Slightly Off Center

Writing Excuses 21.01: Welcome to the New Year! 

From https://writingexcuses.com/21-01-welcome-to-the-new-year

Key Points: New tagline: Tools, not rules! For writers, by writers. You are a writer. What's coming: Deconstructing structure and barriers to writing. And some wildcards. Thinking critically about structure and what are the pieces. Unpack it, break open the toolkit. Why and how does it work? Intentions and barriers. 

[Season 21, Episode 21]

[Mary Robinette] This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by our listeners, patrons, and friends. If you would like to learn how to support this podcast, visit www.patreon.com/writingexcuses.

[Season 21, Episode 01]

[Mary Robinette] This is Writing Excuses.

[DongWon] Welcome to the New Year!

[Erin] Tools, not rules.

[Howard] For writers, by writers.

[Mary Robinette] I'm Mary Robinette.

[DongWon] I'm DongWon.

[Erin] I'm Erin.

[Howard] And I'm Howard.

[Mary Robinette] Welcome, everybody, to 2026 and our season 21. The podcast is officially old enough to drink, depending on where you live.

[Chuckles] 

[Mary Robinette] As a result, we decided to make some changes. Small ones. Like, we have a new tagline, you'll have noticed. We're going to talk about why we made that change. And then we're going to tell you about the curriculum that we've got planned for you for this season, and we'll talk about some intentions as well. So, why did we change the tagline?

[Howard] We changed the tagline because Dan said we should, and he gave us this, for writers, by writers, tools, not rules, which kind of sums up who and why we are and have been since 2008. Writers, talking about writing, and we're talking about the tools we use, rather than trying to prescribe, proscribe, inscribe any...

[Chuckles]

[Howard] Sort of laws for you to live by, and I like that.

[DongWon] Yeah, it's a really nice way to think about what we're trying to do here. Right? I think so much of writing advice you see on the Internet or in person or whatever it is can be very, very prescriptive. It can be this is the only way to do this, this is the only way to write, like, you must do XYZ to be a successful writer. And I think a lot of that comes from a very understandable place. People want to have a simple way of doing things, people are used to doing things their way, and think that can apply very broadly. But from our perspective, each of us has a different background, each of us has a different approach to our various practices. I see a lot of different techniques across a lot of different writers, and so I think trying to avoid this space where we end up being very prescriptive, but still can give useful, actionable advice. I think tools, not rules, is really where we landed as a podcast. We've had a lot of conversation among the group of us of who are we, what is our identity as a podcast, what are our goals, what are we trying to accomplish with all this. And I think just making sure people do have the tools to succeed is so much of our mission.

[Howard] The aha! moment for me was when... I tried to come up with... Certainly there's some hard and fast rule. A writer has to write. You gotta sit down in front of the keyboard. And then I realized, no, wait, I know at least one New York Times best-selling author who dictates his novels into a machine, and I know people who write longhand. And so, nope. That's not a rule, that's just the way...

[DongWon] Yeah.

[Howard] I happen to do it. And if at that most basic level, how I make the words appear on whatever I'm calling a page at the time, if that can't be held in common across all writers, then there are no rules at all.

[DongWon] There's just personal practice.

[Erin] I also just want to talk a little bit about the for writers, by writers. And I think part of it is about I think it can be really easy for people to say, oh, I'm not a writer yet. I'm not a writer, I didn't write yesterday. I'm not a writer, my writing hasn't been published. I'm not a writer, a thousand thousand different reasons. but I think, like, looking at all of us, like, listening to all of us, we all come to writing from different places. We all write in different ways, in different formats. And if we can all call ourselves writers, then I want to offer that as a way to say call yourself a writer as well. By listening to this podcast, you are now a writer. I have said it, I am the arbiter of all things bizarre...

[Chuckles]

[Erin] And so I think that every time you hear the tagline, I want you to think of it as I am a writer and I am part of this.

[DongWon] Yeah. I mean, all you need to do to be a writer is have the intention to write, and hopefully put some words on a page. Right? I think being a published author is a really different thing, and being a writer is a prerequisite, but it's not required. And I think publishing your work and finding that career path is a separate step from being able to call yourself a writer. And I want all of you to really feel empowered to create the stories you want to create, to put words on the page in the way that you want to, and to celebrate that as real, beautiful, difficult creative work.

[Mary Robinette] This is something that we say all the time when we're doing the Writing Excuses cruises, their workshops, that we are all writers. It is just that we are at different points in the path. But we're just peers. And so this podcast is a group of your peers talking to you about the things that we have learned. And hopefully, giving you some of the benefit of our advanced hindsight.

[Howard] One of the most motivating things that a writer ever told me, Ken Rand, who passed away, gosh, 15 years ago, and he said, lots of people will tell you you can't write. Don't let them be able to say that you don't write.

[DongWon] Yeah.

[Howard] And I just love that. Yeah. Yeah. If I write, I am a writer.

[DongWon] I love that.

[Mary Robinette] And so what we're going to be talking about today and for the rest of the season are hopefully a bunch of tools, not rules, that will help you. We're specifically, we're talking about this season, a couple of different streams. So we're going to lay out for you what those streams are. And in the second half of this podcast, or of this particular episode, I'm going to talk a little bit about intentions and what it means to set intentions. So, we've got a couple of different streams. We've been thinking about this as deconstructing structure. So we started talking about that last season, and this season really looking at the plot aspects of structure. And how, what all of these mean, and how they work. We're going to talk about that a little bit today. We're also going to be talking about barriers. There's going to be a whole stream of podcast episodes that are coming to you this season that are about barriers to writing, the things that get between you and writing that are not necessarily the story. And then, we're also going to be doing some deep dives on specific structures. We're going to be doing deep dives on a couple of  specific topics... Wildcards. And we're going to be looking at all of these this season. We wanted to kind of give you an overview of what to expect. Does anyone want to explain what we mean by deconstructing structure?

[DongWon] I think the thing that we're really trying to do with this season is think very critically about structure. I think structure's one of the most common things where people get super prescriptive of you have to do it this way. Right? You have to use Save the Cat, you have to use a 3 act structure, a 5 act structure. I think it's the one that people most  reflexively go to, well, stories work like this. All stories do X. Right? And I think I at least, and I think many of us, feel a reflective sort of opposition to that, of this idea of, like, no. Stories can be lots of different things, and can exist in different ways, and are very sensitive to cultural context, to genre, to style of storytelling, medium even, all of these things. And so when we... We're like, okay, let's do a season about structure. Let's talk about structure, it really sort of came down to how do we unpack this? How do we make this feel like something we're comfortable and excited to talk about? And that means deconstructing a little bit. Not in like a postmodernist way. But in a let's break open the tool kit. Let's show what is in the toolbox, what you can use, what you can reach for.

[Mary Robinette] One of the things that I... Made me start thinking about this was there's a cookbook called Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.

[DongWon] Yeah.

[Mary Robinette] Which is looking at kind of, like, what are some of the core principles. And then I was also thinking about it because with puppetry, I talk about here are the principles, if you have these four principles, you can make any puppet look alive, any inanimate object. And the techniques, the specific mechanics that you use, are going to change depending on what kind of puppet you've picked up. But the core principles, the underlying pieces of it, the underlying structure, if you will, is the same. And I started thinking, does writing have this? And I've been noodling on it a little bit, but I remember this moment... I don't know if you remember this, Erin, but we were all sitting around at one of the recording retreats with these note cards and you said something about writing is a form of jazz. And, like, that jazz has this structure, that music has this structure, but that you can start to play with it. And I thought that that was such an interesting way to think about it.

[Erin] And I think, like, it's funny... I sometimes, like, dislike classical plot structures because I think they can get really shoved down your throat. And, like anything that somebody tells you a thousand times, you're like, Ah hate it. Ah don't like it. But just the way that really great jazz musicians understand classical music, because part of understanding music in general and how it's used in different ways allows you to have the base that you can then use to accept or reject parts of the music that have already come into your life, I think that deconstructing these structures, it's like maybe I still hate the Hero's Journey, but maybe there's one thing in there that I find really helpful that I can put in my own toolbox, and I don't have to take the rest of it. But without breaking it down, there's no way to know, like, what is that kernel of really cool wisdom that I can actually take from something that maybe I don't like the rest of the corn cob.

