Writing Excuses · Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler
20.33: Raising Children as a Metaphor for Writing
August 17, 2025·28 min·2 clips
Dan Wells reveals how his son transformed from shouting 'Pepsi, gun, gun' to studying in Taiwan.
As heard by us
A plain, useful way to think about how creative control changes after publication.
Mary Robinette Kowal opens on a rueful note, admitting she regrets choosing raising children as the metaphor. That sets up the episode's main move: treating creative control like parenting, where a draft is yours to shape and a published book is not.
Why you'd press play
When your draft starts acting like a teenager.
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