Writing Excuses Transcripts

Writing Excuses 11.45: Elemental Issue, with Desiree Burch

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2016/11/06/11-45-elemental-issue-with-desiree-burch/

Key points: Issue as an elemental genre is a bit different. The driver is not so much emotion, but curiosity, let me think about that. How do you avoid being preachy? Remember that the first goal of a storytelling is to be entertaining. Issues raise questions, polemics answer them. Have empathy for your audience! The more specific a work gets, the more broadly it relates to people. To let a character deal with a major issue, consider making the main plot about something else (thriller, romance...). Use multiple points of view to show us the issue in the round.

( Behind the curtains... )

[Brandon] Well, I'm going to call this, because we're going to talk about it in two weeks…
[Laughter]
[Brandon] Anyway as a subgenre, so… I'm going to let us go there. Mary, I'm going to have you give us some homework.
[Mary] Right. So what I want you to do is, I want you to get a magazine about a topic that you do not normally read. I want you to read the entire thing, cover to cover. Including the ads.
[Chuckles]
[Mary] Was that okay?
[Brandon] You just… That's all you want them to do, just read it?
[Mary] This time, you're just going to read it.
[Brandon] Take notes on the issues that arise, even if they are issues that come from the ads. We'll have you do something with that in a later week. All right. We want to thank our special guest star, Desiree Burch.
[Desiree] Thank you for having me here.
[Brandon] We want to thank our Writing Excuses cruise members.
[Whoo! Applause!]
[Brandon] And we want to thank you guys for listening. You are out of excuses. Now go write.

Writing Excuses 11.13: Elemental Idea Q&A

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2016/03/27/11-13-elemental-idea-qa/

 Q&A Summary:
Q: How do you keep obstacles in an idea story from feeling just like a boring lock that's waiting for the idea to unlock?
A: Good ideas for books are magnet ideas, that attract more and more ideas.
Q: I have a great idea for a story, but I'm not sure how to tie my character motivation to it. Any advice on how to connect characters to a great idea?
A: Start with the geewhiz idea. Figure out where it takes place. Then look at the character and question all the MICE possibilities. Brainstorm them all. What about the environment could cuase problems? What do they wonder about the idea? What challenges their self-image about the idea? What could go wrong? Finally, consider what motivates the character, and what's at stake, what will they lose if they fail?
Q: You've got an idea, but you're struggling to really flesh it out and dig deeply into it. My biggest fear is that I will do this idea, but I won't extrapolate far enough, and the reader will just feel that it's full of untapped potential. What advice do you have for a writer?
A: If the story is good and engaging, untapped potential is a feature! That's for the next book. But in short stories, readers expect you to leave things out, while in novels, they may assume you hadn't thought about it and missed it. If it fascinates you, let it grow and see where it goes. Brainstorm, especially why and what is the effect. Is it a dragon with a magic sword or a monkey with a propeller hat? Sometimes you have to keep reading, keep writing, and keep living until you can write what you want to write. Trust yourself.
Q: Is it possible to make every idea story viable, or are there just some that you have to give up on?
A: Sometimes an idea is problematic and damaging. But some people never give up on one, because if they give up on one, they will give up on them all. Sometimes you're not ready to make an idea work. If it doesn't seem viable, maybe the story is flawed. Go back to the beginning and think about it again.
Q: How do you avoid using too many ideas at once? Is there such a thing as idea clutter in an idea story?
A: Not too many ideas. You can have the wrong ideas. Beware the gorilla in the phone booth, a throwaway line that is cooler than what the character is focused on. Watch for too many ideas for the length of the story you are telling. Don't hold back on your cool ideas, you will not run out of them.

( When you've picked your idea, what happens next? )

[Brandon] I'm afraid that we are out of time. Unfortunately, I'm sorry that we didn't get to all your questions. Mary has some homework for us.
[Mary] All right. So last week, Nancy gave us a homework assignment in which you were supposed to brainstorm about 20 different ideas. What I want you to do is I want you to pick your favorite of those ideas. Take that idea and then start thinking about consequences and reasons. I want you to basically look at it and go what-if and why. I want you to work in opposite directions. So I want you to go why as far back... I want you to go back 10 steps of why. And I want you to go forward 10 steps of what-if.
[Brandon] Maybe go back last year and listen to the podcast we did on brainstorming during Season 10's Master Class. Thank you so much, Shannon, for joining us.
[Shannon] My pleasure.
[Brandon] Thank you to the audience here at Life, the Universe, and Everything.
[Whoo! Applause and whistles.]
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
 

Writing Excuses 11.10: Idea, As Genre, with Nancy Fulda

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2016/03/06/11-10-idea-as-genre-with-nancy-fulda/

