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, check out my website to stay in touch at www.danielpoppie.com

This week I talk about the 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. In the main bulk of the episode, 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: danielpoppie.com

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.

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 whether this one is good, but I think it is: https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/IPIP-BFFM/

As always, check out my website to stay in touch: 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 many problems that can help create a crappy movie, but one of the culprits is safety. Another problem is too many people having too much pull in the creative process.

Here are some resources that I used:
https://screencraft.org/2016/06/30/hollywood-makes-bad-movies/
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/07/dustin-hoffman-worst-movies

As always, check out my website at www.danielpoppie.com.

The Ninth Hour as an ebook is free until August 5th. You can pick it up here:
https://www.amazon.com/Ninth-Hour-Memoriam-Book-ebook/dp/B07F7M8H9F/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532471704&sr=8-1&keywords=daniel+poppie

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=OC_tD4-V35&sig=p2jVnNMc_71Lgs6fbWR8PdQ2OFw#v=onepage&q=fantasy%20fiction&f=false

And here are a couple more articles that I drew ideas from:
http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2014/05/06/3998712.htm
http://www.ursulakleguin.com/SomeAssumptionsAboutFantasy.html)

Check out my website at www.danielpoppie.com and if you would like a free copy of my book, I said that it would be available for free now, but it will be available for free the first week it is out:
https://www.amazon.com/Ninth-Hour-Memoriam-Book-ebook/dp/B07F7M8H9F/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531181499&sr=8-1&keywords=daniel+poppie

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 go beyond this mundane world.

You can check out the Psychology Today article I mentioned here:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201203/whats-so-nice-about-nostalgia)

Read more about being half-asleep here:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/04/deciphering-hypnagogia/478941/)

Here is a video you can watch about C.S. Lewis' conversion to Christianity (It isn't exactly what I say, but I think it is essentially the same thing.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS3thuSHUYg

As always, check out my website: www.danielpoppie.com

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 other groups of people (even though we happen to be made up of all types of people).

Here are a few resources I mention during the podcast episode:

"Why Are We So Fascinated with US Literature"
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/feb/11/poe-ballantine-american-literature

The article from 1939 that I mentioned, "What Makes an American"
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1939/03/what-makes-an-american/309021/

The two articles that I used to compare French and American art
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/famous-american-painters
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/famous-french-artists

Besides these, you can also check out these two other articles that show American and French​ paintings to compare them yourself:
https://www.complex.com/style/2012/05/the-50-greatest-american-paintings/
http://frenchpaintings.org/

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 about Emily and her podcast here: https://plotboilers.com/, more about "The Count of Monte Cristo" here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7126.The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo, more about "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry" here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23604559-my-grandmother-asked-me-to-tell-you-she-s-sorry.