Writing Excuses 8.37: When Fail Happens ...

We are joined by author Mark Oshiro, who primarily writes YA and middle grade books and was a guest teacher aboard our 2024 cruise! (Our 2025 cruise is over 50% sold out! Learn more and sign up here.) We ask the question, “Why did you write this book?” while focusing specifically ... Show More

What separates the way we experience a game versus the way we experience a prose narrative? Erin Roberts has written for many games, and she loves games particularly because they give the person experiencing the narrative more choice and more direct agency over what happens. This ... Show More

Our hosts explore how to write compelling confrontations—whether physical fights or emotional arguments—in a live episode recorded on the Writing Excuses Cruise. Building off Dan Wells' class Why Your Fight Scene Is Boring, our hosts break down reactions into four elements: focus ... Show More

Mistakes happen. It’s how you respond that really matters. In a group discussion, three project professionals share how they turned failure into lessons learned and career maturity. How do you help team members overcome mistakes? And how can project leaders create a culture that ... Show More

We all know Silicon Valley’s mantra: fail fast, fail often. But when is it OK to fail in the real world? Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson says it depends on how and why you fail. She’s an expert on psychological safety and the author of the book, Right Kind of Wron ... Show More

Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss: Criticism—it’s inevitable as an online marketer and business owner. As an entrepreneur I’ve come across my fair share. You’ll run into your own criticism at some point (if you haven’t already!) and yes, it may get uncomfortable. So I want ... Show More

Have you ever failed in business and found yourself too afraid to try again? Wondering how to overcome that fear and move forward with confidence? You’re not alone, and today’s lesson is here to help. Omar tackles a common yet daunting issue faced by many entrepreneurs: the fear ... Show More

Writing a screenplay is like following a cookie recipe, it’s closer to magic than science. You don’t have to follow screenwriting “rules” to create an amazing story. There’s something else you don’t have to do in your career. When serious problems arise in your personal life, you ... Show More

How To Reject Negative Feedback At Work 

How do you handle criticism or critique? Very few people can take criticism generously and put it to good use in their life or work. For most, it makes us feel uncomfortable or defeated. Darren addresses this topic in today's episode because feedback is a fundamental part of sust ... Show More

🔥 How to Start a Business (Even If You Think You Can’t)Starting a business? You need to hear this. In this episode, I break down the best way to start—from working for someone in your industry to making sure you actually like what you're doing. Trust me, if you're only in it for ... Show More

To be human is to fail — period. And not just to fail once, but to fail a lot. As the author Samuel Beckett said: “Fail again. Fail better.” Why are we, and so many others, so deeply concerned by failure? And if it’s something we all do so often, why are we so afraid of it — espe ... Show More

Companies of every size across the world are basing more of their work around projects, but research shows that nearly two-thirds of those efforts fail. Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez has studied projects and project management for decades. He argues that at least some of the blame for ... Show More