[Chuckles]

[DongWon] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's a couple topics in here we duck into which are structures that I've historically been opposed to, or not a big fan of. And it was really interesting to be forced to sort of sit down and go through them, and be like, oh, okay, I get why this exists. I get why people use it. It may still not be for me, it may not be what I go to or what I'm interested in seeing more of, but it was... It's useful still to understand why it exists, even if what you then want to do is act in opposition, or break from it, because, again, understanding the tools helps you choose what fits your project and your style and your particular voice.

[Mary Robinette] And I think one of the things that we found as we were talking about this and digging into it was that there were... There were common pieces. That you would see something, it's like, oh, Dark Night of the Soul happened here, but in this other place, what you got is a contrast moment. And you start to realize, oh, Dark Night of the Soul serves as a contrast moment. Like, I started thinking about it, again, going back to food, at one point, chocolate chip cookies didn't exist. And then someone was like, what happens if I put chocolate chips in? And they became kind of ubiquitous. And then someone else was like, but what happens if I put sea salt on it? And the first time you encountered it, it was amazing. And then someone thought, what happens if I put bacon on it? And it was like, oh, okay, well, that's different. And we're excited for a little bit, and then you're like, okay, but actually, that's just different, it's not improving things. And so I think the thing about looking at these structures and looking at the pieces of them is that you can think about doing a recipe or an ingredient swap in something that you're writing, if it doesn't play well for you. You can think about, let me try this weird, out there, avantgard thing. And maybe it's going to be something that's like, yay, novelty! and it will be fun for a moment. But  maybe it'll be something that's like oh, no, this really has no bones. This does a thing. And understanding why it does it is exciting because then you can do things with intentionality.

[Howard] One of the things that I've discovered as we've done a lot of interior home improvements is that there is a specificity of tools beyond just, for example, the Phillips head screwdriver. Okay. Yeah, I've got a Phillips head screwdriver that I just grab when I need to use a Phillips head screwdriver. But in many cases, that screwdriver fits into the screw head and wobbles just a little bit. Which means I'm more likely to...

[DongWon] [garbled] is a terrible design and we shouldn't be using them.

[Howard] Which means I'm more likely to strip the screw if I use...

[DongWon] Yep.

[Howard] That screwdriver on that screw. And so I'll open up the box of bits and find a screw head that exactly fits... A bit that exactly fits the screw head. Nice and snug. And I can plug it into the drill and I can go to town. And...

[Mary Robinette] Whereas, what I am more likely to do is be like, ugh, it's so much trouble. Is there a kitchen knife I can use?

[Chuckles]

[Howard] Yes. And... The point here, though, is that with writing, there are a lot of tools that I know the name of and I kind of think I understand it, but once we start picking these things apart, I realize, oh, wait, if I try to use this tool as described here in this other circumstance, I'm going to strip all of the screws and make a mess. I need a refined version of this. I need a slightly different version of this in order to fit. And I didn't learn that until we began deconstructing things and really looking at what they were made of.

[Mary Robinette] And to your point, there are also times when you don't have access to that finely perfect like... And you're like, what do I actually need to happen here? What is it that I need to have happen here? I need something that will allow me to turn this screw.

[Howard] With a big enough hammer, I can get that screw into the wall, and that's all I've got right now. So, away we go, and I'll fix it in editing.

[Mary Robinette] I once... Sorry, you just made me flashback to this time in theater... I actually am pretty tool savvy, but the kitchen knife thing is when I'm desperate and don't have handy tools. But I remember this time where someone had offered to help me with a thing. And I'm like, great, can you help me with putting this shelf up? And they attempted to drill a hole with the driver bit.

[Chuckles]

[Mary Robinette] No screw, no... They just... All they knew was that they were supposed to put a bit into the drill and then put it against the wall and then it would do a thing. And it profoundly does not do that thing. And so this is, I think, sometimes what happens to writers who are early in their career and someone is like, this is the tool you should use.

