Writing Excuses 21.01: Welcome to the New Year!
21 snips
Jan 4, 2026 The hosts kick off the new season by embracing a fresh approach: 'tools, not rules.' They dive into the shortcomings of prescriptive writing advice and champion personal processes. Discussions range from deconstructing story structures like improvisational jazz to identifying core storytelling principles. Each host shares personal writing intentions and goals, encouraging listeners to reflect on what they want to let go of and embrace in their writing journey. It's an inspiring start to a year of exploration and creativity!
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Tools Over Universal Rules
- Writing advice should be framed as tools you can use, not universal rules to obey.
- Mary Robinette Kowal and DongWon Song emphasize that each writer's methods differ and tools enable adaptation.
Structure As A Toolkit
- Deconstructing structure treats story patterns as a toolkit of interchangeable parts.
- Aaron Roberts compares learning structure to understanding musical or culinary principles before improvising.
Identify Functions, Then Swap Beats
- Analyze familiar plot beats to find the underlying function they serve in a story.
- Use that function to swap or retool beats to better fit your genre, medium, or voice.
