19.30: A Close Reading on Character: Agency vs. Choices
Writing Excuses28 Heinä 2024

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 the character. We use Mary Robinette’s talking cat, try-fail cycles, and C.L. Clark’s Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home in order to examine this theory and its underpinnings.


Thing of the Week: Marginalia by Mary Robinette Kowal (Uncanny Magazine)


Homework: Create a scene in which your character has very little agency, but still must make a choice. Do your best to make that choice still feel critical.


Liner Notes:

Fluent pet buttons - Elsie the talking cat

“We Are the Mountain: A Look at the Inactive Protagonist” by Vida Cruz


Sign up for our newsletter:

https://writingexcuses.com

Credits: Your hosts for this episode were DongWon Song and Erin Roberts. Our guest was Arkady Martine. 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 HomeServe and use my code homeserve.com/excuses for a great deal: https://www.homeserve.com
* Check out HomeServe and use my code homeserve.com/excuses for a great deal: https://www.homeserve.com
* Check out MasterClass and use my code masterclass.com/EXCUSES for a great deal: https://MasterClass.com
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code Talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com


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

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

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(995)

21.26: Setting the Pace

21.26: Setting the Pace

Our hosts explore the many tools writers can use to control pacing. We discuss how cadence, transitions, tone, sentence structure, and white space can all speed up or slow down a reader’s experience. ...

28 Kesä 24min

21.25: Follow the Bouncing Ball

21.25: Follow the Bouncing Ball

In this episode, our hosts explore how writers control their readers’ attention with the metaphor of a bouncing ball. We break down techniques for guiding focus on the page, including POV choice, sele...

21 Kesä 25min

21.24: Deconstructing the Seven Point Plot Structure

21.24: Deconstructing the Seven Point Plot Structure

Dan Wells joins our conversation as we break down the seven-point plot structure! Using examples from Star Wars, Toy Story, and other films, we discuss how each point creates conflict, drives characte...

14 Kesä 35min

21.23: Barrier Breaking: Interruptions

21.23: Barrier Breaking: Interruptions

In this episode, our hosts explore one of the most persistent barriers to writing: interruptions. From family members and pets to emails, meetings, fatigue, and neurodivergence, they discuss how disru...

7 Kesä 29min

21.22: The Order of the Telling

21.22: The Order of the Telling

*Time-Sensitive* Our final WXR cruise is almost sold out, grab your spot before June 4th, 2026 here! This week, we are talking about the order in which we present information to the reader as contra...

31 Touko 27min

21.21: Rhythm and Words

21.21: Rhythm and Words

*Time-Sensitive* Our final WXR cruise is almost sold out, grab your spot before June 4th, 2026 here! Today, we’re continuing the conversation on sequencing by focusing on rhythm—how the musicality o...

24 Touko 23min

21.20: Sequencing from Mega to Micro

21.20: Sequencing from Mega to Micro

Today, we explore why writers place information in the order they do. From broad-to-narrow framing and cause-and-effect to repetition, rhythm, and surprise, we discuss how sequencing shapes the pacing...

17 Touko 33min

21.19: Getting Everything Connected

21.19: Getting Everything Connected

Today, our hosts discuss how to make every part of your story feel connected through causal chains, thematic resonance, and reader pattern recognition. We take the idea that each action in a story sho...

10 Touko 24min

Suosittua kategoriassa Liike-elämä ja talous

sijotuskasti
psykopodiaa-podcast
rss-oivalluksia-rahasta-elamasta
mimmit-sijoittaa
rss-rahapodi
rahapuhetta
rss-karon-grilli
ostan-asuntoja-podcast
asuntoasiaa-paivakirjat
inderespodi
oppimisen-psykologia
rss-inderes
herrasmieshakkerit
rss-sami-miettinen-neuvottelija
hyva-paha-johtaminen
rss-rahamania
rss-porssipuhetta
rss-bisnesta-bebeja
rss-myynti-ei-ole-kirosana
rss-talouden-jaljilla