Writing Excuses

Brandon, Dan, and Howard discuss avoiding unnecessary offense as writers.

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Brandon, Dan, and Howard critique some tagless dialog submissions.

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Late last season we took a look at Brandon's first novel and did some line-editing and critiquing. It was so much fun we decided that Dan needed to take a turn in the dunking booth. He totally gets wet. In the course of dunking Dan we cover beginnings, descriptions, character development, pacing, and viewpoint as we tear into the first couple of pages of this novel. Brandon and Howard argue a bit over stylistic approaches, and of course Dan doesn't get a say in things because he drowned. (Note: Dan does get a say in things, but mostly because he is not defending his old work at all.) Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: I Shall Wear Midnight, by Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs Writing Prompt: Take an idiomatic expression and make it literal (not as a pun.) For instance, "the crack of dawn" as an actual crack in the sky through which dawn's light shines. Word That Is Not A Word But Totally Should Be: Discontiguity: [dis-kon-ti-gyoo-i-tee] - noun. A break in a series of things in continuous connection. A severance of contact. Word That Isn't In The Book, But Brandon Totally Put It There: Scrumptiously. This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by Audible. Visit http://AudiblePodcast.com/excuse for a free trial membership*. *Note: From the Audible website, here are the terms of the free membership. Read the fine print, please! Audible® Free Trial Details Get your first 14 days of the AudibleListener® Gold membership plan free, which includes one audiobook credit. After your 14 day trial, your membership will renew each month for just $14.95 per month so you can continue to receive one audiobook credit per month plus members-only discounts on all audio purchases. A very small number of titles are more than one credit. Cancel your membership before your free trial period is up and you will not be charged. Thereafter, cancel anytime, effective the next billing cycle. Any unused audiobook credits will be lost at cancellation.

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Brandon, Dan, and Howard each offer sage advice to their earlier selves.

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Scott Westerfeld joins Brandon and Howard for a discussion of Steampunk.

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Scott Westerfeld joins Brandon and Howard for a discussion of the visual components of novels.

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John Brown joins Brandon, Dan, and Howard for a discussion of second novels, sequels, and the trick to doing it again.

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We sta ... ...ising but inev... ... pendently wealthy, tha... [NO CARRIER]

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Brandon, Dan, and Howard field questions about doing bad things to characters, soliciting feedback, creature design, and outlining.

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The now cancer-free John Brown joins us again, this time for a discussion of the creative process. John has presented a seminar on this subject in the past, the focus of which is to teach people to unlock their creativity. At the core of this is the problem-solving we all engage in at some point. You have a problem, so you sit down and try to solve it. BAM. Creativity. With John's help we set out to de-mystify creativity, showing how everybody has to be creative on a regular basis, and how this skill set can be broadened through certain types of behavior, and immersion in particular domains. We explore strategies for developing what feels like a good idea, tactics for getting un-stuck when we're bogged down, and finally figuring out when we're done. Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold, read by Marguerite Gavin Writing Prompt: A person gets surgery so in order to imitate He Who Never Sleeps... This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by Audible. Visit http://AudiblePodcast.com/excuse for a free trial membership*. *Note: From the Audible website, here are the terms of the free membership. Read the fine print, please! Audible® Free Trial Details Get your first 14 days of the AudibleListener® Gold membership plan free, which includes one audiobook credit. After your 14 day trial, your membership will renew each month for just $14.95 per month so you can continue to receive one audiobook credit per month plus members-only discounts on all audio purchases. A very small number of titles are more than one credit. Cancel your membership before your free trial period is up and you will not be charged. Thereafter, cancel anytime, effective the next billing cycle. Any unused audiobook credits will be lost at cancellation.

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