Platypus Novel

John Lloyd recorded at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, from his show Liff of QI, talking about his and Douglas Adams's 1983 book The Meaning of Liff and the new sequel Afterliff written with Jon Canter. http://afterliff.com

John Lloyd on the story behind writing Afterliff

This week we’re talking about writing a novel because guess what? Tom wrote a novel.

We also discuss some other guy who uses the pseudonym of Tom Reynolds, SAG name rules, the other Mark Wahlberg and maybe the most horrific episode of a game show ever thanks to Fox’s now canceled ‘Moment of Truth’.

After that’s out of the way attention is turned to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), where thousands and thousands of people around the world try to crank out a full length novel in just one month’s time. We give advice from famous writers whose names we cannot remember, talk about Stephen King’s thirst for revenge, and take a look at Amazon’s Top Ten Bestselling Books of 2012 and look at how to take elements from all of them to guarantee yourself a spot on 2014’s list.


This week's episode is brought to you by Audible. Get a free audiobook download and 30-day trial by signing up at tcgte.com/audible.

Buy Meta

Writing A Novel

Debbie Millman reads from Dani Shapiro's "Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life" – more here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/06/02/dani-shapiro-design-matters-interview

Excerpted from https://soundcloud.com/designmatters

MORE / TRANSCRIPT

Debbie Millman reads Dani Shapiro's advice to writers

Today marks the centenary of the outbreak of World War One and we wanted to share the stories we’ve come to know and love by our authors, about this momentous occasion in history.  From accounts by soldiers who lived in the trenches to fictional novels recreating the lives of people during that time, we’ll take you back a hundred years to give you a snapshot of those four long years at war.

The Penguin Podcast: Writing The First World War feat. Jeremy Paxman, Robert Graves and Pat Barker

Transcript and background: http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/25/william-faulkner-university-of-virginia-recording/

TRANSCRIPT / DETAILS

William Faulkner on writing

Marcel Duchamp reads his 1957 essay, "The Creative Act." Full text + background here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/08/23/the-creative-act-marcel-duchamp-1957/

Marcel Duchamp: The Creative Act (1957)

Excerpt from Jeff Goldsmith's Q&A with Ray Bradbury, recorded at Comic Con 2010. Discussion and other highlights here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/04/ray-bradbury-comic-con-interview/

Full audio here: http://www.theqandapodcast.com/2012/06/ray-bradbury-q.html

Ray Bradbury on Libraries

Excerpt from Debbie Millman's <i>Design Matters</i> interview with cartoonist Chris Ware. 

Full interview: https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/chris-ware

Related article about his incredible <i>Building Stories</i>: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/11/05/building-stories-chris-ware/

Chris Ware on the characters in Building Stories and the role of sadness

Chris Ware on the building as a character

Chris Ware on storytelling and empathy

Chris Ware on destiny, literature, and unlived lives

"The arrows of adverse criticism cannot scratch, let alone pierce, the shield of what disappointed archers call my 'self-assurance.'"

Background and context:  http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/01/18/vladimir-nabokov-james-mossman-interview/

Vladimir Nabokov on literature and life (1969)

Recording courtesy of PennSound. Background and context: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/12/14/adrienne-rich-on-love-loss-happiness-creativity/

Adrienne Rich on art (2005)

Adrienne Rich on her creative process (2005)

"Each person has a literature inside them."

Excerpt from Debbie Millman's fantastic Design Matters podcast: https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/jake-barton

Jake Barton on inner literature (Design Matters)

Read more: www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/01/10/massimo-vignelli-debbie-millman/

Excerpt from Debbie Millman's Design Matters interview: https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/massimo-vignelli

Graphic designer Massimo Vignelli on creative nobility

Story: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/02/18/sophie-blackall-debbie-millman-interview/

Excerpt from Design Matters with Debbie Millman: https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/design-matters-with-debbie-133

Subscribe to Design Matters on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/design-matters-debbie-millman/id328074695

Sophie Blackall on Design Matters: Darkness and Optimism in Children's Storytelling

Digital - http://smarturl.it/pelicans-we
CD/12" Vinyl: https://www.musicglue.com/cosmosheldrake/

Recorded by Cosmo Sheldrake. Mixed by alalal and mastered at The Exchange London.

Website - www.cosmosheldrake.com/
Facebook - www.facebook.com/cosmosheldrakemusic
Twitter - twitter.com/cosmosheldrake
YouTube - www.youtube.com/user/comsosheldrake

Download/Stream

Rich (Ft. Anndreyah Vargas)

Full conversation and context: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/05/06/wendy-macnaughton-caroline-paul-design-matters/

Excerpt from https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/carolinepaulandwendymacnaughton

Caroline Paul on blending fiction and nonfiction

This episode is all about the writing process, so naturally we've talked to a lot of our authors to find out what it is that inspires them, how they start off their writing day and what keeps them motivated.  Our authors are certainly kept busy, going on book tours and having interviews with journalists, all whilst they're writing another bestseller, so it was up to us to bring these special podcast interviews to them in a variety of different situations.

We telephoned Joanna Rossiter, author of The Sea Change, whilst she was having a quick break during a creative writing course she was teaching at in Dorset.  She's standing outside by the sea so there is quite a bit of wind, but we like to think it's atmospheric and very fitting with the title and themes of the book.

Next we grabbed Giovanna Fletcher, when she came to Penguin's offices for meetings, to tell us about her average day as a writer.  Her debut novel, Billy and Me, is a gorgeously romantic story about the redemptive power of love, and we couldn't help but all fall a little bit in love with Giovanna!

We also snuck in and asked Graeme Simsion about his writing methods when he was over from Australia promoting his hilarious book The Rosie Project, which features perhaps one of the most endearing characters of all time - Professor Don Tilman.  If you haven't "met" Don already, head over to Twitter and say Hi! @ProfDonTillman

We then have a reading from a rather unusual book by Latin America's greatest living writer Eduardo Galeano.  He provides a literary calendar in Children of the Days where each day brings with a story that really happened on that date, from all possible years and all corners of the world.  This reading is from today's (June 27th) entry entitled "We are all Guilty".

Next we have three of John Yorke's top tips for writing a screenplay.  John Yorke is the man behind some of the greatest UK dramas including Skins, Shameless, The White Queen and Wolf Hall and has recently written Into the Woods - a revelation of the fundamental structure and meaning of stories.

Finally, at this year's Puffin Party we went armed with a mic and recorder to ask a couple of quick questions to some of the best Children's authors of our time, including Jacqueline Wilson, Juliet Donaldson, Jeremy Strong, Meg Rosoff, Charlie Higson, Phil Earle, Michelle Paver and Cathy Cassidy.

Platypus Novel

Platypus12