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 story-telling 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 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 , and find out more about Emily and her podcast here https://plotboilers.com/

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 world (through the senses) is directly connected to how we become close to other people. So, the idea of metaphor goes beyond writing and storytelling and helps us understand our lives on a deeper level. I hope that today's show and many shows to come allow you to view life differently and gain a better appreciation for the little things or even those things that are difficult.

Here are the links to the different books and poems I reference in this episode:

Steven Pinker's "The Sense of Style"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20821371-the-sense-of-style

Gabriele Lusor Rico's "Writing the Natural Way"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/143257.Writing_the_Natural_Way

Charles Dickens' "Hard Times"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5344.Hard_Times

Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7082.Do_Androids_Dream_of_Electric_Sheep_

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. Metaphor's, visualizations​, the ability to explain things in a way that engages how a person interacts with the world (through the senses) is directly connected to how we become close to other people. So, the idea of metaphor goes beyond writing and story-telling and helps us understand our lives on a deeper level. I hope that today's show and many shows to come allow you to view life differently and gain a better appreciation for the little things or even those things that are difficult. Here are the links to the different books and poems I references in this episode: Steven Pinker's 'The Sense of Style' https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20821371-the-sense-of-style?from_search=true ; Gabriele Lusor Rico's 'Writing the Natural Way' https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/143257.Writing_the_Natural_Way?from_search=true ; Charles Dickens' 'Hard Times' https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5344.Hard_Times?from_search=true ; and Philip K. Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7082.Do_Androids_Dream_of_Electric_Sheep_ .

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.

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, Daniel Poppie talks 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.

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, Daniel Poppie talks 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.

David Stewart guests on this week's episode of HTWG. Daniel Poppie and David 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.

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?