20.12: Fashion as a Writing Metaphor

Writing Excuses

Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler

Fiction, Business, Careers

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today, we’re returning to different personal metaphors for how we all think about writing and storytelling. In this episode, we’re talking about how DongWon uses fashion as a helpful metaphor to think about storytelling. For both fashion and writing, whether you know it or not, you are already engaging with it every single day of your life. You are writing emails, you are communicating with the people around you, you’re dressing yourself, you’re wearing certain things and not others, and you’re ordering pizza! But what’s the difference between ordering a pizza and performing a poem? Well, lots of things, but mostly intention and deliberateness.

Note: In this episode, we mention cooking as a metaphor—this episode hasn’t aired yet but will in May!

Homework: Take one article of clothing from your closet and build three different looks around it. One for everyday wear, one for a family function, and one for a night out

P.S. Our Writing Excuses cruise is over 50% sold out! Secure your spot today at www.writingexcuses.com/retreats

Sign up for our newsletter

Credits: Your hosts for this episode were DongWon Song, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Erin Roberts. Our guest was Chuck Tingle. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

Join Our Writing Community!

Our Sponsors:
* Visit kinsta.com to get your first month free when you sign up today!

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/writing-excuses2130/exclusive-content

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Let's talk about something that might be keeping you up at night. Cybersecurity. According to Vantar's latest state of trust report, it's the number one concern for UK businesses. That's where Vanta comes in. Whether you're a startup, growing fast or already established, Vanta can help you get ISO-2701 certified and more without the headaches.
0:22.5	And Vanta allows your company to centralise security workflows,
0:26.2	complete questionnaires up to five times faster,
0:28.5	and proactively manage vendor risk to help your team not only get compliant, but stay compliant.
0:34.3	Stop stressing over cyber security and start focusing on growing your business. For a
0:39.5	limited time, our audience gets $1,000 off Vanta at vanta.com slash go. That's va-n-ta.com
0:47.1	slash go for $1,000 off. Because when it comes to your business, it's not just about keeping the lights on.
0:53.7	It's about keeping
0:54.4	everything secure. Hey, guess what? The 2025 writing excuses cruise is over 50% sold out. During this
1:02.0	week-long masterclass, I'm going to be leading writers like yourself through a series of workshops
1:06.8	designed to give you the tools to take your writing to the next level. Space is limited,
1:11.7	but there is still time to secure your spot. We're going to be sailing out of Los Angeles from
1:16.8	September 18th through 26th. Regardless of where you are in your writing journey, this event is
1:22.5	your opportunity to learn new skills while exploring the beautiful Mexican Riviera.
1:31.9	Whether you're revising a story, reworking a character arc, or revitalizing your plot,
1:37.0	you'll leave more confident in your current story and bolstered by a new set of friends.
1:42.2	Join us on board at writingexcuses.com slash retreats.
1:48.2	This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by our listeners, patrons, and friends. If you would like to learn how to support this podcast, visit www.com.com slash writing excuses.
1:58.1	Season 20, episode 12.
2:02.5	This is writing excuses.
2:05.0	Fashion as a writing metaphor.
2:07.3	I'm Mary Robinette.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.