21.11: The Cold Open- Action

21.11: The Cold Open- Action

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler March 15, 2026 Duration: 23:20
Sometimes the fastest way to hook a reader is to start with something exploding. In this episode, our hosts dig into the promise — and the pitfalls — of opening with action, and why survival alone is rarely enough to make us care. We explore how voice, worldbuilding, and character stakes must all be doing work beneath the punches and gunfire, especially in prose where readers can’t “see” the cool factor. From The Matrix to hockey rinks to fantasy prologues gone wrong, we look at how action can function as a delivery system for tension, authority, and emotional investment. The goal isn’t just spectacle — it’s giving readers a reason to turn the page. Homework: Choose an action cold open from a movie. Write down everything it’s doing beyond the visible action — how it builds the world, establishes stakes, defines character, and makes you feel. Then rewrite that scene in prose, making those elements explicit on the page. 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 Howard Tayler. 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
15.48: Deliberate Discomfort, Part Two [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:35
Your Hosts: Dan, Mahtab, Howard, and Brandon We've talked about deliberately making our readers uncomfortable. In this episode we discuss writing things that make us uncomfortable. Maybe it's writing strong language, or…
15.47: Worldbuilding Science Fiction, with Cory Doctorow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:59
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Piper, and Howard, with Cory Doctorow Worldbuilding is something you do to some degree in everything you write. Cory Doctorow writes (among many other things) near-future SF, and he joins us f…
15.46: Crafting Chinese-American Characters [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:40
Your Hosts: Dan, Piper, and Tempest, with special guest Yang Yang Wang Yang Yang Wang, an author, actor, and director (among many other things) joins us for a discussion of language, food, and a whole raft of other cultu…
15.45: Worldbuilding Fantasy, with Patrick Rothfuss [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:27
Your Hosts: Dan, Mary Robinette, and Howard, with Patrick Rothfuss Pat joins us for a discussion of worldbuilding, in which we field a couple of challenging questions from readers. Here are the questions! * How do you cr…
15.44: Rebooting a Career [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:30
Your Hosts: Dan, DongWon, Mary Robinette, and Howard What do you do when some of the key foundations of your authorial (or otherwise creative) livelihood are kicked away? How do you go about repairing, rebuilding, or reb…
15.43: Audiobook Narration, with Bruce D Richardson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:25
Your Hosts: Brandon, Dan, Mary Robinette, and Howard, with special guest Bruce D Richardson Bruce D Richardson, who is often credited as BDR, or BD Richardson, is a voice-over actor and audiobook narrator. He joins us fo…
15.42: Writing The End [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:19
Your Hosts: Brandon, Victoria, Dan, and Howard How do you decide what sort of event ends your story? How do you set the scale and the stakes for that event? And once you've made these decisions, how do you set about writ…
15.41: Researching the FCK out of Things, with Cory Doctorow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:09
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Piper, and Howard, with special guest Cory Doctorow In journalism, that three-character string in our episode title means "Fact Check." Those three characters are a great way to drop a note to…
15.40: Researching for Writing the Other [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:50
Your Hosts: Piper, Dan, and Tempest, with special guests Nisi Shawl and Silvia Moreno-Garcia Writing stories which feature people who are not like you is, in a word, difficult. In another word? Fraught. But good writers…