20.28: The Lens of Tradition

Writing Excuses

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

Fiction, Business, Careers

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 July 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Every story has been told. Okay, maybe not, but most stories have a tradition/ influence/ history/ genre/ style that they draw upon, even if only slightly. How do you know what traditions you're bringing to your work, and how can you use them to make your story both resonant and unique?

We’re exploring the lens of “why” right now. Why do we write the stories that we write? And what did we read that influenced us to write our work— that is, what are our narrative traditions?

Homework: Make a list of five narratives of any type—a ghost story, a barber shop tale, a game, a movie—that form part of your storytelling tradition. Write them down, look at them, and then think: how is your current work influenced by the list? And is there one that you would like to bring even more to bear on the current story you’re working on?

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 Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, 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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1:00.1	patrons, and friends. If you would like to learn how to support this podcast, visit
1:04.5	www.com.com slash writing excuses.
1:10.9	Season 20, episode 28.
1:15.3	This is writing excuses.
1:17.7	The Lens of Tradition.
1:19.4	I'm Mary Robinette.
1:20.6	I'm Aaron.
1:21.4	I'm Dong Wan.
1:22.3	And I'm Howard.
1:24.0	And this is an episode that I'm particularly excited about because it makes us think about we're in why.
1:31.2	Like we're in the why lens. Like, why are we writing the stories that we write? And I think that as much as all of us, I think, were, or I don't know, speak for yourselves.
1:40.0	But we're motivated to write by something we've read, a narrative we've experienced. I think a lot of
1:45.9	times we forget as we move on in our careers to think about what tradition we come from.
	...

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