19.08: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Working with an Editor25 February 2024An 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'...00:29:04
19.07: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Intention18 February 2024For 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. A...00:25:07
19.06: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Length11 February 2024Ali 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 ...00:27:27
19.05: LIVE Recording - Revisions with Mahtab Narsimhan04 February 2024Some 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 writi...00:20:08
19.04: LIVE Recording - Pacing with Guest Fonda Lee28 January 2024Pacing 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 p...00:19:03
19.03: Behind The Scenes with our Producer and Recording Engineer21 January 2024A 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 abo...00:22:38
19.02: Q&A Episode with WX Core Cast14 January 2024We 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/scholarsh...00:21:35
19.01: Interview with Abraham Verghese07 January 2024In 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 engagi...00:27:32
18.53: Funding the Writing Life31 December 2023Rent 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? L...00:26:12
18.52: Writing Inside The Box24 December 2023"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. W...00:23:28