Comments on: Help make the Writing Excuses Website better

By: Stephen watkins

Stephen watkins — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:24:01 +0000

I know this is a bit late to this particular party… but since there’s a “make our site better” post I thought I’d make this suggestion, as someone who is way behind in listening to the podcast. Since Writing Excuses is divided into “seasons”… why not have some search or sorting or tagging mechanism, or a few links up near the top, that link directly to the first ‘cast of a season, or to a list of ‘casts for each season…?

By: CKHB

CKHB — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:02:48 +0000

Ah, sometimes it’s nice to come to the party late. I would never have checked “transcripts,” but now I know that’s where to go for audio archives as well! And I would LOVE to download a whole season/multiple episodes at a time… I downloaded Mur’s I Should Be Writing archives in batched zip files (usually 10 episodes at a time, as I recall) and it worked beautifully.

You guys ROCK. Thanks for podcasting!

By: Matthew Bowman

Matthew Bowman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:42:52 +0000

Jordo, on the sound issue: I think the reason why people are having issues with sound and you aren’t on your test listen is that when you listen to them yourself, you’re likely in a quiet place in your home. I don’t normally have a problem with the sound when I’m at home, and will often play a game while listening (when I’m not jotting down a quick note, which is happening more often as I’ve somehow been roped into tutoring other writers, likely because they’ve been strategically flattering my ego). However, when I was in college (not that long ago), I often saved these podcasts for when I drove back and forth every couple weeks between campus and home (about a seventy-five minute drive). I would have to turn the volume up fairly high to get everything, which of course allows the ambient sound on the recording to leak through.

Having worked on home movies (stop-motion and live), and watching the friends I worked with on those also record their music, I know how difficult it is to remove unwanted sound and get everyone around the same microphone so that it sounds right. If you need help from someone who’s worked with very low-budget equipment to produce feature-length films, well, you have my email. But I don’t think I have much to offer in the way of advice that you wouldn’t think of yourself (though it occasionally sounds like there’s a fan blowing, which messes up sound collection). The sound quality HAS gotten better; I suspect, from what I’ve been hearing, that Brandon, Dan, and Howard are projecting better from sheer practice.

Moving back to the original topic, namely that of the website itself, I’d like to second the requests for a single listing to all episodes — or rather, to the posts that contain the links thereof. I don’t visit every week, as when I sit down to listen I want something longer than one episode; and (concurrent with the above mention of tutoring) I’ve been encouraging others to listen to this podcast series. Making it easier to find the archives would greatly, greatly help.

I’d also enjoy a page that shows what guests have been on the show, with links to their websites and the episodes they contributed to.

This suggestion is more dependent on the hosts: I’d like to see pages for what Brandon, Dan, and Howard consider good references, either fiction or nonfiction. This would be something they can easily edit as the thought hits them or they read or watch a particular book, movie, or TV show. Often they’ll mention an author or similar that I can’t make out, and therefore can’t search for.

Finally . . . while I lack sufficient funds currently to make any kind of significant donation, I would like to rectify that latter once the former increases. In other words . . . how can we give you guys money to offset the costs for this labor of love — your labor that we love so much? I already purchased a couple of CDs, but I wouldn’t mind giving a few bucks for the gas money involved, possibly getting better equipment and software, and the time all four of you take to make these podcasts for us.

By: Luke

Luke — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:39:10 +0000

This is actually the only podcast I have ever listened to regularly. Really insightful and entertaining stuff!

My suggestion is actually peripheral to the actual podcast, but it would be nice if the site had a favicon. As it stands now, the Writing Excuses icon on my bookmark toolbar is a sad white page This suggestion is extended to Brandon’s website as well!

Just my two cents…. and for the record, I have never had any problem with the audio levels.

By: WEKM

WEKM — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:00:23 +0000

I do have to admit that so far this season, the audio levels have been really good. More proof that the more you do things, the better you get at it.

By: Vi

Vi — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:44:42 +0000

Post-processing volume is pretty easy in just a couple steps once you know the settings you like. I use Audacity. After I record something, I just apply the Compressor (under Effects), which just lowers the volume on loud parts to prevent loud surprises, but still allows for volume variation for dramatic effect and that natural charm. Then, amplify the whole thing to bring the average volume back up.

There are many people and websites that would be much more knowledgeable than I on this subject, but I hope this is a start. Really though, I tremendously enjoy the episodes despite any volume adjusting I have to do. It’s like a volume adventure, really.

By: CM

CM — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:06:28 +0000

Really no complaints, though someone did mention a suggestion box getting placed on the site which would be cool.

Thanks for all the episodes it really helps my writing get better and I love being able to comment with other writers and not just a bunch of lovesick fans (Not that I can blame them of course). Thank you! Now I better go listen to my new Writing Excuses and then go work on my new children’s book. See ya!

P.S. Thank you sooo much for not sending us junk mail! I was a little nervous about entrusting my E-mail address so I can comment. If I am busy sorting through junk mail then It cuts into my writing time which ruins the whole point. Thanks!

By: Titus

Titus — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:53:04 +0000

Dan sometimes mutters witty asides, and the entire cast sometimes tops each other a little too loudly when they get excited, but that’s human. Dan’s muttering is probably normal too. For a serial killer.

Really, I haven’t noticed a problem with sound since Season 3 started. I listen to WE on random sometimes, which is why I remember anything. In fact,I shuffle across all of my music and WE most of the time (the only exception I can think of is when I’m actually writing). The most recent episode changed very little when I equalized it.

By: stridera

stridera — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:26:15 +0000

Ahh, gotcha. I see that there was a html escape bug fixed a few dozen versions ago, but it shows you’re using v. 8.8, so I guess it’s not that. If you want a hand, let me know and I’ll look at the source and see if i can create a patch to fix it for you.

Another thing that would be nice (although would probably require a code change, I’m guessing) is to have the option to ‘reply’ to someone and then receive a notification via email that someone is talking back to you. If firefox didn’t reopen (and refresh) this page, i probably would have never seen the reply to me.

By: Writing Excuses

Writing Excuses — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:30:23 +0000

@stridera– the escapes are a bug in podpress, everytime you make a change in it’s settings page it escapes everything (even if there allready is one) and our setup doesn’t require escapes so I have to manually remove them in the database which is annoying.