Episodes

  • 20.08: Identity 3 - Stakes & Fears
    Feb 23 2025

    This week, we’re continuing our conversation about the lens of who. On last week’s episode we talked about a character’s motivation and goals. Now, we’re starting to think about tension in the form of a character’s stakes and fears. The fears that a character has and the stakes that they face create the story that exists around them. These tensions also help move them through the story.

    So, how can you use stakes and fears to start– and build– your story? The answer may surprise you. Hint: you may not want to open with your character dangling off a cliff.


    Homework: Make a list of all the major fears that your main character has. Take your MC (main character), and draw a map of all the characters that your MC is connected to. Now, describe those relationships in one sentence or less. Now, compare this list of relationships with the list of fears. See if these two lists are in conversation with each other. Are they supporting each other or are they completely disconnected? If they are disconnected, start thinking about how you could bring these two lists closer together to establish a feedback loop between relationships and fears.

    P.S. Want to come write with us in 2025?! Our retreat registration is open, and we are starting to fill up! We are going to unlock our creative processes in Minnesota and explore Story Refinement as we cruise down the Mexican Riviera! Learn more here.


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    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Dongwon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.


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    23 mins
  • 20.07: Lens 3 - Identity 2 - Motivation & Goals
    Feb 16 2025

    Do you know what your characters want? And is there a deeper desire underneath that one?

    A character's motivations can help make them "relatable," drive the story's momentum, and create obstacles. Additionally, characters/ desires can serve different parts of themselves, which can help make them complex and multifaceted. But what is a good character motivation and how do you share it with your readers?

    Homework: Write a scene from a secondary POVs character. Pick a concrete goal for them that is NOT the protagonist's goal. How does that change the way they react in the scene?

    P.S. Want to come write with us in 2025?! Our retreat registration is open, and we are starting to fill up! We are going to unlock our creative processes in Minnesota and explore Story Refinement as we cruise down the Mexican Riviera! Learn more here.

    P.P.S. Are you tired of ads?! You can join our $5 tier on Patreon and receive ad-free episodes each week!


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    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Dongwon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.


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    21 mins
  • 20.06: Lens 2 - Identity 1 - History & Community
    Feb 9 2025

    Have you ever wondered how much you need to know about a specific character before you start your story? Do you need to have an entire outline of their childhood before you can start writing in depth about them? We don’t think so! But it is important to listen to these questions as they emerge. This can help you figure out how to incorporate facets of each character’s identity that have narrative weight, instead of crowding the story with small facts that might not be necessary. This can help you layer and backfill as you build out – and discover– your story.

    Homework: Identify something from your character's life before your story begins - write a scene in which that element of the character weighs on the scene but is never explicitly mentioned.

    P.S. Want to come write with us in 2025?! Our retreat registration is open, and we are starting to fill up! We are going to unlock our creative processes in Minnesota and explore Story Refinement as we cruise down the Mexican Riviera! Learn more here.

    P.P.S. Are you tired of ads?! You can join our $5 tier on Patreon and receive ad-free episodes each week!


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    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Dongwon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.


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    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/WX
    * Visit kinsta.com to get your first month free when you sign up today!


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    26 mins
  • 20.05: Lens 1 - Who
    Feb 2 2025

    Today we are introducing the “lens of who” – which means talking about characters. We try to break big character ideas down into their elements. For instance, what do terms like "relatability" or "depth" of character really mean?

    One of the main take-aways from this episode is that your characters each have different sets of experiences, which *should* mean they could each describe the same exact thing differently. And you should know how to write this.

    Homework: Interview two friends and yourself, asking them the questions below. Write down their answers (and yours) as completely as possible.

    1) The most pain they've had

    2) The happiest memory they think of first

    3) A description of a person and circumstance that positively and dramatically influenced them *before the age of 18*. Family member, teacher, boss at 1st job, etc.


    P.S. Want to come write with us in 2025?! Our retreat registration is open, and we are starting to fill up! We are going to unlock our creative processes in Minnesota and explore Story Refinement as we cruise down the Mexican Riviera! Learn more here.


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    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community!

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    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/WX
    * Visit kinsta.com to get your first month free when you sign up today!


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    25 mins
  • 20.04: Metaphor 1 - Puppetry
    Jan 26 2025

    For our 20th season, we are focusing on this belief: that the lived experience that we all have affects the way we think about writing. We’ve all heard Mary Robinette talk about puppetry for seventeen (or so) seasons. Today, she dives into puppetry as a metaphor that helps her understand writing– specifically character, voice, and genre. And she invites you to start thinking about metaphors you can use and make in your own life to help you think about writing in a new way.

    Homework: Watch a puppet show.

    P.S. Want to come write with us in 2025?! Our retreat registration is open, and we are starting to fill up! We are going to unlock our creative processes in Minnesota and explore Story Refinement as we cruise down the Mexican Riviera! Learn more here.


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    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community!

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    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/WX
    * Visit kinsta.com to get your first month free when you sign up today!


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    33 mins
  • 20.03: Polishing Your Writing Lens
    Jan 19 2025

    One of the most important tools that a writer brings to their work is their own personal lens. This is shaped by your hobbies, your job, your history, and your experiences. In this season, we're going to be looking at personal lenses as well as the narrative lens through which stories are told. We'll look at how the questions of Who, Where, When, and Why shape a story. Also, we're going to do a Deep Dive later in the year with the novel All The Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, in which we analyze it using the lens we've been talking about.

    Homework: What lenses from your non-writing life shape the way you see things?

    P.S. Want to come write with us in 2025?! Our retreat registration is open, and we are starting to fill up! We are going to unlock our creative processes in Minnesota and explore Story Refinement as we cruise down the Mexican Riviera! Learn more here.


    Sign up for our newsletter

    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community!

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    Instagram

    Threads

    Bluesky

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    Facebook




    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/WX
    * Visit kinsta.com to get your first month free when you sign up today!


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

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    22 mins
  • 20.02: Q&A Aboard the Writing Excuses Cruise, with Mark Oshiro and Kate McKean
    Jan 12 2025

    This episode was recorded live at our 2024 Writing Excuses Cruise. (Did you know that we host a writing retreat on a cruise every year!?! You can learn more at https://writingexcuses.com/retreats/.)


    While on a boat in Mexico, we were joined by author Mark Oshiro and literary agent Kate McKean. In addition to our hosts, they answered questions that were asked by our cruise attendees. Our answers included things such as how much space a character should take up and how to find the balance between plot-focused and character-focused novels. We also tackled questions about worldbuilding, motivation, and deadlines.


    Homework: Ask someone a question about writing, either to learn more about what they're working on or to work through a project of your own.


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    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, Erin Roberts, Mark Oshiro, and Kate McKean. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Sign up for our newsletter

    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community!

    Patreon

    Instagram

    Threads

    Bluesky

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    YouTube

    Facebook




    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/WX
    * Visit kinsta.com to get your first month free when you sign up today!


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

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    25 mins
  • 20.01: Welcome to 2025!
    Jan 5 2025

    For our 20th season, we are focusing on your toolbox. We’re going to be thinking about tools in terms of the lenses that we use to approach a story. We’re going to focus on the four lenses of: who, where, when, and why (don’t worry– what and how will be looked at in a later season, since they’re more about execution and less about lenses.) Our hosts talk about the lenses they’re adopting as they look towards 2025.


    At the end of this season, we’re going to take all these lenses and apply them to one work: All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders.


    A note: we will now only have “thing of the week” occasionally, and not regularly!


    Homework: Make a list of the tools you already have in your toolbox. Now, as an intention, think of an area that you want a tool for. Over the course of this year, we’re going to try to help you find that tool.


    Sign up for our newsletter

    Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

    Join Our Writing Community!

    Patreon

    Instagram

    Threads

    Bluesky

    TikTok

    YouTube



    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/WX
    * Visit kinsta.com to get your first month free when you sign up today!


    Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

    Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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    23 mins