Writing Excuses

Mary, Dan, and Howard help Brandon brainstorm a story, this time featuring psychic birds.

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We begin with an audio glitch and a jumbling of our usual intro. Why? Because it breaks rhythm, and sometimes you may actually want to do that. Narrative rhythm is the pattern of story elements and associated structures that help drive the reader's pace through a book. Consciously managed, narrative rhythm is a a critical pacing tool, but can also be used to point up important information, increase the impact of certain scenes, and even encourage the reader to take a breather. We talk about examples from film (it's not the same thing, but it's easy to make the point this way), as well as examples from our own work. Scenes and sequels, chapter breaks, cliffhangers, and more all come in to play here. And of course you, fair listener, want to know how to manage narrative rhythm, and we cover some tips and tricks for that, too. 

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Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard brainstorm a science-fiction short story featuring artificial intelligence

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Mary, Howard, Dan, and Brandon talk about the things we do to feel like professionals.

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The cast grills Howard about "Deus ex Nauseum," the bonus story from Emperor Pius Dei

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Robison Wells discusses writing mentally ill characters with Brandon, Mary, and Dan.

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Howard brainstorms with Brandon, Mary, and Dan on a Schlock Mercenary bonus story.

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The team helps Howard brainstorm a story about big Pharma and Death...

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Robison Wells joins Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard to talk about health -- especially the mental kind.

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Robison Wells joins the 'cast to talk to us about cliffhangers.

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