First Lines over at Writing Excuses

Writing Excuses, with Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Daniel WellsIt's Monday, and that means another installment of Writing Excuses is live. This time around, Brandon grills Dan and I on "first lines," the importance of hooking the reader, and why he worries that this gets too much emphasis when aspiring writers seek instruction on the craft. Have a listen to Episode Four: Beginnings.

There are a couple of great moments in there -- at one point I shout "Heresy!" and at another Brandon has a massive brain-fart (silent but deadly, in this case.) I also use what I now believe to be one of the weakest metaphors ever. For the record, I shall never again compare your writing to a used car.

In unrelated news, I had a great birthday, and I owe you all at least one or two more photos of the Wall O' Postcards. It looks wonderful, and I don't want to ever take it down.

Also, we will be shipping the Rule 1 t-shirts this week. Please stop ordering them for a few days (don't make me delete the link to the store item!) so Sandra can catch her breath.