Writing Excuses

What if a character arc had a structure you could actually map? This week, our hosts break down the DREAM arc: denial, resistance, exploration, acceptance, and manifestation. We look at how characters move through these stages—and why stopping at acceptance can make an arc feel incomplete. From Casablanca and Avatar: The Last Airbender to Parasite and Kylo Ren, we explore how the structure can create heroes, villains, and characters who change in messier ways.
Homework:
Take the DREAM arc out to play with your current WIP: denial, resistance, exploration, acceptance, and manifestation. For each stage, write down one action your character can take to reinforce who they believe they are at that point in the arc.
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Your life is probably weirder—and more useful to your writing—than you think. This week, our hosts explore how to turn lived experience into fiction, from borrowing sensory details and emotional reactions to reshaping real people and events. We dive into the feelings wheel, specificity, and the layers of belief, feeling, thought, and action that can make characters feel human. Plus, how journaling can become a surprisingly useful bank of material for your future self. 
Homework:
Journal about a significant emotional moment in your life. Write down the physical sensations, specific feelings, thoughts, conclusions, and choices you made. Then rewrite it as a third-person scene, giving your protagonist different biographical details while keeping the emotional experience.
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today, we’re celebrating Erin’s birthday by talking about a topic of her choice. Which means we’re flipping “tools, not rules” its head. Our hosts revisit the Turkey City Lexicon, a snarky collection of writing “rules” that circulated widely among speculative fiction writers in 1988, and ask what still holds up—and what happens when useful terminology turns into rigid prescription. From “show, don’t tell” to white room syndrome and TV Tropes, we look at our recurring desire for an easy answer to what makes writing work. Then everyone picks a writing hill they’re willing to die on.
Homework:
Make a time capsule of who you are as a writer right now. Write down one piece of writing advice that’s working for you, one you disagree with, and one writing hill you’ll die on. Pick a meaningful future date to revisit them and see what’s changed.
Liner Notes: 
Turkey City Lexicon
“Crystallization” was correctly attributed to David Gerrold by Mary Robinette 
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, 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 Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How do you keep writing when the world is on fire? This week, our hosts talk about protecting our narrative energy when the news, social media, or our own lives feel overwhelming. We explore boundaries, boredom, intentional information consumption, and why sometimes the most useful thing a writer can do is log off. We also look at how writing can become a place to process what’s happening around us—giving our characters our emotions, interrogating difficult systems through worldbuilding, and making space to imagine something different.
Homework:
Log off. Put yourself on a strict social media diet (of your choosing) for the week and make the boundaries concrete. When you feel the urge to reach for your phone, sit with the discomfort for at least ten minutes. Let your boredom develop within you, and see what thoughts emerge. 
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, 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 Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

A great twist shouldn’t just surprise us—it should make us rethink everything that came before. This week, our hosts explore reader expectations, misdirection, and hiding clues in plain sight. We look at twists from The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, Ocean’s Eleven, and O. Henry, and ask why some twists make a story even better on a reread. 
Homework:
If your work in progress has a twist, write out all the logical steps that lead to the reveal. Then start removing details until the twist stops making sense. Play with what’s truly load-bearing and what you can hide or leave out.
Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, 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 Talkiatry and use my code talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy