to make them a child. Do it again to make them from a different region. And again to give them a different profession.

    Sign up for our newsletter: 

    https://writingexcuses.com

    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community! 

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    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out undefined and use my code WX for a great deal: undefined


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

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    Sun, 24 Mar 2024
  • 1590 - 19.11: A Close Reading on Voice- An Overview, and Why Time War

    The book that became a New York Times Bestseller because of a tweet. Well, it won LOTS of awards when it came out, but it was rediscovered by a Twitter account with a large following. So-- let's get into it!

    On our first episode diving into Voice using the short novel "This Is How You Lose The Time War", we talk about why Voice is essential and some working definitions of how we want to talk about it. We also explain why we chose this book and highlight some of the things it's done well, and what you can learn from it!

    Thing of the Week:Scavengers Reign

    Homework: Take a sentence from a work you love that has a strong and clear voice. Write a scene based on that as a prompt, in the same tone and voice as the original.

    Sign up for our newsletter: 

    https://writingexcuses.com

    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community! 

    Patreon

    Instagram

    YouTube

    Facebook

    Twitter



    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out undefined and use my code WX for a great deal: undefined


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

    Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
    Sun, 17 Mar 2024
  • 1589 - 19.10: Introducing Our Close Readings Series

    You’ve probably seen us posting about our Close Reading Series, and in his episode, we finally officially introduce it! 

    For most of the remainder of 2024, we’ll be diving into five core elements of writing by focusing on five different literary texts. We’ll spend five episodes on each one, and then we’re going to… drumroll please… interview the author(s)!

    As you know, we’ve spent lots of time reading, writing, talking, and recording our thoughts about different elements of the craft. But this year, we wanted to ground our episodes in specific texts that you could read along– and analyze– with us!

    Below is the schedule for each book or short story we’ll be diving into. The date on the right in parenthesis is the air date of the first episode in our series that will begin talking about that text. We highly recommend you read the book by that date, as we will be talking about the entirety of the text for all 5 episodes (including spoilers!) 

    First up: This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar

    You can buy this (and all the other books!) through our bookshop link-- this is linked in our bio in addition to right here:

    https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19


    Close Reading Series: Texts & Timeline

    Voice:This is How You Lose the Time Warby Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar (March 17) 

    Worldbuilding:A Memory Called Empireby Arkady Martine (May 12) 

    Character: “You Perfect, Broken Thing,” “The Cook,” and “Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home” by CL Clark (July 7) 

    Tension:Ring ShoutbyP. Djèlí Clark (September 1) 

    Structure:The Fifth Seasonby N.K. Jemisin (October 13) 


    Thing of the Week:SHINOBIGAMI: Modern Ninja Battle RPG

    Homework: Take a scene from a work that you love and five highlighters/crayons/colored pencils - use one color to underline/highlight places where the voice comes through, one for great worldbuilding, one for character moments, one for any moments of tension, and one for moments that move the plot forward. What colors do you end up with? Where do they overlap? What are the colors of the moments you love the most? What would the colors of one of your scenes be?

    Sign up for our newsletter: 

    https://writingexcuses.com

    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community! 

    Patreon

    Instagram

    YouTube

    Facebook

    Twitter




    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out undefined and use my code WX for a great deal: undefined


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

    Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
    Sun, 10 Mar 2024
  • 1588 - 19.09: LIVE Recording - Rituals, Rites, and Traditions

    Hosts Erin and DongWon are joined by Fonda Lee and Mahtab Narsimhan for a special episode about creating traditions in your fictional writing. In this episode, we'll explore some of the following: 

    -How do you build traditions and rituals in your fictional world (choosing what becomes a tradition or ritual and what doesn’t)? 


    -How can you use rituals or traditions to advance a novel’s plot, give characters more depth, and create conflict? 


    -What are the pitfalls to avoid (depiction of closed practices, over-ritualizing common traditions)?


    Homework

    Pick a ritual or tradition that you are very accustomed to and make it the center of a fictional scene. You can change its meaning or impact, but the content of the tradition should stay the same.


    Thing of the Week: 

    Shanghai Immortal by AY Chao (especially the audiobook version)


    Liner Notes: 

    This podcast episode idea was inspired by ReaderCon 2023, where Erin Roberts was a panelist.


    Sign up for our newsletter: 

    https://writingexcuses.com

    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Fonda Lee and Mahtab Narsimhan. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community! 

    Patreon

    Instagram

    YouTube

    Facebook

    Twitter



    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out undefined and use my code WX for a great deal: undefined


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

    Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
    Sun, 03 Mar 2024
  • 1587 - 19.08: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Working with an Editor

    An agent, an editor, and a writer walk into a Zoom room and record a podcast... but really... that's (part of) what this episode is!

    First off, a reminder that your agent, your editor, and you are all on the same team! They are all trying to make the same book (your book!) a better book. Whether you've published before or are just starting your first short story, we are so excited for you to dive into this episode.

    For our final episode in our three-part series on revising your NaNoWriMo manuscript—or any other large writing project—we are diving into how to work with an editor! We wanted to show you a peek behind the curtain that is publishing and editing-- what does this relationship look like? How do you handle differences, conflicts, and priorities? What IS an edit letter?

    Our guest for this series has been the inimitable editor Ali Fisher, who works at Tor. Thank you, Ali, for your advice, stories, and time!

    Homework:

    Take a work written by someone else (anyone else!) and come up with three questions you have for the author that would help them clarify their intention in the text.

    This could be a movie you've seen, a project you're beta-reading for a friend, or a short story you've stumbled upon.

    Then, apply these questions to your own work in progress!

    Thing of the Week from Ali: 

    Ali has two podcast recommendations for you!

    Rude Tales of Magic

    Oh These, Those Stars of Space!


    Sign up for our newsletter: 

    https://writingexcuses.com

    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Ali Fisher. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community! 

    Patreon

    Instagram

    YouTube

    Facebook

    Twitter




    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out undefined and use my code WX for a great deal: undefined


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

    Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
    Sun, 25 Feb 2024
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