Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk endings, and how to troubleshoot common problems writers have with them.

Writing Excuses 6.30: Help! I Can’t End My Book!

Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about using character foils in building a story.

Writing Excuses 6.29: Character Foils

Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman from the Interstitial Arts Foundation join Mary Robinette Kowal and Dan Wells to talk about the gaps between genres.

Writing Excuses 6.28: Interstitial Art

Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard brainstorm some fantasy setting elements for you. Need a magic system on the cheap? How about a political power structure?

Writing Excuses 6.27: Fantasy Setting Yard Sale

Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard talk about plotting a good mystery, especially as part of a non-mystery-genre book.

Writing Excuses 6.26: Mystery Plotting

Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about making characters do dumb things for smart reasons.

Writing Excuses 6.25: When Characters do Dumb Things

Andrew P. Mayer joins Howard, Mary, and Dan to talk about taking silly ideas and making seriously awesome stuff out of them.

Writing Excuses 6.24: From the Ridiculous to the Sublime

Jonathan Maberry joins Howard, Dan, and Mary to discuss pigeonholes -- specifically, not ending up in one.

Writing Excuses 6.23: Pigeon Holes

Mur Lafferty joins Howard, Mary, and Dan to talk about ways in which writers can continue their education.

Writing Excuses 6.22: Continuing Education for Writers

Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard each crank out the beginnings of a story from the same set of story seeds.

Writing Excuses 6.21: Brainstorming From Story Seeds

Lou Anders joins Dan, Howard, and Mary for a discussion of endings.

Writing Excuses 6.20: Endings

Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary talk about pitching -- a critical skill for new and established authors alike.

Writing Excuses 6.19: Pitching

Lou Anders joins Mary, Dan, and Howard at Dragon*Con for a discussion of the Hollywood Formula.

6.18: The Hollywood Formula, with Lou Anders

Peter Ahlstrom, assistant to Brandon Sanderson, and Valerie Dowbenko, assistant to Pat Rothfuss, join Brandon and Dan to talk about what they do for "their authors."

Writing Excuses 6.17: Writing Assistants

Keffy Kehrli joins Brandon, Mary, and Howard at WorldCon 69 for a discussion of gender roles, gender identity, and transsexualism with the objective of being able to write these things believably and accurately.

Writing Excuses 6.16: Gender Roles–Black, White, and Gray

Lauren Beukes joins the 'cast for a discussion of writing cultures that you're not personally a part of.

Writing Excuses 6.15: Writing Other Cultures

Patrick Rothfuss joins the crew at WorldCon 69 for a discussion of how to get readers to suspend their disbelief.

Writing Excuses 6.14: Suspension of Disbelief

Brandon, Dan, Howard, and Mary discuss communications technology, and how the ability for characters to communicate is a critical piece of your world-building, whether you're writing science-fiction, fantasy, or pretty much anything else.

Writing Excuses 6.13: World Building Communications Technology

"The wind rushed across his skin at several hundred miles per second, and registered as an itch." Brandon, Dan, and Mary tear into Howard's two-decade-old manuscript with an eye towards descriptions.

Writing Excuses 6.12: Revising For Description

Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard approach writing descriptions from several different angles and at least five disciplines in order to help you get more done with less purple.

Archive Seasons 1-6 – Writing Excuses

Archive Seasons 1-6 – Writing Excuses

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