Head Trip

This episode of more of a kite than a jet plane. I'm giving updates on Tomorrow City, talking about the Myth of the Rockstar Creative, How to Develop Your Process as Writer, and Breaking Down the Pantser vs. Plotter Dichotomy

How to deal with self-doubt when creating? There's only two ways to do it, either you become the greatest in the world, above all possible reproach, OR you lean into your uniqueness. As Emerson says, you till the plot of land that only you can till.

I'm calling this "Part 2" of my "Ultimate Badass Story Theory". Part 1 was back on episode 12 where I talked about "self-aware stories", and today I'm talking about stories that use TIME as a narrative device. Breaking Bad. Name of the Wind. The Lies of Locke Lamora. And greatest time-hopper of them all, Billy Pilgrim from Slaughterhouse Five.

Happy Wednesday! I'm not talking about talking about the virus today - I'm taking around it. Quarantine has been good to me in terms of writing, and I'm happy to share that 15,000 words of my novel are finished and available to read on patreon. I'm also giving some life updates and sharing my most recent thoughts on the ever-important wide vs amazon debate.

When your computer breaks down and a virus threatens to grow into a global pandemic, how are you supposed to clear your head and focus on that fantasy story that you're writing? Is it responsible or even reasonable to waste energy on your hobbies during times like these? In this episode I'm giving advice to myself, and talking through the struggle of being creative during stressful times.

This is an inbetweener episode, a good one for the new listener, or for those of you who are interested in Tomorrow City. This is the first of many "progress updates" that I'm going to do as I write and publish the Tomorrow City series.

Talking Dr. Seuss today! I'm braking down "Oh the Places You'll Go" by using the shape of stories technique as outlined by Kurt Vonnegut. Spoiler alert: This Dr. Seuss classic is actually just a traditional "boy falls in a pit" story, EXCEPT there are two pits! Also, Lion King, Aladdin, Cinderella and more...

The powerful Gary Tandy joins us this week! If you love Murakami, or you just want to hear how a professor goes about analyzing an amazing literary classic, then this episode is for you. What is the Wind-up bird? Why is the cat missing? Is Murakami a lonely guy? How can the protagonist of a novel be so passive? And have you ever heard the story of the shitty monkeys on the shitty island?

Today I make some outrageous comparisons between Phillip Pullman, C.S. Lewis and George R.R. Martin. And I share my theory that Phillip Pullman wrote the Book of Dust series as a prequel (instead of as a sequel) because of his love for Lyra. And really, who doesn't love "His Dark Materials"?

Have you seen the movie Parasite yet? I won't spoil anything. I'll just get you even more excited. Today I'm talking about truly original stories, the ones that really blow your mind, from the Odyssey to Coen Brothers' Movies, from Slaughterhouse 5 to Catch-22. Then at the end I'm breaking down my latest rough draft scene - Scene 4 of Ch1 of the Tomorrow City Rough Draft