What's epistolary writing? Well, it's writing through letters. But it's also a lot more than that. As we continue to dive into the concept of Voice, we want to explore the importance and power of the letters that Blue and Red write to each other throughout "This Is How You Lose The Time War." If you haven't already listened to our episodes introducing this novella, we recommend you go back and start with Episode 11 (of this season, Season 19)! And if you’ve been reading along with us while listening to these episodes, please let us know on Instagram. Tag us in a post or comment @writing_excuses ! Thing of the Week: “clipping.” by Story 2 Homework: Write a short note from one of your characters to another about something that’s important to them. Now rewrite it as a text message (change the format). Then rewrite it as a letter that will be screened before it gets to them by an outsider (change the context). And finally, write it as the final message they will get to send during their life (change the stakes). You can buy this (and all the other books!) through our bookshop link-- this is linked in our bio in addition to right here: https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19 Close Reading Series: Texts & Timeline Voice: This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar (March 17) Worldbuilding: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (May 12) Character: “You Perfect, Broken Thing,” “The Cook,” and “Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home” by CL Clark (July 7) Tension: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (September 1) Structure: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (October 13) Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On our third episode diving into Voice through the novella “This Is How You Lose The Time War,” we begin to explore the different voices that make up the two main characters in the story. Last episode we dove into Red’s voice– if you haven’t already, we recommend you listen to that first! Today, we are doing a close read of Blue at the tea shop and how voice establishes character, growth, and vulnerability. How do the authors make Blue’s voice distinct from Red’s? Is it in the tone, the structure, or something else completely? Thing of the Week: The Late Mrs. Willoughby By Claudia Gray Homework: Write a short note from one of your characters to another about something important to them. Now rewrite it as a text message (change the format), as a letter that will be screened before it gets to them by an outsider (change the context), and as a final message they will get to send (change the stakes). Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today, we are doing a very close read of Red's opening narration and how Red’s voice communicates both character and world in an effective and efficient way. We read several sections aloud and dive into what each sensory detail is doing. Also Mary Robinette talks about what she thinks is the most effective way to draw your readers attention to something. Thing of the Week: Planet Crafter Homework: Take a sentence from your work in progress and rewrite it to adjust the age of the character to make them a child. Do it again to make them from a different region. And again to give them a different profession. Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The book that became a New York Times Bestseller because of a tweet. Well, it won LOTS of awards when it came out, but it was rediscovered by a Twitter account with a large following. So-- let's get into it! On our first episode diving into Voice using the short novel "This Is How You Lose The Time War", we talk about why Voice is essential and some working definitions of how we want to talk about it. We also explain why we chose this book and highlight some of the things it's done well, and what you can learn from it! Thing of the Week: Scavengers Reign Homework: Take a sentence from a work you love that has a strong and clear voice. Write a scene based on that as a prompt, in the same tone and voice as the original. Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

You’ve probably seen us posting about our Close Reading Series, and in his episode, we finally officially introduce it! For most of the remainder of 2024, we’ll be diving into five core elements of writing by focusing on five different literary texts. We’ll spend five episodes on each one, and then we’re going to… drumroll please… interview the author(s)! As you know, we’ve spent lots of time reading, writing, talking, and recording our thoughts about different elements of the craft. But this year, we wanted to ground our episodes in specific texts that you could read along– and analyze– with us! Below is the schedule for each book or short story we’ll be diving into. The date on the right in parenthesis is the air date of the first episode in our series that will begin talking about that text. We highly recommend you read the book by that date, as we will be talking about the entirety of the text for all 5 episodes (including spoilers!) First up: This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar You can buy this (and all the other books!) through our bookshop link-- this is linked in our bio in addition to right here: https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19 Close Reading Series: Texts & Timeline Voice: This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar (March 17) Worldbuilding: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (May 12) Character: “You Perfect, Broken Thing,” “The Cook,” and “Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home” by CL Clark (July 7) Tension: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (September 1) Structure: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (October 13) Thing of the Week: SHINOBIGAMI: Modern Ninja Battle RPG Homework: Take a scene from a work that you love and five highlighters/crayons/colored pencils - use one color to underline/highlight places where the voice comes through, one for great worldbuilding, one for character moments, one for any moments of tension, and one for moments that move the plot forward. What colors do you end up with? Where do they overlap? What are the colors of the moments you love the most? What would the colors of one of your scenes be? Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Hosts Erin and DongWon are joined by Fonda Lee and Mahtab Narsimhan for a special episode about creating traditions in your fictional writing. In this episode, we'll explore some of the following: -How do you build traditions and rituals in your fictional world (choosing what becomes a tradition or ritual and what doesn’t)? -How can you use rituals or traditions to advance a novel’s plot, give characters more depth, and create conflict? -What are the pitfalls to avoid (depiction of closed practices, over-ritualizing common traditions)? Homework: Pick a ritual or tradition that you are very accustomed to and make it the center of a fictional scene. You can change its meaning or impact, but the content of the tradition should stay the same. Thing of the Week: Shanghai Immortal by AY Chao (especially the audiobook version) Liner Notes: This podcast episode idea was inspired by ReaderCon 2023, where Erin Roberts was a panelist. Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Fonda Lee and Mahtab Narsimhan. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Join Our Writing Community! Patreon Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

An agent, an editor, and a writer walk into a Zoom room and record a podcast... but really... that's (part of) what this episode is! First off, a reminder that your agent, your editor, and you are all on the same team! They are all trying to make the same book (your book!) a better book. Whether you've published before or are just starting your first short story, we are so excited for you to dive into this episode. For our final episode in our three-part series on revising your NaNoWriMo manuscript—or any other large writing project—we are diving into how to work with an editor! We wanted to show you a peek behind the curtain that is publishing and editing-- what does this relationship look like? How do you handle differences, conflicts, and priorities? What IS an edit letter? Our guest for this series has been the inimitable editor Ali Fisher, who works at Tor. Thank you, Ali, for your advice, stories, and time! Homework: Take a work written by someone else (anyone else!) and come up with three questions you have for the author that would help them clarify their intention in the text. This could be a movie you've seen, a project you're beta-reading for a friend, or a short story you've stumbled upon. Then, apply these questions to your own work in progress! Thing of the Week from Ali: Ali has two podcast recommendations for you! Rude Tales of Magic Oh These, Those Stars of Space! Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Ali Fisher. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Join Our Writing Community! Patreon Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

For our second episode in this three-part series on revising your NaNoWriMo novel—or any other larger project you have—we are diving into intentions with Tor editor Ali Fisher. We asked her how she helps writers figure out what their books are about, and how she helps set intentions for revisions. Ali talks with us about how its important to be kind to yourself -- and your writing-- during the revision process. She also gives us advice for how you, as a writer, can lean into what you do well. Homework: From editor Ali Fisher: write down what you like best about your book. Find a spot in your book where you can incorporate that element where it isn't now. Thing of the Week: I Will Not Die Alone by Dera White, illustrated by Joe Bennett A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing but Using the Bathroom as an Escape by Joe Pera; illustrated by Joe Bennett Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, and Ali Fisher. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Join Our Writing Community! Patreon Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ali Fisher, editor at Tor Books and member of the podcast Rude Tales of Magic, joins us for a three-part series on editing. First up: length! How do you edit your work—whether it's a book or a short story or a novella? Maybe you wrote a draft during NaNoWriMo, maybe you didn't-- either way, we want to help you figure out how to make your writing the perfect length. Homework: Find two scenes next to each other from your writing. Remove the scene break and write bridging text between the two of them instead. Then, find a different scene that has that bridging text, and cut it into two different scenes so that you are removing it and creating new signposts. See what this does to length and your perception of the pacing. Thing of the Week (from Ali Fisher): Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, and guest Ali Fisher. