Writing Excuses

Erin and Howard sat down with paleontologist Dr. Tara Lepore for a fascinating dive into the science—and storytelling potential—of deep time. Dr. Lepore explains why paleontology is about far more than dinosaurs and how mammal teeth can reveal “birth certificates” millions of years old. We hope you come away with new ways to think about science as story—and how to weave the vastness of deep time i...

Erin describes her own writing process as, “a bunch of random practices thrown into a bag and shaken up." Nevertheless, for today’s episode, Erin managed to organize her processes into four categories: getting work, getting in, getting done, getting right. Listen as Erin gives us tips and tricks for freelancing, deadlines, and saying no. Homework: Write down all the tips and tricks you’ve lear...

We’re continuing our episodes focusing on our hosts’ personal writing practices. Like Mary Robinette’s. DongWon’s involves a bit of… chaos.  DongWon’s day job as a literary agent is demanding and unpredictable, so they often have to fit in their writing process into their free time. They are also often collaborating with other authors and friends (often writing for games)—so how does all of this i...

A lot of people ask published authors what their writing process is like, as if it is a key to being able to write. The only important process is the one that works for you.  So, we’re going to let each of our hosts spend an episode explaining their own personal process. Our idea is that the best writing process is the one that works for you. Also, this is going to change over the course of your l...

Today our hosts tell you why you don’t need to listen to all of our episodes—or even most of them. Each of our five hosts weighs in on how you can combine the topics, subtopics, and lenses that each episode features in order to create a structured path forward for your own writing journey.  We start with a broad overview of this season’s structure. Why did we use the simple categories that most of...

We had the absolute joy of sitting down with Charlie Jane Anders , the author of the book we’ve focused on for our last four episodes (All the Birds in the Sky). We talked with Anders about POV, tone, and how she played around with humor —partly by occasionally using an omniscient POV! Anders also explained how to incorporate humor and whimsy, and what it feels like to take risks as an author in t...

This is our final episode before we have Charlie Jane Anders on the podcast to talk about her writing process next week! Today we’re talking about intention by analyzing thematics, the author’s intent, and the way Anders uses tone and tradition to express the core ideas of the book. We also dive into the friction created in the two opposing viewpoints of the world that Anders presents. On one side...

If you still want to read All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, you can purchase it here! We are looking today at the lens of when . But we’re not going to look at time periods—instead, we’re going to examine flashbacks and foreshadowing. “All the Birds in the Sky” takes place in four distinct times. For instance, one of the characters foreshadows a grim future for the children we’ve ju...

If you still want to read All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, you can purchase it here! Today we’re talking about places and place-moments. We’re looking at how Anders uses context, details, and relationships to create a deep, familiar, and authentic reading experience for us, even if we’ve never been to the locations in the story. In this episode we’re  also analyzing how Anders crea...

Last season we took different works to represent different concepts. But this season, we’re looking at a single work— All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders . So, for the next five episodes, we’re going to look at how Anders’ novel is deploying all of the lenses we’ve talked about this season—who, where, why, and when. And for our fifth episode, we’ll have Anders on the podcast to talk ab...

Throughout this season, we have been doing a series of episodes that feature different metaphors for writing. Today, we’re talking about raising children and what it can teach us about our own writing practice. It’s common knowledge that parents want their children to grow up to be happy and successful. But the real joy in raising children, Dan and Howard tell us, is watching them express their in...

Téa Obreht is a short story writer and novelist. Her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife , won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction, and was a 2011 National Book Award finalist and an international bestseller.  In our conversation, we focused on revision and character consciousness. Téa talked to us about the difficulty of the idea-generation stage of writing, how to cultivate layered characters, and how s...

This year, we’ve been looking at writing through various different lenses. In two weeks, on August 24th, we’ll begin a 5-part deep dive into these lenses through a specific book: All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders . There will be many spoilers in these episodes, so please read the book if you haven’t already!  Now, we’re talking about choosing what your lens is focused on. How do you...

Tone is one of those words people use in many different ways when talking about fiction. On today’s episode, our hosts break down what it means, how we use it, and how it can be a tool in the writer’s toolbox. We dive into the myriad emotional shades of tone, and how you can use this to deepen your story’s themes.  Homework: Write a vignette in which one of your characters is pouring tea for a bel...

What the heck is authorial intent? Does it matter? And how do intentions end up on the page without cluttering or overwhelming the story? Today, our hosts dive into message versus content, and how to wrap your intention and narrative structure into your story’s execution. Homework: Take your work in progress, and in two sentences, describe to yourself why you are writing this (could be a scene, a...

Every story has been told. Okay, maybe not, but most stories have a tradition/ influence/ history/ genre/ style that they draw upon, even if only slightly. How do you know what traditions you're bringing to your work, and how can you use them to make your story both resonant and unique? We’re exploring the lens of “why” right now. Why do we write the stories that we write? And what did we read...

We are joined by author Mark Oshiro, who primarily writes YA and middle grade books and was a guest teacher aboard our 2024 cruise! (Our 2025 cruise is over 50% sold out! Learn more and sign up here .) We ask the question, “Why did you write this book?” while focusing specifically on theme and meaning. We discuss how authors ask questions through their work while readers bring their own answers an...

What separates the way we experience a game versus the way we experience a prose narrative? Erin Roberts has written for many games, and she loves games particularly because they give the person experiencing the narrative more choice and more direct agency over what happens. This changes the way that we experience story. When you’re writing a game, the main thing you have to figure out is the acti...

Our hosts explore how to write compelling confrontations—whether physical fights or emotional arguments—in a live episode recorded on the Writing Excuses Cruise. Building off Dan Wells' class Why Your Fight Scene Is Boring , our hosts break down reactions into four elements: focus, physicality, thought, and action. The discussion dives into how newness, character history, and anticipation shap...

How can listening inform the way you write? We decided to ask Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author—best known for The Power of Habit and most recently released Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection , a compelling guide that explores the art and science of meaningful conversation.  We talked with Charles about myriad elements of...

How does a room sound? Does your childhood have a taste? What is the smell of summer?  In this episode, we dive into the sensory layers that anchor worldbuilding, character, and perspective. We explore how invoking smell, sound, touch, and taste can transport readers more powerfully than sight alone. What makes a setting feel real and lived in on the page? How do the where and the when hit our rea...

Time isn't just a backdrop—it’s a powerful tool in storytelling. In this episode, we explore how time shapes narratives, beyond just plot structure. From magnifying moments in a fight scene to revealing a character’s morals through temporal shifts, we unpack how timing, pacing, and the passage of time can deepen emotional impact, build tension, and elevate a scene's resonance.  We discuss...

This week, we’re digging into context—what it is, why it matters, and how it can totally transform your storytelling. Whether you're working in fantasy, sci-fi, or anything in between, the details you choose to include (or leave out) can make your world feel rich, real, and emotionally resonant. We talk about using context to deepen conflict, sharpen stakes, and land those emotional beats. And...

Today we’re talking about setting, which in speculative fiction is often called worldbuilding. But once you’ve finished building the world, how do you convey that world on the page? That is, how do time and place shape your story—and your characters?  In this episode, we’re talking about the power of setting through the lens of “where and when.” From daily life details like transportation and sani...

What does cooking have to do with writing? In this episode, we explore how the creative choices we make in the kitchen—whether it’s improvising with missing ingredients or following a beloved recipe—mirror the choices we make on the page. From frozen dinners to fine dining, we discuss how all forms of creativity have value, how skills can be learned, and how the act of making—food or fiction—is, a...