Writing Excuses

Your Hosts: Dan, Mahtab, Howard, and Brandon We've talked about deliberately making our readers uncomfortable. In this episode we discuss writing things that make us uncomfortable. Maybe it's writing strong language, or sex scenes. Perhaps it's a personal narrative that is painful to relive. Whatever it might be, as writers we need to prepare ourselves to embrace that pain, soak up that discomfort, and put the words on the page. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, and mastered by Alex Jackson Liner Notes: "No, I'm Fine." by Howard Tayler Video Link for this episode, and two other episodesOur Sponsors:* Check out Aeropress and use my code WX for a great deal: https://aeropress.com* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/WXSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Piper, and Howard, with Cory Doctorow Worldbuilding is something you do to some degree in everything you write. Cory Doctorow writes (among many other things) near-future SF, and he joins us for a discussion of extrapolative worldbuilding. Credits: This episode was recorded by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex JacksonOur Sponsors:* Check out Aeropress and use my code WX for a great deal: https://aeropress.com* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/WXSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Your Hosts: Dan, Piper, and Tempest, with special guest Yang Yang Wang Yang Yang Wang, an author, actor, and director (among many other things) joins us for a discussion of language, food, and a whole raft of other cultural elements critical to crafting Chinese-American characters. Credits: this episode was recorded by Ross Smith and mastered by Alex JacksonOur Sponsors:* Check out Aeropress and use my code WX for a great deal: https://aeropress.com* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/WXSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Join Dan, Mary Robinette, Howard, and Patrick Rothfuss as they discuss creating timeless urban fantasy and compelling secondary world fantasy without complex magic systems. They explore the art of crafting immersive worlds, character development, and the impact of world changes in fantasy writing.

Your Hosts: Dan, DongWon, Mary Robinette, and Howard What do you do when some of the key foundations of your authorial (or otherwise creative) livelihood are kicked away? How do you go about repairing, rebuilding, or rebooting your career? Credits: This episode was recorded by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex Jackson Our Sponsors:* Check out Aeropress and use my code WX for a great deal: https://aeropress.com* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/WXSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Your Hosts: Brandon, Dan, Mary Robinette, and Howard, with special guest Bruce D Richardson Bruce D Richardson, who is often credited as BDR, or BD Richardson, is a voice-over actor and audiobook narrator. He joins us for a discussion of reading out loud for an audience, including some mic techniques and best practices for recording. Liner Notes: https://www.accenthelp.com/ "I never said she stole my money."Our Sponsors:* Check out Aeropress and use my code WX for a great deal: https://aeropress.com* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/WXSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard How do you decide what sort of event ends your story? How do you set the scale and the stakes for that event? And once you've made these decisions, how do you set about writing the best possible ending? Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson, and mastered by Alex JacksonOur Sponsors:* Check out Aeropress and use my code WX for a great deal: https://aeropress.com* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/WXSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Piper, and Howard, with special guest Cory Doctorow In journalism, that three-character string in our episode title means "Fact Check." Those three characters are a great way to drop a note to yourself, reminding you to get some answers later. In this episode Cory joins us to discuss when we drop FCK into our works, and how we go about removing it later. Credits: This episode was recorded at sea by Bert Grimm, and mastered by Alex JacksonOur Sponsors:* Check out Aeropress and use my code WX for a great deal: https://aeropress.com* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/WXSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Your Hosts: Piper, Dan, and Tempest, with special guests Nisi Shawl and Silvia Moreno-Garcia Writing stories which feature people who are not like you is, in a word, difficult. In another word? Fraught. But good writers do difficult things, and in this episode Nisi Shawl and Silvia Moreno-Garcia join us to discuss how research can make "writing the other" less difficult, and perhaps even less fraught. Credits: This episode was recorded by Ross Smith, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Our Sponsors:* Check out Aeropress and use my code WX for a great deal: https://aeropress.com* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/WXSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, and Lari, with guest Alex Shvartsman Translation is fantastically complex. In this episode Lari and Alex help us navigate those complexities, both from the standpoint of the translator, and from the standpoint of the author seeking to have their work translated. Credits: This episode was mastered by Alex JacksonOur Sponsors:* Check out Aeropress and use my code WX for a great deal: https://aeropress.com* Check out Gusto: https://gusto.com/WX* Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/WXSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy