21.09: Grounding The Reader

21.09: Grounding The Reader

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler March 1, 2026 Duration: 20:52
Grounding a reader starts in the very first lines of a story. Where are we? Who are we with? What kind of story are we in? Our hosts explore how emotion, context, and sensory detail work together to create immersion, and why action alone isn’t enough without an emotional lens. From relatable sensory cues to carefully chosen specifics, they break down how small details can anchor even the biggest explosions. When readers step into a story, we want them oriented, invested, and ready to follow. Homework: Take the opening of your work in progress and write out only the physical actions — what is happening and what the character is doing. Then annotate it with the emotions you want attached to each moment, and rewrite the scene integrating both action and emotion. Final WXR Cruise! Our final WXR cruise sets sail for Alaska in September 2026—get your tickets here! 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

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Podcast Episodes
15.39: Translation, with special guest Alex Shvartsman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:22
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, and Lari, with guest Alex Shvartsman Translation is fantastically complex. In this episode Lari and Alex help us navigate those complexities, both from the standpoint of the translator, a…
15.38: Depicting Religions That Are Not Your Own [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:26
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15.37: Writing Under Deadlines [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:32
Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard What's it like to write under a deadline which has been set for your project by someone else? What strategies might help you bring the writing in under the deadline? Can you…
15.36: Collaboration, with Shannon and Dean Hale [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:41
Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary Robinette, and Dan, with special guests Shannon and Dean Hale We've had several discussions about collaboration, and we've learned that the answer to "how do you collaborate with other authors"…
15.35: Tools for Writing and Worldbuilding, with Erin Roberts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:35
Your Hosts: Dan, Mary Robinette, Lari, and special guest Erin Roberts We've received a number of questions about the 'tools of the trade' for organizing our work, especially with regard to worldbuilding. In this episode…
15.34: Writing Deliberate Discomfort [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:35
Your Hosts: Dan, Mary Robinette, Lari, and Erin How do you proceed when the story you want to write includes elements that make you personally uncomfortable? In this episode we step out of our own comfort zones to examin…
15.33: The Long, Dark Second Act of the Soul [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:23
Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard Many Writing Excuses listeners have asked us how we muscle through writing second acts, those big, chonky "middles" of our stories. In this episode we attempt to provide ans…
15.32: Short Story Markets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:23
Your Hosts: Dan, Mary Robinette, and Lari, with special guest Erin Roberts Erin Roberts joins us for a discussion of short story markets—a topic which is very susceptible to "churn" because of the way short story markets…
15.31: The Agent in the Room [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:00
Your Hosts: Dan, DongWon, Piper, and Howard You had questions for agents, Dongwon has answers! * How do you go about becoming an agent? * How do an agent and author work together? * At what point do agent and author talk…
15.30: Write What You Want To Know, with Laurell K. Hamilton [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:19
Your Hosts: Brandon, Dan, and Howard, with special guest Laurell K. Hamilton We've all heard the "write what you know" rule. Laurell K. Hamilton joined us to talk about how she got started by writing what she wanted to k…