Writing Excuses · Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
20.26: Gaming as a Writing Metaphor
June 29, 2025·26 min·2 clips
Erin explains why she quit The Last of Us to watch the TV show instead.
As heard by us
A sharp craft discussion of agency, buy-in, and how games change the story contract.
The conversation uses gaming as a useful way to think about agency, buy-in, and the kind of contract a story makes when people can steer it. It keeps circling practical craft questions: who the work asks something of, how much guidance that audience needs, and what changes when…
Why you'd press play
If you want to rethink story through player choice and agency, this one is for you.
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