Key Points: The elemental genre idea story. Not MICE idea. Idea, question, what if? Fascination is the key emotion driving the idea story. What is this, what is happening? Mental exploration, ramifications, consequences, and poking. The reader needs to be fascinated, although the character may not be. Outside of SF/F, often close to mystery, drama, thriller. E.g., mystery looks at why did this happen and who did it, while the idea story looks at the ramifications of it. Beware of falling into world builder's disease -- put in character responses, and give the reader cues to understand and feel, not just details. Think about what could go wrong, who reacts to it, who gains or loses. Show how the idea changes familiar activities. Didactic stories and agendas often use idea stories. But the idea story really comes alive at the intersection with a strong character. Make sure that someone has a personal stake and consequences in the idea. For a story, start with an idea, then add in character, plot, setting, conflict.
( Brainstorms and other fallout... )
[Brandon] I like how this discussion's been going. I don't know if we've drilled yet into enough practical advice on how to write these. Fortunately, we're going to come back to this topic in a couple of weeks. So wait for it then, and we'll try to drill into the hows and whys you use this. Until then, we have some homework for you. Dan is going to give us our homework.
[Dan] All right. What we want you to do now is to go out and find a cool idea. Find a science blog or find a cool new piece of technology somewhere in the world or a great idea for a magic system you have floating around in your head. Find an idea, and then brainstorm 20 stories you could tell about it. Conflicts that could arise, using that idea as the core.
[Brandon] All right. Nancy, thank you so much for joining us.
[Nancy] Any time.
[Howard] Can you come back in two weeks?
[Nancy] Absolutely.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.

How to Get and Develop Killer Story Ideas
by John Brown and Larry Correia

From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfWUtHMlZf8
Summary at http://community.livejournal.com/wetranscripts/42115.html

Life, the Universe, and Everything at BYU on February 18, 2011
( and now for something different... )
[John] We're going to close this up. Go out to my website. There's other stuff out there. I have a list of 20 idea generation methods out there, I've got questions, all sorts of other stuff.

Writing Excuses 5.8: The Excuses You're Out Of

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/10/24/writing-excuses-5-8-the-excuses-youre-out-of/

Key points: Pay attention to the excuses you make. Figure out how to resolve them, and then write. "I don't have a muse" often means you're not comfortable -- figure out what works for you. Sometimes it means "I don't any good ideas." This usually means I don't know where to start. Just start! "I'm discouraged, I'm not very good." The more you write, the better you get. "I don't have time." Cut something out, fit writing in. "I'm working, but nothing gets done." Use a timer to control email, blog, etc. time.
( hanging prepositions and other outlaw grammar )
[Brandon] All right. Writing prompt is, for some reason, you need to change your shoes or else something extremely terrible is going to happen, but there is some really, really bad... some reason why you don't change your shoes.
[Howard] Oh. Thank you for saving us, Brandon.
[Brandon] You're out of... this has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses for real...
[Dan] For real this time.
[Howard] We mean it.
[Brandon] Now go write.

Writing Season Four Episode 30: World Building the Future

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/08/01/writing-excuses-4-30-worldbuilding-the-future/

Key Points: A guiding decision -- is the future of your story comprehensible or not? Post-singularity? Consider consequences. Strategies: worst-case scenario, best-case scenario, consider the human element, what's cool. Are you telling character-driven stories or idea stories? Can you work backward -- what story do you want to tell, now what framework does that imply?
( Unrolling the future... )
[Brandon] We have a writing prompt. I think we have a writing prompt that will come magically to us from the ether. You are instructed to write your story based on this concept, and here it is.
[Unearthly voice] Oh, no, it's the were-cuttlefish! [strange chomping noises] You are out of excuses and time. Now go write quickly before it gets you. [more strange chomping noises] [Pop! Pop!]

Writing Excuses Season Three Episode 22: Idea to Story

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2009/10/25/writing-excuses-season-3-episode-22-idea-to-story/

Key Points: To turn an idea into a story: Look for the points of conflict. Look for the boundaries -- what kind of story is this? Consider plot, setting, characters. What is the ending? How will you resolve the story? Look for characters who are in pain. Check old ideas that didn't get used yet. Brainstorm interesting ideas -- set pieces, events, twists, interesting stuff.
( the nuts and bolts )
[Brandon] We're out of time. But let's go ahead and give you the writing prompt which is the same idea that we used at the beginning.
[Howard] Insects have in some way evolved defenses against all of the poisons that we use to kill them and many of the chemicals that would work to just kill anything because they have somehow developed magic.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.