Like all right-thinking people, we loved The Dark Knight–but because we are also writers obsessed with the craft of storytelling, we liked it for very specific, very nerdy reasons. Join us as we take a journey through What The Dark Knight Did Right: strong characters,  excellent dialogue, a layered plot that blended perfectly (and unexpectedly) with the central themes, and more.

Writing Prompt: Take and old piece of writing you’ve done, pick a dialogue scene, and take it up a notch.

 

 Writing Excuses Episode 34: What the Dark Knight did Right [16:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3134)

Just as no burger is complete without its fries, no protagonist is complete without his sidekick, or his mother, or his entomologist, or whatever side character you decide to give him. This week we talk about why side characters are important, and how to do them well.

Writing Prompt: Bring a side character from the future, bring them back to the past and write a story about them.

This week’s Writing Excuses is brought to you by Schlock Mercenary: The Teraport Wars  by Howard Tayler

Liner Notes

Elantris Mad Prince Deleted Scenes

Dan’s Bunny Book (AKA Blacker Darkness) (Word 2003 format)

 

 Writing Excuses Episode 33: Side Characters [15:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (3320)

You’ve asked and we’ve listened.  For those of you that want to share, and discuss, what you wrote from a writing prompt, you can head over to The Official Time-Waster’s Guide (which hosts Brandon’s official forum) and post away.

We’ve created a thread under the Writing Group board just for you (aren’t we generous).

The Writing Excuses team sits down to talk about religion as a world-building device: your characters probably believe in something, so what is it? How does it affect their lives? How does it change their thoughts and motivations (and swear words)? And when you’re developing a fake religion, how do you avoid religious bias and keep from offending people? Is it best to develop something completely new, or make a few changes to a real Earth religion?

Writing Prompt: Develop a religion where people worship something that no one would ever worship in our world. And it can’t be silly.

 

 Writing Excuses Episode 27: World Building Religion [16:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4438)

What is horror? Why is it scary? HOW is it scary? Forced by their grandfather’s will to spend an entire night in his spooky mansion, our podcasters gather to discuss the nuts and bolts of what horror is (and isn’t) and how it works behind the scenes. Here’s a hint: as with pretty much everything else in writing, the secret comes down to compelling conflicts with engaging characters. Be warned: Howard is going to say something scary, so don’t listen to this podcast alone and/or in the dark.

This week’s Writing Excuses is brought to you by something close to Dan’s heart.

 

 Writing Excuses Episode 26: Horror [16:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4440)

We are pleased to present the second half of “Viewpoint and Tense,”  which, as we all know, is Tense. Part 1 was Viewpoint. It’s not two podcasts that both talk about tense and viewpoint, it’s two totally different podcasts that share a title for some reason. Why didn’t we just do two separate podcasts, one on tense and one on viewpoint, instead of trying to connect them like this? Because, as we tell you every week, we’re not that smart.

This week’s Writing Excuses Book of the Week: Warbreaker, by some hack.

 

 Writing Excuses Episode 25: Viewpoint and Tense Part 2 [14:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4422)

How much research do you do? Howard’s answer: “Just enough to get by.” In this podcast we talk about why we research, how we research, and when we feel like we’ve researched enough. We also discuss hiding a lack of knowledge, and finding ways to get by without doing truly exhaustive research. Listen closely and you’ll learn why you’ll never be able to know enough, why the epic fantasy horse is a lot like a motorcycle, and whether or not one of us really needs therapy.

This week’s Writing Excuses Book of the Week: Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson

 

 Writing Excuses Episode 24: Research [17:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4809)

You’ve heard about viewpoint, but do you really know what it means? Discover along with Howard the magic world of person, tense, and omniscience, and how you can use them to tell your story. It’s a short journey, as quests go, but we’ll all learn a valuable lesson about writing–and about ourselves.*

*Heartfelt lessons about ourselves not guaranteed. Contents non-refundable.

 

 Writing Excuses Episode 23: Viewpoint [16:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4504)

As a writer it’s sometimes difficult to decide between doing things the readers want, and things that are right for the story. But as Dan says, writers can get away with doing things to readers that readers would never do to themselves.

Beware! This podcast contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings, Return of the Jedi, and Serenity (the statute of limitations should have passed on all of these) as well as for the current week of Schlock Mercenary.

This Week’s Episode is brought to you by one of our favorite causes, “Buy Dan Bacon.” Mmmm, bacon.

 

 Writing Excuses Episode 22: When do Things That are Unpopular [16:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4817)

Enough of this highbrow literary crap–make with the funny! Or, if you’re Howard, do both. In this this episode we talk about why to write humor, how to write humor, how to recognize humor in others, how to steal from learn from what they do, and, in the end, what makes things funny in the first place.

This week, Writing Excuses is sponsored by The Well of Ascension: Book Two of Mistborn Mass Market Paperback by Brandon Sanderson, which is good but really not all that funny.

 

 Writing Excuses Episode 21: Humor [16:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (4908)