[DongWon] Yeah.

[Mary Robinette] And doesn't explain why or how it works. And so  that's what we're going to be looking at is the why and the how it works.

[Erin] Yeah. I agree, because what you just said, I have no idea why that is wrong, why that wouldn't work, or even what you just said. I heard driver bit, and that was the end of it for me. And I'm...

[DongWon] All drill bits are pointy. Not all pointy things are drill bits. 

[Chuckles]

[Erin] See. And that broke it down for me in a way that I will now [garbled] for the future. Much like the rest of our year is going to do. Right?

[Mary Robinette] Yes.

[Howard] By the way, a thousand drill bits is about the size of a cat.

[DongWon] I think on that note, we need to take a quick break here. And when we come back, we can talk about the other aspect that we're talking about this season, which is personal processes.

[DongWon] Welcome back. So, we're really excited to talk about all these different tools that are applicable to sort of how you think about structure and what you're bringing to your project. Last season, we talked a lot about personal processes. Right? How we each work. And I think you can see that a lot of the tools that we'll be talking about are applied in different ways there. But the other thing that we wanted to address this season is what are the barriers to writing. What are the things that keep you from getting into a place where you're producing work and producing work you're excited about? So we're really breaking down at least a handful of the things that commonly get in the way of writers, and talking about what are some tools that you can use to address those issues, and how can you apply them to create a process that works for you.

[Mary Robinette] Yeah. And those are things, everything ranging from some time management stuff to brain stuff to how do you retrain your family to believe that you're a writer. All of these things. It... I'll go ahead and do a spoiler. It's hard.

[DongWon] It's all hard.

[Mary Robinette] It's all hard. So we're going to be talking about all of those things. But at the core of it, the core of... The barriers and the structure, all of it comes down to this underlying thing which is why. Why is the barrier happening? What are you try... Why are you trying to make this decision? Like, which tool is going to work for you depends on what you're trying to do. So, why are you trying to do a thing? So, since we're in the beginning of the year, and the beginning of this season, we also wanted you to think about what your intentions are. What is your intention with your story, what is your intention with your draft? How do you want to fit...

[Howard][garbled]

[Mary Robinette] Into your life? So we want you to think about those intentions as part of thinking about what structure you need, what pieces you need for writing.

[Erin] In some ways, I think about the barrier breaking thing as deconstructing the structure of your own life.

[DongWon] Yeah.

[Erin] You know what I mean? Like, plots have structure, but so does, like, our lives have... Even the unstructured life has some structure to it. You wake up, you sleep at some point, we hope. And so, I think thinking about what are the structures around us, and how do we think about those as well? It can be so easy to just move through life with so much going on, and never kind of, like, look up and think about what are the habits you're building for yourself, what are the things that you want to change, and how can they be changed? And I think the intention setting is great because it's sort of like what do I wish this was at the end? Like, what is the thing that I want to get to? And then, once you know what your intentions are, sometimes it helps you see what are the barriers between the intention I have in my mind and the actuality of me being able to do it.

[DongWon] And last episode, you heard us talk about us setting some pretty concrete goals for ourselves. And then sort of how did that go, what was that experience like, and things like that. Right? And this is really sort of like what energy do we want to bring to the new year. Right? We are on the cusp of a new year. What are the things that we're hoping to accomplish, at least how we approach, and some of that may be very specific goals, of, like, I want to do XYZ, and some of that may be more general in terms of what brought... What barriers are in front of me and how do I want to address them?

[Erin] It sounds like you want to go first, DongWon?