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Join Our Writing Community! Patreon Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Some writers love revisions and some would rather scrub the toilet than revise their writing. On this episode, we are joined by author Mahtab Narsimhan, who many will recognize as a host from past seasons! Mahtab talks with our hosts about how she thinks about revisions. How do you revise your writing? What is the difference between revising and rewriting? Mahtab describes her favorite techniques and provides tips to make it more manageable. Homework Assignment from Mahtab Narsimhan: Take the first 3 chapters of your finished draft and distill it by 1) Chapter 2) Scenes 3) Key plot points per scene 4) POV 5) Setting 6) Time of day/timeline 7) How many pages per scene and/or chapter. Thing of the Week: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend Liner Notes: The Revision Template that Mahtab mentions is a free resource on our Patreon! You can find it at www.patreon.com/writingexcuses Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Pacing is one of the most subjective and difficult aspects of storytelling to get right. What is pacing? How do you know what the right pace is for a story, and what techniques can you use to speed up or slow down your narrative? Homework Assignment from Fonda Lee: Take a page of a work-in-progress project and experiment with the pacing. Ideally, this should be a page with some dialogue or tension between characters. First, try to speed it up: cut description, be tight with dialogue, move the scene quickly. Then do the opposite: rewrite the scene but this time slow it down. Include more context, character interiority, exposition, and scene building. Compare the two versions. Which serves your story better? Thing of the Week: The Book of Witches Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A few months ago, we were on a cruise ship in Alaska recording podcast episodes for 2024! This live recording features a Q&A with cruise attendees, who were given the opportunity to ask questions to Marshall Carr, our audio engineer, and Emma Reynolds, our producer. In this episode, we talked about the benefits of MFA programs, astrology, and how to continue learning without being overwhelmed. Homework from Emma Reynolds: What homework would you give yourself as a writer today? What homework would you have given yourself a year ago? Let us know your answers on instagram, tag us @Writing_Excuses and we'll repost you! Thing of the Week from Marshall Carr: A Necessary Chaos by Brent Lambert Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We have a LIVE podcast recording from September 2023, when we were hosting one of our writing retreats on a cruise ship in Alaska! (To learn about our next WX Retreats, check out: https://writingexcuses.com/retreats/ Or apply for our scholarships by January 31 at https://writingexcuses.com/scholarships/ This episode features questions from our writers, and those who attended our 2023 WXR Cruise to Alaska! We answered questions about success, what happens after you’re a NYTimes bestseller, and how you can record your own audiobook. Homework: Go listen to the most recent episode of the podcast Just Keep Writing. Thing of the Week: Just Keep Writing is a podcast cohosted by Marshall, our incredible recording engineer. It’s a podcast for writers, by writers, to keep you writing. The podcast focuses on building community and lifting marginalized voices. Learn more at justkeepwriting.org, or listen wherever you get your podcasts! Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In our first episode of 2024, we interviewed author and physician Abraham Verghese, who most recently published "The Covenant of Water." We talked with Verghese about how to convey technical information in fiction. Verghese explains how he shares medical and world-building details in the most engaging way. We also asked Verghese how to make things feel real without overwhelming your reader, and how he has mastered conveying the passing of time. We also discussed verisimilitude, translation, point of view, and revision (we love revision!). Homework: From Abraham Verghese: Write a landscape in three different moods. Imagine that someone dear to you has died and you are now gazing at the landscape. Describe it without any reference to this event in your life. The second time you write it as if you were experiencing a moment of great joy, and you're looking at that landscape. The third time, imagine you are in a terrible rage and you are describing this landscape. This allows you to explore how descriptions of the physical world can reflect the various moods of characters. Thing of the Week: "How To Draw A Novel" by Martín Solares (recommended by Abraham Verghese) Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. Our guest was Abraham Verghese. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Join Our Writing Community! Patreon Instagram YouTube Facebook Twitter Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Rent isn't paid in words alone. How do all of us, in various stages of our careers, keep ourselves afloat as we go about the writing life? We're getting in the weeds with this one - tips, tricks, and tools. We share our thoughts on diversifying your income stream outside of traditional publishing? Let’s get creative. We’re talking about school appearances, copywriting, fellowships, consulting, and teaching. We also share advice about newsletters, Patreon, monetizing yourself, and how an agent can help you overcome your imposter syndrome, Homework: Write an artist statement for yourself. Think about who you are, what’s important to you, and what are you trying to put out in the world? Thing of the Week: Joyland directed by Saim Sadiq Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

