Writingexcuses.com

by Adam Huddleston

Now that I’ve caught on to an excellent online podcast about writing, I may be including their topics in my blogs from time to time. I promise to always give credit where credit is due as well. The podcast can be found at www.writingexcuses.com. The original moderators were Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells. Each episode lasts around fifteen minutes and is chock-full of great information.

The first episode covered brainstorming. I really appreciated the ideas the writers gave concerning different techniques they use to come up with ideas. One of the authors described how he uses the “map” or “navigation” feature of Microsoft Word. He creates three headings (plot, characters, and setting) and begins filling each one in with ideas. Once he begins the actual process of writing, he can move throughout the document easily by clicking on an item under one of the headings. I can’t wait to try this with my own work.

If you have a few minutes to spare, I highly recommend giving their podcast a listen. Happy writing!