20.26: Gaming as a Writing Metaphor

20.26: Gaming as a Writing Metaphor

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler June 29, 2025 Duration: 26:07
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 changes the way that we experience story. When you’re writing a game, the main thing you have to figure out is the actions: what are the potential things that could happen—and therefore, what are the verbs? We dive into decision, audience buy in, and ultimately try to answer the question: what does gaming teach us about making and finding meaning? Homework: Take a project you’re working on and imagine that someone is making a game of it. What would that game be? What would be the actions that the characters would be doing? What would be the part of the world that the game would be focused on? Feel free to look at examples of this (like the games that were made based on Lord of the Rings.) P.S. Our 2025 writing retreat (on a cruise! In Mexico!) is over 50% sold out! Learn more and sign up here. Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Dan Wells, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, and Howard Tayler. 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
13.17: What Writers Get Wrong, with Jamahl Crouch [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:18
Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard, with Jamahl Crouch Jamahl Crouch (Illusmm1 on Instagram) joined us at the GenCon Indy Writers Symposium to talk about what writers get wrong about street art. Jamahl is many th…
13.16: Avoiding Flat Characters [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:43
Your Hosts: Brandon, Valynne, Dan, and Howard For our purposes, the term "flat character" refers to a character who lacks the depth required to maintain reader interest. In this episode we discuss how to avoid putting fl…
13.15: What Writers Get Wrong, with Mike Stop Continues [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:05
Recorded live at WXR 2017. Your Hosts: Dan, Mary, Aliette, and Howard, with special guest Mike Stop Continues Mike has multiple areas of expertise, but for this episode he's talking to us specifically about the things th…
13.14: Character Nuance [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:46
Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary, Amal, and Maurice Let's talk about characters who have conflict built right into them; characters whose attributes and attitudes might seem to contradict one another; characters who like, y'kno…
13.13: Character Voice [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:40
Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard Character voice, the flow, order, and feel of words that is unique to a particular character, is extremely useful in defining characters for the reader. In this episode we discu…
13.12: Q&A on Heroes, Villains, and Main Characters [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:14
Your Cast: Brandon, Valynne, Dan, Howard You had questions about heroes, villains, and main characters. We have answers! Here are the questions: * How do you make planned power increases not seem like an ass-pull¹? * Wha…
13.11: Writing Secondary Characters, with Charlaine Harris [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:14
Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard, with special guest Charlaine Harris Charlaine Harris joined us in front of a live audience at the GenCon Writers Symposium to talk with us about secondary characters—why they'r…
13.10: Handling a Large Cast [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:14
Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary, Amal, and Maurice What are our favorite techniques for managing large casts of characters, and how do our processes differ from when we're writing small casts? What does "large" and "small" mea…
13.9: Quick Characterization [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:16
Your Hosts: Brandon, Mary, Dan, and Howard How do you go about defining a character for your readers when you don't have many words to devote to the project? What are the tricks for quickly establishing someone's individ…
13.8: Making Characters Distinctive [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:21
Your Hosts: Brandon, Valynne, Dan, and Howard What do we do to make our characters distinctive? Often we categorize the distinctions as flaws or quirks, and in this discussion we use those as our starting points. Credits…