20.21: The Lens of Context

20.21: The Lens of Context

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler May 25, 2025 Duration: 21:15
This week, we’re digging into context—what it is, why it matters, and how it can totally transform your storytelling. Whether you're working in fantasy, sci-fi, or anything in between, the details you choose to include (or leave out) can make your world feel rich, real, and emotionally resonant. We talk about using context to deepen conflict, sharpen stakes, and land those emotional beats. And yes, we also get into puppets, geology, and the perils of overbuilding your world. (Spoiler: nobody needs to know how many toes your goblins have. . . unless it really matters.) Homework: Take a context, some piece of world building that you've done, and come up with three different narratives that you could write that use that context. Then separately, make a narrative that you have written and come up with three new contexts in which that narrative would succeed. Show Notes: Learn more about how Campfire can help you outline your novel, organize your world building, and publish your story! P.S. Want to come write with us in 2025?! Our retreat registration is open, and we are starting to fill up! We are going to unlock our creative processes in Minnesota and explore Story Refinement as we cruise down the Mexican Riviera! Learn more here. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Erin Roberts, and DongWon Song. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson. Join Our Writing Community! Writing Retreats Newsletter Patreon Instagram Threads Bluesky TikTok YouTube Facebook 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

It’s a common piece of advice: if you want to be a writer, you should write. But what happens when you’re staring at the blank page, or when the business side of publishing feels like a maze? That’s where Writing Excuses comes in. Each week, hosts Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler gather not just to talk about writing, but to dissect it. They move quickly, respecting your time while packing episodes with actionable discussions on technique, from character voice to plot structure. But this podcast understands that a writing life isn’t just about craft-it’s also a career. So conversations naturally pivot to the practicalities of the business, navigating careers, and sustaining creativity in a demanding field. You’ll hear five distinct professional perspectives blending into a single, focused conversation designed to get you past excuses and back to your work. It’s like a regular, invigorating workshop session delivered directly to you, meant to equip you with tools for both your manuscript and your professional path.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 500

Writing Excuses
Podcast Episodes
19.18: How to Build Fictional Economies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:36
Sometimes we know the action and themes of your story, but you don’t know how to build an economy that supports those. Well today, we explain just how to do that! What are some questions you can ask yourself about the wo…
19.17: Novellas- the Goldilocks of Publishing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:29
How do you find the right size for your story? And speaking of size, what do novellas do differently than both short stories and novels? What even is the difference between a novel and a novella? How many characters do t…
19.16: An Interview with Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:02
Today we get to talk to the inimitable Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar. Amal and Max are on the podcast to tell us about how they wrote a book together (hint: they didn’t write it together in the form of one voice.) The…
19.15: A Close Reading on Voice: Tying It All Together [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:18
As we conclude our first deep dive of our close reading series, we want to explore how the evolution of voice helped carry readers throughout "This Is How You Lose The Time War." We also talk about the relationship betwe…
19.12: A Close Reading on Voice - Red's Perspective - Muscular Prose [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:37
Today, we are doing a very close read of Red's opening narration and how Red’s voice communicates both character and world in an effective and efficient way. We read several sections aloud and dive into what each sensory…
19.11: A Close Reading on Voice- An Overview, and Why Time War [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:03
The book that became a New York Times Bestseller because of a tweet. Well, it won LOTS of awards when it came out, but it was rediscovered by a Twitter account with a large following. So-- let's get into it!On our first…
19.10: Introducing Our Close Readings Series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:30
You’ve probably seen us posting about our Close Reading Series, and in his episode, we finally officially introduce it! For most of the remainder of 2024, we’ll be diving into five core elements of writing by focusing on…
19.09: LIVE Recording - Rituals, Rites, and Traditions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:20
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 tradi…