[DongWon] Yeah. Okay. I can go first. I think the watch word for me this year, as it often is in my life, is balance. Right? I think the thing I'm trying to find is how to balance the number of things that I am trying to do in my time, and without sacrificing quality or efficiency on all those fronts. right? If I have any sin, it is that I am always trying to do too much, I'm trying to do too many things at once. Right? I have many different interests, I have many different things that draw my attention and my enthusiasm, and things like that. Right? So, the first is, I'm trying to bring on some new clients, I'm trying to stay on top of my queries. Right? I'm trying to find a way to make sure that I am getting back to people in a timely way on that front. At the same time that I'm meeting the goals and expectations of my existing clients. Right? And so, the first challenge I have is balancing the bringing in new work and then still executing on the work that I have in front of me. This is a very familiar challenge to any freelancer out there. Right? It's both you need to be doing the rain making side, and also the making sure your crops are harvested properly side. Right? Like, it's both aspects. And a lot of being an agent is managing that rhythm of things. Which has historically been a challenge for me, and I'm sure will continue to be a challenge. So, especially in the first half of this coming year, that's really one thing I have my eye on. I'm also working on a big creative project which I've alluded to a couple times. And so getting... Keeping that on track and working on that in my spare time is important, while meeting all the other goals of my life. Which is maintaining a healthy social life, making sure my home life is good and well ordered, that I'm getting regular exercise and meeting my own fitness goals, [garbled] So all of that is requiring balance, it's requiring perspective. How do I make sure that I'm keeping an eye on all these different things? I have issues with object permanence. Right? If it's not in front of me... sometimes it's like if it's not in front of me, it doesn't exist. Right? And so how do I keep things in my field of vision so that I'm tracking all the things I need to be doing and staying on top of it? And living a well-rounded life that feels satisfying and enriching in all the ways that I want my life to be. So it's kind of a broad answer, but that's what I'm bringing.

[Howard] I mentioned some interior home improvements. One of the things that we put in this last year was a pot rack that hung the pots so that when I am  facing the cooking area, all of the available pots are in my peripheral vision. I bring that up because I didn't expect that to be a big deal, but knowing which pots and pans are not in the dishwasher or not in the sink was huge. Suddenly this whole business of helping object permanence, having things visible as I'm working so that I know what to reach for next... I did not know how big a deal that was until we redesigned the kitchen space, and now I'm never going back. Now, for my own part, for the writing intentions that... The creative intentionality. There are 20 Schlock Mercenary books. And we are getting ready to put number 19 into print. We're finalizing the stuff that goes... The bonus materials that go into that. I would really like to have all 20 done by the end of this year. But at the same time, I'm terrified because once that's done, there are zero excuses... You're out of excuses, Howard, now go write.

[Chuckles]

[Howard] There are no excuses for me not to devote 100% of my energy to something new, to whatever comes next. I feel like I've been putting that off for 5 years now, and I need to stop putting that off. But also, we gotta get book 20 out. and so, I like what you said about balance, because I'm going to be balancing the very mechanical, very flowcharty, spreadsheety process of putting book 20 into print, balancing that against the pure summons of the muse in order to find the thing that I love, the thing that I am going to passionately pour creative energy into in order to pay the bills in 2027. And that's it, that's...

[DongWon][garbled]

[Howard] It's a very small nutshell with a very, very big thing in it.

[DongWon] That's exciting, though.

[Mary Robinette] Yeah. I'm much like DongWon, in that I tend to pick a word. I have used stable, and we moved that year suddenly without expecting it. So that worked out very well. It was 2024, which was [garbled stable garbled]

[DongWon] Intentions are important, but they encounter reality sometimes.

[Mary Robinette] Yeah. But... It is so true. But one of the things that I find when I'm sitting down to write, that often if I write at the top of the page, just kind of the shape of my intention, the feeling that I want a reader to have. Sometimes it's a single word, like cozy. But it can serve as a check for me when I'm making decisions. I can come back and I can look at it and go, is this going to be more... Is this going to be cozier? Or is this going to be not cozy? And the same thing was true when I picked stable. It was like when I was making decisions this year, the word that I'm picking is play.

[DongWon] I love that.