"Your short story should definitely be a novel." It's something writers are often told when they write short stories. What tips and tricks can you use to keep your idea within the length of the story you're trying to tell? We dive into worldbuilding in miniature, pacing, and character development. We also think about where you can edit your writing down—whether it’s words, plot threads, or characters. Homework: Write a scene with two different endings - one that puts a button on the story (for short fiction) and one that asks a new question (for a novel). Identify what else would need to change for each to make those endings work. Thing of the Week: Scenes From a Multiverse by Jon Rosenberg Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Are you interested in experimenting with different writing forms? Do you want to try an unusual or different way of writing? Well this week, we have an episode dedicated to non-traditional formats for writing. In this episode, we think about experimental short fiction from the point of view of publishing and writing. DongWon shares about the incredible success of their publishing of .. Why short stories might be the perfect place for new ideas. We talk about second-person narratives, epistolaries, footnotes, and stories written as research papers. When does it make sense to use a non-traditional format for a story, what should you know as you do it, and who exactly decided on those traditions anyway? Homework: Take a scene from a story you've written or are working on (maybe from NaNoWriMo!) and put it into a new format. What did you learn in the process? Thing of the Week: These Vital Signs: A Doctor's Notes on Life and Loss in Tweets by Sayed Tabatabai Liner Notes: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin Love, Death, and Robots (Netflix) Bite Size Halloween (Hulu) Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

All unreliable narrators aren't unreliable in the same way. How do they differ and how does that change the way that we write them? Erin shares her unified theory (look at the graphic below!) of unreliable narrators. Homework: Take an event that you're familiar with, and write about it as truthfully as possible. Then write about it from the point of view of someone who knows the basics, but not the whole truth, but who tries to tell the entire story anyway. For bonus points, tell the story a third time from the point of view of a lying liar with an agenda. Thing of the Week: Lost Places by Sarah PInsker Liner Notes: Unreliable Narrator Graph The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What does it mean if your writing is voice-y? How do you give your character a natural voice? We approach this question from the high-level perspective of craft, and the granular level of word choice and sentence structure. Erin talks about the research she did about Appalachian English for her short story Wolfy Things. And Mary Robinette Kowal tells us what it’s like to be an audiobook narrator, and how this helps her bring characters to life on the page. Just a reminder that our final episodes of the year will be guided by three of host Erin Roberts’ short stories: Wolfy Things, Sour Milk Girls, Snake Season. Note: these books involve some darker themes. All of these short stories are available for free online and also have audio versions available. Homework: Listen to someone's voice (a person in a coffee shop, someone on a podcast, etc.) Now write a scene from your WIP trying to approximate the essence of that voice. Thing of the Week: “Exhalation” by Ted Chiang Liner Notes: “A House with Good Bones”by Ursula Vernon/ T. Kingfisher Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to the last week of National Novel Writing Month! It’s okay if you aren’t going to finish your book, and it’s also okay if you don’t have 50,000 words! You still did a thing—you created a story that didn’t exist We want to talk about endings. How do you even write the end of a book? How do you do NaNoWriMo? There’s no right way! But there are several elements that can help you figure out how to write the end of your book. Our hosts give you guidance for environment, pacing, inversions, character changes, and the denouement. DongWon tells us why writing an obvious ending is not a bad idea, and Mary Robinette gives us advice for writing the ending of a series. Also, Dan offers a wonderful reframe for November if you’re not near the end of your book, or you didn’t reach 50,000 words. (Spoiler: it’s okay. You did, in fact, succeed.) Homework: Aim towards the MICE elements you opened. We're talking about the big ones here. In an ideal world, you begin letting your character have simple Yes or No answers to the "does it work" to close out the major threads in the inverse order that you opened them. Nesting code. Thing of the Week: A final pep talk from Mary Robinette! Liner Notes: Better Call Saul Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, 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 YouTube Facebook Twitter Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.com Our Sponsors: * Check out rosettastone.com/today to get 50% off Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership! Use our code TODAY for a limited time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy