Comments on: Writing Excuses 4.7: Q&A with James Dashner

By: Writing Excuses 4.19: Discovery Writing » Writing Excuses

Writing Excuses 4.19: Discovery Writing » Writing Excuses — Mon, 17 May 2010 03:02:09 +0000

[...] previous episodes we’ve established the dichotomy between discovery writing and outline writing. In our ‘casts about process, we’ve [...]

By: Clifton Hill

Clifton Hill — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:34:53 +0000

Great podcast, I have nothing useful to say. I just enjoyed listening…and yes, I just ate a bagel.

By: CM

CM — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:09:08 +0000

@ Waverli

Hurt your Character. Think about what would upset them, what will make them stronger? Mostly figure out what will hurt them and throw it at them. That’s my idea anyways.

By: Waverli

Waverli — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:14:45 +0000

You have given us an episode about how to develop an idea to a story. This seems to work if the story in question is plot driven. What if the intent is to have the story be about how the characters develop. So if someone has imagies of characters and their various relationships and an idea (not a story) how does one develop this?

By: June Stormcrow

June Stormcrow — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:05:30 +0000

“Yeah…this Dan is on fire!”

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

The question about death scenes ended my current excuse for not writing on my novel. Thanks to the questioner and you all for the (affirming) responses. Apparently, going for a shock once in awhile isn’t a bad thing. I shall now get to writing about the aftermath.

By: Mike Barker

Mike Barker — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:09:07 +0000

And for the textually oriented, a transcript…

http://mbarker.livejournal.com/134177.html

By: Matthew Whitehead

Matthew Whitehead — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:17:51 +0000

This was actually super helpful, even though none of the questions immediately stuck out at me as being something I was interested in. I was stuck on the middle of my book and I knew I was missing something, and low and behold, Dan mentions that making a book complex enough involves having enough groups and side-characters involved. I realised that although I had a great ensemble of side-characters around who could have complicated things, I had made too many of them “helpers” whose interests moved the plot forward, and there weren’t enough cross-purposes to sustain the length of story I needed to get the main characters from B to C to D. To hark back to the old analogy that (I think it was Dave Farland?) gave, I wasn’t throwing enough rocks.

Now I can stop writing the end and beginning and rework the outline for the middle

By: Jen

Jen — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:09:36 +0000

Whoa! Dan was on fire that day!

(And, as we all know, ninja’s can’t catch you if you’re on fire)

By: T.J.

T.J. — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:37:21 +0000

I thought my question was pretty original. I mean, who is ever concerned about people that don’t inspire you? It’s still useful information, I think. If not, at least they got a good laugh out of it.

By: AlanHorne

AlanHorne — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:12:53 +0000

Just for the record, those bacon-flavored mints that Dan handed out during the live show weren’t as fun as they sounded at first. Basically, if you took a big vat of white bacon fat, mixed in a little mint extract, stirred it up until the bacon fat was all gritty, and then pressed the end product into pill-shaped discs, that is what Dan’s bacon flavored mints were.

Worst of all is the fact that the more you sucked on them, the more oily they became.

What kind of cruel person buys this stuff for Dan, anyway?