Writing Excuses

Let's talk mystery! Specifically, how do you plot a good mystery? We're not focusing on the mystery genre but many of these principles will apply there. For fantasy and science-fiction work this usual...

28 Nov 201117min

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 (ye...

23 Nov 20111min

Let's face it. The characters in your book will do some dumb things. We're here to help you make sure they do those dumb things for the right reasons. Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about the goo...

21 Nov 201116min

Mary Robinette Kowal finished her first published novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, as a NaNoWriMo project, and she's here to offer some words of encouragement to those of you currently participating i...

17 Nov 20111min

Andrew P. Mayer joins Howard, Mary, and Dan at Dragon*Con 2011. Andrew's has one book out, The Falling Machine, and the second book in this "Society of Steam" series, Hearts of Smoke, comes out on Nov...

14 Nov 201118min

Brandon is here to give you a pep-talk! Good luck, NaNo writers! Our Sponsors: * Check out HomeServe and use my code homeserve.com/excuses for a great deal: https://www.homeserve.com * Check out Mas...

9 Nov 20111min

Jonathan Maberry joins Howard, Dan, and Mary to discuss pigeonholes -- specifically, not ending up in one. Jonathan was enthusiastic to address this subject, which he treats as serious career advice. ...

7 Nov 201117min

Mur Lafferty, the Grand Dame of SF podcasting, joins Howard, Mary, and Dan to talk about ways in which writers can continue their educations. We've said time and again that nothing improves your writi...

31 Okt 201119min