Writing Excuses Season 2 Episode 23: Avoiding the Cliché with Tracy Hickman
Writing Excuses
Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2009
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After the initial introductions we dig into clichés, starting with characters - specifically, how to avoid these kinds of problems in our characters. What's the difference between a cliché and an archetype? Tracy saves us time and again with great answers that beg a dozen or more podcasts. It's a good thing Tracy and Laura have their own podcast.
This episode has "clipping" problems. We need to buy some good audio gear for Jordan so he can fix problems like this. Or maybe some audio gear that will let him prevent problems like this. But don't discuss that in the comments. Discuss clichés, please.
Writing Prompt: Howard gets attacked by monkeys. Our Sponsors: * Check out HomeServe and use my code homeserve.com/excuses for a great deal: https://www.homeserve.com * Check out Talkiatry and use my code Talkiatry.com/WX for a great deal: https://www.talkiatry.com Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This year my family will be having our 67th annual Christmas Eve dinner. |
| 0:04.8 | It's a menu passed down from my grandmother through my mom to me. |
| 0:08.8 | The entire family shows up. |
| 0:11.8 | I'm talking fourth cousins once removed and this is not an |
| 0:15.1 | exaggeration which means that during the lead up I don't have time to menu plan or |
| 0:20.0 | cook anything else. That's when I turn to prepared meals like Factor, America's |
| 0:26.0 | number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service. Factor can help you eat well for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with chef-prepared, dietition approved, ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door. |
| 0:37.0 | It allows me to save time and not eat garbage while tackling all my holiday to-do's. |
| 0:42.0 | So if you want to cross meal prepping... while tackling all my holiday to-do's. |
| 0:42.6 | So if you want to cross meal prepping off your list |
| 0:45.8 | this holiday season, consider factor. |
| 0:48.4 | You can skip the meal planning, grocery shopping, |
| 0:50.9 | shopping, shopping, prepping, and cleaning up, and get factors fresh never frozen meals delivered |
| 0:55.8 | to your door. |
| 0:56.8 | They're ready in just two minutes, which my dad says is the appropriate amount of time to cook |
| 1:01.4 | a meal. |
| 1:02.4 | He has no idea. The point is, all you have to do is heat and enjoy. |
| 1:07.0 | And if you're trying to squeeze writing into the holiday press, it might be useful to know that Factor isn't just for dinner. |
| 1:15.1 | Count on extra convenience any time of the day with an assortment of 55-plus add-ons to suit various |
| 1:20.8 | preferences and tastes. |
| 1:22.8 | So you can carve out some writing time in the morning by choosing quick breakfast items, |
| 1:27.2 | lunch to go, grab and go snacks, or ready to eat cold-pressed juices, shakes, and smoothies. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.