Writing Excuses Transcripts

Writing Excuses 7.21: Project in Depth -- Force Multiplication

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:12:00 GMT

Posted by: mbarker.livejournal.com

Writing Excuses 7.21: Project in Depth -- Force Multiplication

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2012/05/20/writing-excuses-7-21-project-in-depth-force-multiplication/

Key Points: Why are you telling this story? How do you pick the characters? How do your characters solve problems? How do you choose the setting? How do you name things? How do you balance exploring characters and plot? How do you make it interesting? How does this hurt people? Who gets hurt? Why? How do they respond?
( Answers! )
[Brandon] All right. Your writing prompt this week is actually to do this with your own work. Have your friends sit down and interview you about something you're working on and about your process. Hopefully you will become more conscious of how you approach your writing. Which is one of our big goals as Writing Excuses podcasters, is to get you to think about that. All right? So, this has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.

comments

Writing Excuses Season Four Episode Six: James Dashner's Lessons on Pacing

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:32:00 GMT

Posted by: mbarker.livejournal.com

Writing Excuses Season Four Episode Six: James Dashner's Lessons on Pacing

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/02/14/writing-excuses-4-6-pacing-with-james-dashner/

Key points: Use genuinely intriguing mysteries and real information to make readers keep reading, not false reveals. Show readers interesting things, don't conceal boring stuff, and they'll keep reading. Mysteries, revelations, disasters, action scenes -- these keep the reader going, so spread them out and mix them up. Consider chapter length, sentence length, even dialogue tags as your pacing tools, and think about how to use them to make it interesting for the reader from beginning to end.
( Inside a wet cardboard box, seeping slowly in the rain... )
[Brandon] We want to end with a writing prompt. I think we'll go ahead and use James Dashner's wet box writing prompt. Someone opens a door and finds a wet cardboard box on their doorstep. They reach down and pick it up. It's seeping something...
[James] Disgusting.
[Brandon] Disgusting, of course.
[Dan] It could be seeping something happy.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.

comments

Writing Excuses Season Two Episode 10: The Boring Parts

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 17:13:00 GMT

Posted by: mbarker.livejournal.com

Writing Excuses Season Two Episode 10: The Boring Parts

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2008/12/14/writing-excuses-season-2-episode-10-the-boring-parts/

Key points: Write the exciting parts first, then figure out what led to that. Why is this character suffering? Find the most pain. Shake it up -- change point of view, change setting, add a wrinkle, add an interesting side character. And look for the conflict.
( the expanded version )
[Howard] Let's move on to a writing prompt.
[Dan] Didn't we already give one?
[Howard] Right. Kill Sauron -- kill the main bad guy in every chapter. Figure out how to do that.

comments