Comments on: Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 3: Characters with Brandon Mull

By: Clare K. R. Miller

Clare K. R. Miller — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:00:48 +0000

Good podcast, guys. I’m intrigued by this “three-act structure” thing. I can’t think of any novels that actually do that (unless you count trilogies)… or maybe I should just keep it in mind next time I read a novel? Anyway, I think keeping that structure in mind will help me outline the revision of my novel.

By: Mike Barker

Mike Barker — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:21:17 +0000

Just pondering — could Howard explain a little more about how he sees the interaction of 3 act format and one-two-three-punchline panels? It seems to me he’s got a four-panel beat going, perhaps a one-week ebb-and-flow, and all that is underneath a 3 Act play, but I’m intrigued as to how he thinks about this?

By: Dan Wells

Dan Wells — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:30:01 +0000

Ineluki:
For whatever reason, this is right in the middle of convention season and most of these first several episodes were recorded with audiences. However, we are cutting back on the Q&A thing, so even when we record live at some big event (like Howard’s last book release) it’s much more like a standard episode than a Q&A.

By: Raethe

Raethe — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:20:23 +0000

…

I’m sure it’ll end up being as long as it needs to be, but how on earth did it get from 400k to 700k?

Either way, I guess I can feel less bad about my “huge” novel, which will probably end up at 120k words…

By: Eliyanna

Eliyanna — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:02:16 +0000

AMoL could be 1.5 million words and I would want more. This is awesome!

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:56:34 +0000

700.000 words in AMoL??
Even with revisions that would amount to something twice thesize of LoC….

That simple sentence has made mefeel like a giddy fanboy all day.. Well there really is a first time for everything it seems.

Oh, the rest was brilliant aswell.

By: Ineluki

Ineluki — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:12:32 +0000

Y’know, guys, I’d appreciate it a lot if there were less Q&A episodes again.
While the guest insight on some things is nice, the questions themselves are a lot less interesting as they seem to be mostly asked by amateurs.
And while it’s funny to hear wasted-by-con Brandon rambling on, I long to hear more from the series on world building!

By: Mike Barker

Mike Barker — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:55:26 +0000

Close to a transcript, anyway.

http://mbarker.livejournal.com/89785.html

By: WEKM

WEKM — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:07:05 +0000

Ok, now this one was just chock full o’ goodness. I replayed the first half about five times alone today. Now to go and throw rocks at my characters in a tree.

By: Jame

Jame — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:20:15 +0000

The three act format isn’t a have-to in novels. You write a story, and as things go alone, the task gets harder. You throw more things at the characters, and make them adjust. It’s better to think of it that way for those whose stories end shorter than planned. Plan your story, as you plan make sure you know the begining and the end. While you are writing your outline, make bad things happen along the way that make the task more difficult. The hardest part is making the things that go wrong relivent to the over all story–making things harder, while moving the plot. That’s still something I’m trying to improve on myself.