Use Setting to Reveal Character, Theme, and Change
In a post on Writer Unboxed, Barbara Linn Probst offers good advice on choosing the right details to include about your setting. You never...
Inquiry Keeps Pages Turning
In this week's podcast, the Writing Excuses hosts continue their discussion of the M.I.C.E. quotient, this time focusing on Inquiry. They talk about how...
Milieu is Your Sense of Place
In this week's podcast, the Writing Excuses hosts continue their series on the M.I.C.E. framework, this time examining the element of Milieu and how stories...
Writing Excuses: What is the M.I.C.E. Quotient?
In this week's podcast, the Writing Excuses hosts start a conversation on the M.I.C.E. quotient: an organizational tool which categorizes story elements as Milieu, Inquiry,...
Is Your Novel Correctly Layered?
In this week's podcast, the Writing Excuses hosts compare novels to layer cakes: they deliver a lot of information, some on the surface and...
Blasphemy! When to Tell, Not Show
In this week's episode, the Writing Excuses hosts say that "Show, don't tell" is not universally applicable advice. In fact, they say it's often...
Killer First Pages
In this week's episode, the Writing Excuses hosts explore the first page of Lee Child's The Killing Floor, with the goal of learning how...
Call Me Ishmael
In this week's episode, the Writing Excuses hosts explore the first page of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, with the goal of learning how to...