Your Hosts: Dan Wells, C.L. Polk, Charlotte Forfieh, and Mary Robinette Kowal Our third M.I.C.E. Quotient episode asks about the "Inquiry" element, and the ways in which we can use this element to structure our stories—whether we're writing murder mysteries, thrillers, or anything else in which the turning of pages asks and eventually answers questions. Credits: This episode was recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson

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16.37: Deep Dive Into “Inquiry”

Fifteen minutes long, because you&#39;re in a hurry, and we&#39;re not that smart.

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Today, the gang talks about their final thoughts on Martine’s “A Memory Called Empire.” We conclude with some lessons we’ve learned through analyzing her work, and we share our favorite bits!  Thing of the Week: Pasión de las Pasiones Homework: Find a piece of world building that you love and come up with another way to use it in your work in progress.  
 Close Reading Series: Texts & Timeline Next up is Character! Starting July 7, we’ll be diving into three short stories by C.L. Clark. These are all available for free through Uncanny Magazine.  
 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 (starting July 7)  
 And a sneak peak on the rest of the year…  
 Tension: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (starting September 1)  Structure: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (starting October 13)  
 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 


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19.23: Tying It All Together (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)

The imago technology lies at the heart of this novel thematically and narratively. How does this technology create a world, delineate Mahit's culture from Teixcalaan, and ask enormous questions about identity and empire? 
 Thing of the Week: “Rotten” (Documentary Series available on Netflix) 
 Homework: Come up with three technological or magical approaches that would raise questions about what it means to be you, to be an individual. Take one of these, and then write a scene wherein two characters argue about it.  
 For those of you just joining us, here's what our close reading series has covered, and what lays ahead!  Close Reading Series: Texts & Timeline Voice: This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar (March 17)  Worldbuilding: A Memory Called Empire by 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 Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (September 1)  Structure: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (October 13)  
 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 


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19.22: Technology and Identity (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)

What cultural and worldbuilding information is embedded within the smallest of word choices? Today, we dive into three specific sections from throughout Martine’s “A Memory Called Empire”:  the word for empire, assimilation and naming, and learning the word for bomb. We unpack how Martine uses language to establish important principles of how the world works.  
 Thing of the Week:  The Gilded Age - Created and Written by Julian Fellowes  Julian Fellows (on HBO Max)  
 Homework: Write a scene that describes a fictional piece of literature— whether that's a poem, a song, or a story— that means something to the people in the story you’re telling.  
 Here’s a link to buy your copy of “A Memory Called Empire” if you haven’t already: https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19 
 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 


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19.21: Language as a Tool (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding)

How do you use language and scale to focus your writing? Today, we think about scale and movement across vast spaces. What do characters’ movements tell us about empires and also—force? We talk about Martine’s incredible work establishing an empire across time, not (just) space. We read aloud some of Martine’s writing, and try to understand exactly how they work, and what they’re doing to build the novel’s world.  
 A refresher on why Worldbuilding is essential and some working definitions of how we want to talk about it. After the break, we discuss why we chose this book and highlight what it does well. As always in our close reading series, we distill each text’s elements into approachable steps for you to take in your own writing.  
 Thing of the Week:  Softboiled eggs in an instant pot: 1.5 cups of fridge-cold water. Add 2-6 eggs onto the little trey. Pressure cook for low on one minute, and then release the pressure after 90 seconds. Remove the eggs (use tongs!), and put them in a bowl of fridge-cold water for one minute. Now, try them! If thye’re too runny, then for your next bath, increase your wait time for pressure release by 5 seconds. If they’re too firm, reduce the wait time by five seconds. That one variable: how long you wait before releasing pressure, is the only one you need to worry about. (Does this resonate with our study of worldbuilding? Maybe? DM us on Instagram and tell us what the metaphor or analogy is for you! @writing_excuses )  
 Homework: Take one of your works in progress, and write three paragraphs, each describing a different kind of scale:  1. A scale of time 2. A scale of place/ space 3. Emotional scale (fear, joy, ambition, sadness) 
 Here’s a link to buy your copy of “A Memory Called Empire” if you haven’t already: https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19 
 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 


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19.20: How to Make Worlds Feel Big Without Overwhelming the Reader (A Close Reading on Worldbuilding: Focusing on Scale)

Why is worldbuilding is essential in your writing? Today, we answer this question and dive into some working definitions of how we want to talk about it. After the break, we discuss why we chose this book Arkady Martine’s “A Memory Called Empire” and highlight what it does well. We dive into the elements that help make Martine’s worldbuilding so accessible and effective.  
 Thing of the Week:  “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman (think about what it teaches you about POV!) 
 Homework:  Pick your favorite fictional worlds and for each write down three defining attributes that establish culture, legal systems, and physical spaces. 
 Here’s a link to buy your copy of “A Memory Called Empire” if you haven’t already: https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19 
 
 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:
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16.37: Deep Dive Into “Inquiry”

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