11 Nov Recommondations – Writing Excuses
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I had a friend who loved wine, an Oenophile I believe it’s called. Once I asked him “if there was one thing I could tell people to make them think I knew something about wine, what would it be?” and he said, without hesitation, “Tannins”. It’s part of the fruit skin that makes wine taste dry and he said if you say “Tannins” it makes it seem like you’ve done research into the process. I still don’t know much about wine.
Not that I am in any way the expert in fiction that my friend is in wine (Hi Brad!) but if someone asked me “what would be the one thing I could do to sound smart about writing” I would tell them, without hesitation, “listen to the Writing Excuses podcast” because even if you listen passively you will pick up enough to sounds like you’ve done research into the process. And you’ll definitely learn something you can apply to your own writing.
I’ve been listening to Brandon, Dan, Mary and Howard for probably five years or so and find it a bare knuckle, nuts and bolts look at writing. These writers, who I would recommend you research and read, have worked in the industry, have the stories, have the contacts and have the bumps and bruises of a life spent in the industry. Their advice is practical, it’s not romanticized and it is compelling as hell. I haven’t read a lot of their work so I can’t say for sure if they’re great writers but I can tell you certainly they are fantastic podcasters.
Even if you’ve written for a while I would recommend their back catalogue, which are archived on their website. I haven’t listened to one of their podcasts that hasn’t taught me something or inspired me somehow.
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