On this week's episode of How to Write Good, I continue with my second rule: Grammar serves meaning, where I talk about everything from creoles, pidgins, babies babbling, grammar rules, grammar non-rules, and my pet peeves. Stay in touch by visiting my website, www.danielpoppie.com .
In this episode of #howtowritegood, I am a hypocrite. Though I promised that I would never tell anyone how to write, I am presenting my rules for writing. With these rules, I am attempting to find what is true for writing across the board. What is the first rule? Writing follows after language. Learn how to write by learning how to write on How to Write Good. As always, stay in touch by visiting my website, www.danielpoppie.com .
Author Peter Laws joins me on this episode of How to Write Good, and we discuss why people enjoy getting scared (which really doesn't make much sense to me at all). Find out more about Peter on his website, www.peterlaws.co.uk . You can also follow him on Twitter @peterlaws or check out his book that came out yesterday, "The Frighteners: Why We Love Monsters, Ghosts, Death, and Gore." Stay in touch with me at my website at www.danielpoppie.com ....
On this week's episode of How to Write good, I talk about how writing is not a glamorous endeavor. Good writing does not come from sudden flashes of genius that send the writer into an hour-long writing binge. They come from setting aside a little bit of time every day and writing. Check out my website to stay in touch at www.danielpoppie.com .
In this episode, I talk about how reflecting on past writers is important to building the skill of writing, but too many people see mimicking others as the primary way in which good writing is developed. Since the language has changed, so too has good writing, and writers should seek to experiment and find what sounds and fits best with the current language (and possibly even the future of the language) to find their unique voice. Check out my website at www.danielpoppie.com to keep up with my ...
On this 46th Episode of How to Write Good, I discuss the elevating issues in the plays of Shakespea... No, I don't. On this week's episode, I discuss how I believe that individuals in the English literature world believe that they enjoy Shakespearean plays. When studying Shakespeare, I noticed the tendency to assume Shakespeare and therefore look at how Shakespeare is a genius first, rather than first looking at Shakespeare to see whether his plays have merit in our modern world. Join me this we...
Writing your first book is a daunting task, especially when you look back at what you've written and see it ain't that good. But you're in good company. Today I have a writer of historical fiction, Clint Gilman. Clint and I talk about the writing process and crappy first drafts.
Difficulties in life are inevitable. Pain is inevitable. Suffering, inevitable. But writing can help us understand the entropy and do something with it. This week may actually be relevant to more people than writers. I talk about the power of writing to take chaos and distill even the most disordered emotions and bring them into order.
In this episode, I talk about my own journey as a writer. I have been thinking about stepping out and taking risks despite the chance of failure. In particular, I talk about my struggles with particular pieces of storytelling and how I have grown in those areas. One thing I mention in this episode is the Big Five personality test. Here is a test for you to take if you want to (I did not know whether this one is good, but I think it is): https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/IPIP-BFFM/ As always, c...
This week I talk about ideas presented in the TV show, Rick and Morty. In the show, the universe and humans are presented as meaningless. After talking at some length about meaninglessness in the world, I talk about how pain leads to searching and how searching can lead to the creation of really good art. As always, check out my website to stay in touch at www.danielpoppie.com .
This week on How to Write Good, I talk about bad storytelling and bad art. What is the culprit? Avoiding risk. Authors who make it big lose their edge because they have become comfortable and do not take risks. One of the reasons I like authors is because they get better with age (like a fine wine or something like that), but some authors I loved in the past seemed to have made some money, gotten comfortable, and decided that they could stop growing. Movies are a bit more complicated. There are ...
Evan Swonke, guitarist and leadsinger of the Colonnades, guests on this week's episode of How to Write Good. We talk about his musical genre, why he writes music, and the different types of musicians. Evan explains the three types. Join on this week on How to Write Good. You can find more about the Colonnades here: https://www.facebook.com/thecolonnades If you want to check out the band he mentioned, you can check them out here: http://www.marmalakes.com/ ....
