21.14: Because at First, They Don’t Succeed

21.14: Because at First, They Don’t Succeed

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler April 5, 2026 Duration: 25:21
Today, we’re talking about the “try-fail cycle” and why failure is essential to making the middle of your story actually interesting. It allows readers to follow characters as they try something, fail, adjust, and try again until they finally succeed. Our conversation gets into how failure builds tension and empathy and how you can use “yes, but / no, and” to control your story’s momentum. We also address the difference between barriers and attempts, and how to keep things from feeling repetitive or stalled, whether you’re writing epic fantasy or a quiet coffee shop story. Homework: Look at the MICE quotient elements (milieu, inquiry, character, event) in your story and make a list of barriers for each. Then choose a smaller subset of those barriers that work well together, and use them to design try-fail cycles that keep your story dynamic without becoming repetitive or overcrowded. Locus Magazine Annual Fundraiser (ends April 14th, 2026) Join us in supporting Locus Magazine– explore the campaign and fantastic rewards for donors online at locusmag.com/igg26. 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 Mary Robinette Kowal, Erin Roberts, and DongWon Song. 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
16.17: The Time To Rhyme [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:22
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, Amal, and Howard Rhyming is powerful. It can signal a form, or telegraph whimsy. It can be predictable, surprising, and sometimes both. It may also be seen as childish. When, then, is it…
16.16: Poetic Structure: Part II [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:57
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, Amal, and Howard How does a poem happen? Absent an external structure, what makes a thing a poem? The key word in that question may be "external," because ultimately the poem on the page…
16.15: Poetic Structure, Part I [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:15
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, Amal, and Howard Rigorous structure in poetic form is commonly pointed at when we declare Poems have meters and rhymes, as the norm. Yet words without patterns can roar like a storm So wh…
16.14: Poetic Language [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:35
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, Amal, and Howard We might begin with description. Or we might begin by deconstructing the act of describing. Wait. No, not there. Let's jump in AFTER the deconstruction. Let's leap beyond…
16.13: Day Brain vs. Night Brain [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:31
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, Amal, and Howard Patterns in the way we're speaking may betray which 'brain' we're using; often bound by what's familiar, sometimes loosed for free-er choosing. Writing like the day-brain…
16.12 : Singing Versus Speaking [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:17
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, Amal, and Howard Can you hear your writing sing, being intoned instead of read? With the dialogs as tunes whose tags say "sung" instead of "said?" When the rhythm of your prose echoes the…
16.11: What is Poetry? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:16
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, Amal, and Howard This is how we begin our master class on poetry, with Amal El-Mohtar: With not one question, but two. * What is poetry? * What is prose? Yes, both questions are a trap. O…
16.10: Paying it Forward, with Kevin J. Anderson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:11
Your Hosts: Mary Robinette, Dan, Amal, and Howard, with special guest Kevin J. Anderson Kevin J. Anderson joins us to talk about how others have helped us in our careers, and how we might continue that tradition and help…
16.9: Crossing The Revenue Streams [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:58
Your Hosts: Dan, Erin, Brandon, and Howard How many different ways can our writing earn money for us? What additional work, besides "just" writing, do we need to do in order to get that money? In this episode we discuss…
16.8: Smart Promotion [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:24
Your Hosts: Dan, Erin, Brandon, and Howard Let's talk about how promote yourself and your work, and how to do it well. The tools we use for this continue to evolve, and in this discussion we'll cover things that have wor…