19.14: A Close Reading on Voice- Epistolary Storytelling Through Voice
Writing Excuses
Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 7 April 2024
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What's epistolary writing? Well, it's writing through letters. But it's also a lot more than that. As we continue to dive into the concept of Voice, we want to explore the importance and power of the letters that Blue and Red write to each other throughout "This Is How You Lose The Time War." If you haven't already listened to our episodes introducing this novella, we recommend you go back and start with Episode 11 (of this season, Season 19)!
And if you’ve been reading along with us while listening to these episodes, please let us know on Instagram. Tag us in a post or comment @writing_excuses !
Thing of the Week: “clipping.” by Story 2
Homework: Write a short note from one of your characters to another about something that’s important to them. Now rewrite it as a text message (change the format). Then rewrite it as a letter that will be screened before it gets to them by an outsider (change the context). And finally, write it as the final message they will get to send during their life (change the stakes).
You can buy this (and all the other books!) through our bookshop link-- this is linked in our bio in addition to right here:
https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19
Close Reading Series: Texts & Timeline
Voice: This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar (March 17)
Worldbuilding: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (May 12)
Character: “You Perfect, Broken Thing,” “The Cook,” and “Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home” by CL Clark (July 7)
Tension: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (September 1)
Structure: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (October 13)
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Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by our listeners, patrons, and friends. |
| 0:05.6 | If you would like to learn how to support this podcast, visit |
| 0:08.9 | www.patreon.com slash writing excuses. |
| 0:15.0 | Hey listeners, we want your input on season 20, |
| 0:18.3 | which I have to be honest does not sound like a real number. |
| 0:21.0 | What elements of the craft do you want us to talk about? What episode or core |
| 0:26.0 | concept do you use or reference or recommend the most? What are you just having trouble with? |
| 0:35.0 | After 20 seasons, we'd revisit for a deeper dive on the |
| 0:40.1 | podcast? |
| 0:41.1 | Email your ideas to podcast at writing excuses.com. |
| 0:46.8 | Season 19 episode 14. |
| 0:51.7 | This is writing excuses. |
| 0:53.0 | A close reading on voice, a pistillary storytelling through voice. |
| 0:57.0 | 15 minutes long. |
| 0:58.0 | You're in a hurry and we're not that smart. |
| 1:01.0 | I'm Mary Robinette. |
| 1:02.0 | I'm Dong-wan. I'm Mary Robinette. |
| 1:02.5 | I'm Don Juan. |
| 1:03.2 | I'm Aaron and I'm Howard. |
| 1:05.3 | And at the very beginning of our journey in this book, I talked about how much I loved |
| 1:10.4 | the fact that it used, Epistolary, it it uses letters and so we're going to really |
| 1:14.9 | dive into how voice is working within the epistlearies in this particular |
... |
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