18.41: Deep Dive: Erin's Short Fiction Extravaganza

18.41: Deep Dive: Erin's Short Fiction Extravaganza

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler October 8, 2023 Duration: 25:11

If you write short stories or enjoy speculative fiction, this episode is for you. Our host Erin Roberts has written short stories, interactive fiction, and has built worlds for tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs). For the next 8 episodes, we’ll be diving into three of her short stories. This week, Erin explains how to write outside of traditional genre classifications. We talk about the importance of antagonists, tone, and the horror genre. And we discuss how to decide if your short story should become a novel. 


We highly recommend you read Erin’s three short stories to get the most out of these next 8 episodes! Read Erin’s short stories: Wolfy Things, Sour Milk Girls, Snake Season. Note: these books involve some darker themes. All of these short stories are available for free online and also have audio versions available. 


Homework

Take a line you've written a while ago that you absolutely love. Try rewriting it as the writer you are now.


Thing of the Week: 

Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap 


Liner Notes: 

Interview with Erin on the podcast Just Keep Writing

Wolfy Things by Erin Roberts 

Sour Milk Girls by Erin Roberts 

Snake Season by Erin Roberts 

Writing Wonder


Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

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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
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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]

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19.04: LIVE Recording - Pacing with Guest Fonda Lee [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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19.03: Behind The Scenes with our Producer and Recording Engineer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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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…
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