Writing Excuses

Hosts Erin and DongWon are joined by Fonda Lee and Mahtab Narsimhan for a special episode about creating traditions in your fictional writing. In this episode, we'll explore some of the following: -How do you build traditions and rituals in your fictional world (choosing what becomes a tradition or ritual and what doesn’t)? -How can you use rituals or traditions to advance a novel’s plot, give characters more depth, and create conflict? -What are the pitfalls to avoid (depiction of closed practices, over-ritualizing common traditions)?Homework: Pick a ritual or tradition that you are very accustomed to and make it the center of a fictional scene. You can change its meaning or impact, but the content of the tradition should stay the same.Thing of the Week: Shanghai Immortal by AY Chao (especially the audiobook version)Liner Notes: This podcast episode idea was inspired by ReaderCon 2023, where Erin Roberts was a panelist.Sign up for our newsletter: https://writingexcuses.comCredits: Your hosts for this epi