The internet is a cornucopia of useful and valuable resources for writers with many of them being free. One of my favorites is the Writing Excuses Podcast (Fifteen minutes long, because you’re in a hurry, and we’re not that smart.) Truth is, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Taylor, Mary Robinette Kowal and their many guests are quite smart when it comes to writing.
They also know that other writers typically have ADD so fifteen minutes is about the longest we can hold our attention on any one thing. Their weekly podcast is into its eighth season so as you can imagine there’s hardly a subject they haven’t explored, and several more than once. While their focus tends to be on how to write speculative fiction (horror, SF, fantasy, etc.) I believe there’s a wealth of wisdom for writers of any kind of fiction.
Some of their recent topics have included:
- Hard Social Science Fiction with Joel Shepherd
- Long-Form Storytelling with Sam Logan
- Roguishness with Scott Lynch
- Editing with Aeryn Rudel
As you can tell from these topics, most of their podcasts these days include a special guest with some expertise in the subject of choice. Besides exploring these topics, they also have a ‘book of the week’ that includes a plug for downloading the book from Audible.com which is a way they help fund the show, and of course, they end each segment with a writing prompt so ‘you’re now out of excuses, go write.’
Besides the solid helpful tips and suggestions I find in just about every podcast, I find regular listening also inspires me to keep writing and honing my craft, so I thank you, Brandon, Dan, Howard, Mary and all your guests for the fine work not only as writers but for inspiring the rest of us to keep on keeping on.
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