Last week, I talked about how stories can draw us into a and can help us elicit memories and feelings that border on fantasy. This week, I continue talking about what fantasy is about. Historically, fantasy has been looked down on, but I think fantasy has much to offer the literature and people in general. Here is one very interesting book about fantasy, but it is a little long: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RVOtAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP6&dq=fantasy+fiction&ots=...
I have this weird experience almost daily where I experience something that isn't part of my memory. Similar to nostalgia, this experience deals with the past and is maybe even nostalgia in part, but it is more like experiencing the world through the eyes of a child or coming into contact with something out of folklore or mythology. I find it difficult to explain it myself. Join me this week on How to Write Good as I talk about how art has the power to make us experience something that seems to...
Happy July 4th! This week I talk about how Americans are unique among all other cultures. I take a broad overview of what people say about Americans before talking about how Americans compare to their closest relatives: Europeans. I look at American in relation to British literature and French art before talking about the oddly good relations between the United States and Japan and why that might be. Finally, I talk about the specifics of what the key factors are that make Americans unique among...
This week on How to Write Good, Emily Brady of the podcast Plotboilers guests. We talk about two different books, "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry." We talk about how slow and satisfying the character change of the main character is in "The Count of Monte Cristo," and we talk about the the value that comes through the storytelling of "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry," a tale told through the eyes of a little girl. Find out more abou...
This week I talk about the power of metaphor both in stories and in the human life. Starting out with the idea of vivid descriptions, I first talk about an author's ability to paint a picture that engages all the senses, rather than just telling what someone is doing or seeing or feeling. This goes back to the advice of "show, don't tell," but I think that it goes even beyond that. Metaphors, visualizations, the ability to explain things in a way that engages how a person interacts with the wor...
When thinking about doing anything creative or entrepreneurial, many of us can be faced with worry that causes us to avoid acting at all. In this episode of How to Write Good, I talk about failure and the necessity of allowing oneself to fail.
Many writers have rituals they use to get into the mindset of writing, whether this ritual is dressing up in their fanciest clothes or have a cigarette and coffee. On this week's episode of How to Write Good, I talk about how a person is able to get into the creative process as well as what a person can do to kill that creativity.
Author David Stewart guests on this week's episode of HTWG. David and I discuss such things as the components needed to make a good story, David's writing process, and a process that can help a writer make the plot central in the story. Learn more about David Stewart at www.davidvstewart.com , on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/rpmfidel , and on Twitter @DavidVStewart.
Egocentrism is the idea that a person is unable to take another person's perspective. Though baby and toddlers often come to mind first when this idea comes up, egocentrism is present in everyone. On this week's episode, I talk about how egocentrism impacts writing. How does it play out? What should a writer do? How does this connect to broader purposes in writing?
Having deleted an entire episode, I, distracted by what I am reading rather than what I had planned, discuss connecting psychology to the scientific method to synthesis, cognitive science, and writing. How can knowing how the mind works help a person both being a better thinker and a better writer?
Ray Bradbury has a famous quote: "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." This quote is one widely spread and often seen posted by bibliophiles. I discuss what Ray Bradbury could have possibly meant by this quote, how it is applicable, and whether it has any merit.
Within the life of every person who is creative, the question of whether they would like to monetize their creativity is likely to come up. In this new age, the avenues one can take to do this have become more varied than they once were. Chris Troncinski and I talk about what will allow someone to become rich. We discuss what one should look for when putting out a product and what the most important aspects of success, in general, are.
I continue my discussion about motifs in artistic expression. I elaborate by talking about my process of starting with an idea and growing that idea.
I talk about the idea of creating art around a central idea and show how a simple premise when creating art can help bring about an artistically complex end.
I finish my discussion on obsession and fandoms.
Seth and I discuss debate, critical thinking, the Socratic method, and what the goal should be of any discussion where there is disagreement.
I continue my discussion on obsession and fandoms.
In this episode of How to Write Good, I talk about obsession, fascination, and theories about why fandoms are so prevalent in the modern world.
