Writing and narrative are commonly taken to be two separate fields of research and scholarly reflection. In this paper, I offer some thoughts on how they are related, using David Olson's work on literacy and the development of metalinguistic awareness as a frame of reasoning. As Olson has shown, language is not only a form and practice of communication and representation, but also a symbolic practice that makes us aware of language itself, especially of its constructive, reflexive, and creative potentials. Against this background, I argue that both writing and narrative can be seen as powerful practices of language awareness; examining them allows us to better understand the cultural nexus of mind and language.