21.06: Begin and the Beginning

21.06: Begin and the Beginning

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler February 8, 2026 Duration: 22:17
In this episode, our hosts dive into what makes a strong beginning and why it matters so much to readers. They talk about openings as an act of hospitality, exploring how tone, control, and carefully chosen details help readers feel grounded and cared for from the first page. Using the metaphor of hosting a party, they unpack common mistakes like starting too early, overwhelming readers with detail, or failing to make a clear promise. The discussion also reassures writers that beginnings often change in revision—and that’s not just normal, it’s necessary. Homework: Create an artificial slush pile of beginnings. Read them cold and note which ones make you lean in and why. ANNOUNCEMENTS: FEBRUARY 15th: Cruise Prices Increase The final WXR cruise* sets sail for Alaska in September 2026—get your tickets now before prices increase on February 15th! Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Erin Roberts, DongWon Song, and Mary Robinette Kowal. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Join Our Writing Community! Writing Retreats Newsletter Patreon Instagram Threads Bluesky TikTok YouTube Facebook 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
17.4: The Gun on the Mantel is Actually a Fish [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:54
Your Hosts: Howard Tayler, Kaela Rivera, Sandra Tayler, and Megan Lloyd In the previous episode we discussed how to ensure that your surprise feels inevitable. In this episode we're covering how to make inevitability fee…
17.3: Chekov’s Surprising Yet Inevitable Inverted Gun [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:10
Your Hosts: Howard Tayler, Kaela Rivera, Sandra Tayler, and Megan Lloyd This week we're talking about giving inevitability to our intended surprise, and we open with a discussion of Chekov's Gun, which, as a writing rule…
17.2: It Was a Promise of Three Parts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:33
Your Hosts: Howard Tayler, Kaela Rivera, Sandra Tayler, and Megan Lloyd The title of this episode comes to us from the first paragraph of The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss—a novel which delights us with turns of…
17.1: Genre and Media are Promises [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:08
Your Hosts: Howard Tayler, Kaela Rivera, Sandra Tayler, and Megan Lloyd The genre of your story is making promises to the reader, and the medium upon which your story is told makes promises too. In this episode we talk a…
16.52: Structure is a Promise [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:03
Your Hosts: Howard Tayler, Kaela Rivera, Sandra Tayler, and Megan Lloyd The structure you're using for your story isn't just helping you organize your plotting. It's telling the audience what's going to happen. Story str…
16.51: Promises are a Structure [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:23
Your Hosts: Howard Tayler, Kaela Rivera, Sandra Tayler, and Megan Lloyd Our next 8-episode intensive is all about promises and expectations. Our guest hosts are Kaela Rivera, Sandra Tayler, and Megan Lloyd. They're joini…
16.50: Worldbuilding Finale: Making Deliberate Choices [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:46
Your Hosts: Dan Wells, Fonda Lee, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard Tayler Here at the end of our 8-episode intensive series on Worldbuilding we discuss stepping away from the defaults, the clichés, and the tropes, and ch…
16.49: Magic and Technology: Two Sides of the Same Coin [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:52
Your Hosts: Dan Wells, Fonda Lee, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard Tayler Magic and technology are tools that we, as writers, use to tell interesting stories, and they're very, very similar tools. In this episode we'll e…
16.48: Believable Worlds Part 2: Creating Texture [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:08
Your Hosts: Dan Wells, Fonda Lee, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard Tayler As we do our worldbuilding with similarity, specificity, and selective depth (per the previous episode), we should take care to apply these things…
16.47: Believable Worlds Part 1: The Illusion of Real [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:02
Your Hosts: Dan Wells, Fonda Lee, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard Tayler Writers are illusionists, and worldbuilding requires no small mastery of that particular magic. In this episode we'll explore the creation of beli…