[Mary Robinette] I have been working very hard for a very long time. And the world keeps being on fire. And looking for moments when I can play and celebrating those tiny moments is what I'm interested in doing the next year, both with my personal life but also with my writing. I have been playing... As we've been recording episodes, I've been like, I've never actually used the Save the Cat structure. Let me try it. Let me see what it does. And not thinking of it as I have to get this right, but let me play with this. This is a toy, let me just see what it does. And that I'm finding... I'm... I'm looking forward to some joy with that. I will also say that the reason I picked that word was because the speech that I heard the writer/ puppeteer Liz Hara give several years ago at the... Which was about playing and... as an act of joy and defiance. And the idea that in... She writes, she works with the Muppets. The idea that playing and having failure happen as a result of play is a joyful act and that that's where a lot of the best discoveries come from. So that's what I'm planning, is playing for this year. That's my goal, my intention.

[DongWon] I love that. It's so important to make space for that and make space for that joyful exploration and creative practice.

[Erin] Agreed. I think we're out of other people, so...

[DongWon] Yeah.

[Howard] [garbled] Now it's your turn.

[Chuckles]

[Howard] You don't get to escape.

[Erin] What are you talking about? There is... I think there's two things. So I have both... I think... I like also having, like, intentions. I will often, like, sum up the previous year with, like, a word. Like, now that it's done, what was that the year of? And then I'll go like, okay, what do I want this to be the year of in response? Which sometimes means, like, picking the same word twice, because it didn't work last time. But what I will say for this upcoming year is I really want to build. I think that is the thing I want to do. I want to build structures, I want to build a life. I'm in a new place. Like, I really want to kind of, like, build things that I care about and figure them out. And some of that is... sounds like work, but I actually think building is fun. I'm trying to take building the way that, like, little kids think about, like, Lego sets or, like, blocks. Where it's like there's so much imagination in building. You're trying to figure out what it is, you're trying different things. You start building this structure, that didn't work, you start over. And so, like, building and iteration is something that I want to do the next year. But also, I have a mantra that I'm using every time I'm trying to make a decision about what to do. And it is to live más. Más is the Spanish word for more. And so if I'm deciding...

[DongWon] Is this living the Taco Bell life? What's happening over there?

[Erin] Sometimes advertising really knows our souls. Have you had your break today?  JK. But... Also a good question to ask yourself. But no, a lot of times, I'm like, look, I just want to... Like if I'm deciding between should I buckle down and do this project or, like, go see a friend, I'm like, live más. Go see the friend. Come back. Then do the work. And so I think the two work well together, because live más is, like, me giving my chaotic impulse-having self freedom to reign and run around, and build is the structure that keeps me coming back, so that when I've finished living más...

[Chuckles]

[Erin] And I'm back to living minos... No, that's not good. When I'm back to sort of...

[DongWon] You've lived más and now you need to just live.

[Chuckles]

[Erin] Now I need to just live regular. Then I know what I need to do because I built some structures into my life...

[DongWon] Yeah.

[Erin] That are like, okay, here's what I need to be doing now that I've had my fun. And so it's my way of trying to be basically... Have my cake and eat it too.

[DongWon] I think that what this tells me is that for 2027, our intention episode is only in fast food slogans.

[laughter]

[DongWon] Everyone needs to pick a different fast food slogan, and that's going to be your intention for the year.

[Mary Robinette] Did you know that Taco Bell has an entire magazine, and they take fiction? A friend... I know a writer who has been trying to crack it for like 2 years now. And has not successfully gotten them to buy a story yet.

[DongWon] I want to... I need to know more. I'm Googling this immediately after we're finished recording.

[Chuckles]

[Mary Robinette] And apparently they pay good money. But anyway...

[Howard] [garbled] the deep ones.

[Mary Robinette] Right. So, that brings us to the end of this episode. And you see the other reason that we decided to move away from our tagline 15 minutes long, because we were increasingly not 15 minutes long. Which is not to say that we're always going to do long episodes. But we decided that the structure of 15 minutes was not serving us. And that we needed to get back into the tools, not rules, and the rule about being 15 minutes didn't serve us. So what we're going to be looking at... Here's your homework. Right?

[Mary Robinette] Your homework is to think about what serves you. What piece of last year do you need to let go of? And what intention do you want moving into the new year? So you're going to just write down, I am letting go of... And then whatever comes after that in that sentence. And, this year I am embracing... And then whatever goes into that blank.

[DongWon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses. Now go  reflect.