You may have seen a post I did about a week ago in which I said that I was going to spend some time talking about my favourite writing resources, whether it be websites, books, blogs or author newsletters (last week I talked about Susan Dennard's Misfits & Daydreamers which you can find here). Because I'm an unorganized human being I can't promise that these posts will be weekly (or regular, for that matter), but this week I really want to talk about one of my favourite resources. And that is....
*starts drumroll*
WRITING EXCUSES
Writing Excuses is fabulous. It's a free writing advice podcast by a bunch of really successful and talented authors: Howard Tayler, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal and Brandon Sanderson. You hay have heard of them before. Occasionally, they also bring in special guests such as Pat Rothfuss (!!!). Although its primarily focussed on science fiction and fantasy, there are ten seasons of podcasts so I'd recommend checking it out no matter what genre you write in. Episodes cover practically anything you'd want to know from secondary world creation to a Q&A on story structure.
Each episode is only fifteen minutes long and features a book of the week as well as a writing prompt at the end. You can tell that the hosts genuinely enjoy themselves because of the laugh out loud moments, but aside from that the advice is just fantastic. The talent of the authors creating the podcast makes my brain melt.
The best thing about them is that you can download/listen to Writing Excuses for free. I have a bunched of them saved onto my phone for whenever I get bored on public transport or something (you can tell that I'm a really cool person, can't you?).
The main way to get better at writing is to practice, but Writing Excuses is so helpful for a writer no matter how experienced you are. For example, recently I've been wondering if my main character in my current novel is a bit flat compared to the supporting cast. So, I looked through the archives and found a podcast on the topic. Although they obviously can't tell you exactly what the problem with your character is, they said that generally to make your main character more interesting you need to make sure the reader knows what the character wants more than anything, to give them a life/hobbies/interests outside the novel, and to give them agency. These things might not make me a better writer, but it certainly helps making my characters better.
In my own humble opinion, Writing Excuses is one of the best resources out there. It's easy to cram into your day to day life yet the advice is invaluable.
There are a lot of episodes, and whilst I'd say that all of the ones I've listened to have been of good quality, some are more helpful than others. I'm going to link you to a few of my favourites here:
Q&A On Character
Worldbuilding Wilderness
Worldbuilding History
Polytheism in Fiction
When Good Characters Go Bad
Q&A At Dragons & Fairytales
Trunk Novels
What Do You Mean, My Main Character Is Boring?
The best thing about them is that you can download/listen to Writing Excuses for free. I have a bunched of them saved onto my phone for whenever I get bored on public transport or something (you can tell that I'm a really cool person, can't you?).
The main way to get better at writing is to practice, but Writing Excuses is so helpful for a writer no matter how experienced you are. For example, recently I've been wondering if my main character in my current novel is a bit flat compared to the supporting cast. So, I looked through the archives and found a podcast on the topic. Although they obviously can't tell you exactly what the problem with your character is, they said that generally to make your main character more interesting you need to make sure the reader knows what the character wants more than anything, to give them a life/hobbies/interests outside the novel, and to give them agency. These things might not make me a better writer, but it certainly helps making my characters better.
In my own humble opinion, Writing Excuses is one of the best resources out there. It's easy to cram into your day to day life yet the advice is invaluable.
There are a lot of episodes, and whilst I'd say that all of the ones I've listened to have been of good quality, some are more helpful than others. I'm going to link you to a few of my favourites here:
Q&A On Character
Worldbuilding Wilderness
Worldbuilding History
Polytheism in Fiction
When Good Characters Go Bad
Q&A At Dragons & Fairytales
Trunk Novels
What Do You Mean, My Main Character Is Boring?
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