15.07: Creating Chapters

15.07: Creating Chapters

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler February 17, 2020 Duration: 19:19
Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard

How do you create chapters? What are the rules for carving your manuscript into numbered chunks? Is chaptering part of your outline, is it something you discover while you write, or is it something else entirely?

In this episode we talk about how we do it, and how we think about it while it's being done.

Credits: This episode was recorded by Dan Thompson and mastered by Alex Jackson Our Sponsors: * Check out HomeServe and use my code homeserve.com/excuses for a great deal: https://www.homeserve.com * Check out Talkiatry and use my code Talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It’s a common piece of advice: if you want to be a writer, you should write. But what happens when you’re staring at the blank page, or when the business side of publishing feels like a maze? That’s where Writing Excuses comes in. Each week, hosts Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler gather not just to talk about writing, but to dissect it. They move quickly, respecting your time while packing episodes with actionable discussions on technique, from character voice to plot structure. But this podcast understands that a writing life isn’t just about craft-it’s also a career. So conversations naturally pivot to the practicalities of the business, navigating careers, and sustaining creativity in a demanding field. You’ll hear five distinct professional perspectives blending into a single, focused conversation designed to get you past excuses and back to your work. It’s like a regular, invigorating workshop session delivered directly to you, meant to equip you with tools for both your manuscript and your professional path.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 500

Writing Excuses
Podcast Episodes
19.09: LIVE Recording - Rituals, Rites, and Traditions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:20
Hosts Erin and DongWon are joined by Fonda Lee and Mahtab Narsimhan for a special episode about creating traditions in your fictional writing. In this episode, we'll explore some of the following: -How do you build tradi…
19.08: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Working with an Editor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:04
An agent, an editor, and a writer walk into a Zoom room and record a podcast... but really... that's (part of) what this episode is!First off, a reminder that your agent, your editor, and you are all on the same team! Th…
19.07: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Intention [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:07
For our second episode in this three-part series on revising your NaNoWriMo novel—or any other larger project you have—we are diving into intentions with Tor editor Ali Fisher. We asked her how she helps writers figure o…
19.06: NaNoWriMo Revision with Ali Fisher: Length [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:27
Ali Fisher, editor at Tor Books and member of the podcast Rude Tales of Magic, joins us for a three-part series on editing. First up: length! How do you edit your work—whether it's a book or a short story or a novella? M…
19.05: LIVE Recording - Revisions with Mahtab Narsimhan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:08
Some writers love revisions and some would rather scrub the toilet than revise their writing. On this episode, we are joined by author Mahtab Narsimhan, who many will recognize as a host from past seasons! Mahtab talks w…
19.04: LIVE Recording - Pacing with Guest Fonda Lee [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:03
Pacing is one of the most subjective and difficult aspects of storytelling to get right. What is pacing? How do you know what the right pace is for a story, and what techniques can you use to speed up or slow down your n…
19.03: Behind The Scenes with our Producer and Recording Engineer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:38
A few months ago, we were on a cruise ship in Alaska recording podcast episodes for 2024!This live recording features a Q&A with cruise attendees, who were given the opportunity to ask questions to Marshall Carr, our aud…
19.02: Q&A Episode with WX Core Cast [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:35
We have a LIVE podcast recording from September 2023, when we were hosting one of our writing retreats on a cruise ship in Alaska! (To learn about our next WX Retreats, check out: https://writingexcuses.com/retreats/ Or…
19.01: Interview with Abraham Verghese [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:32
In our first episode of 2024, we interviewed author and physician Abraham Verghese, who most recently published "The Covenant of Water." We talked with Verghese about how to convey technical information in fiction. Vergh…
18.53: Funding the Writing Life [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:12
Rent isn't paid in words alone. How do all of us, in various stages of our careers, keep ourselves afloat as we go about the writing life? We're getting in the weeds with this one - tips, tricks, and tools. We share our…