Writing Excuses 6.14: Suspension of Disbelief

Patrick Rothfuss joins Brandon, Dan, Mary, and Howard at WorldCon 69, where we recorded before a live, enthusiastic audience. The topic? Suspension of disbelief, specifically, how to get your readers to do this. Patrick leads us off with verisimilitude, and how the reader will accept the fantastic if you're presenting the mundane in a believable way. We talk about laying groundwork, about Chekov's gun, the promises we have to make to our readers, and the dramatic tool bathos. Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: The Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss, narrated by Nick Podehl. Writing Prompt: Make the reader believe one impossible thing. If you can't think of something on your own, start with teleportation. This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by Audible. Visit http://AudiblePodcast.com/excuse for a free trial membership*. *Note: From the Audible website, here are the terms of the free membership. Read the fine print, please! Audible® Free Trial Details Get your first 14 days of the AudibleListener® Gold membership plan free, which includes one audiobook credit. After your 14 day trial, your membership will renew each month for just $14.95 per month so you can continue to receive one audiobook credit per month plus members-only discounts on all audio purchases. A very small number of titles are more than one credit. Cancel your membership before your free trial period is up and you will not be charged. Thereafter, cancel anytime, effective the next billing cycle. Any unused audiobook credits will be lost at cancellation.