Hunter Little shares her doctoral research on the effects of centering a writing class on mental disability. We talk about building community, the opportunity for building relationships in a writing classroom, how students respond to discussions of mental health, and more!

Meanwhile, Jon Meyers and Emily Brooks talk about octopuses and play a silly game from the Taskmaster TV show.

We talked with author/screenwriter Lucy V. Hay about mental health and overcoming the past. Find Lucy at Bang2Write.com where she shares invaluable tips and masterclasses on writing!

On the Bookshelf:

To purchase your own autographed copy of Jack Handey's MY FUNNY COWBOY DANCE go to: https://deepthoughtsbyjackhandey.com/...

To read Jon Meyers interview with Jack Handey, go to jonmeyersscripts.com/blog or filmicthepage.wordpress.com

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Welcome to Write Better Together, the interactive writing lifestyle podcast!

We welcomed back Brian Baker from our Wes Anderson/Montblanc episode to talk about adding conflict to your story!

Brian Baker is a poet, YouTuber, freelance editor, and craftsmen. He reviews stationary on his Youtube Channel, Down the Breather Hole, and crafts his own stationary and mini books on his Etsy shop. If you're interested in working with Brian, check out his Fiverr profile.

We all probably know that conflict is essential to writing a compelling story, but how do we make that conflict not only realistic but also personal to the characters? We talk about the different types of conflict, raising the stakes, choosing your conflict based on your characters, and when to let conflict be resolved.

We praise the use of conflict in ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL (2020), as well as the 1978-90 series; ALIEN (1979) and ALIENS (1986); THE WAY OF WATER (2022); and TED LASSO (2020-2023).

*Emily is an Amazon affiliate and may earn a commission from purchases made through our links.

Jon Meyers and Emily Brooks share how they name their characters!

Poet Adrian Sanders joins us to discuss the importance of boredom for creativity!

As a poet, Adrian also answers the question, "Is Taylor Swift a poet?"

We reference the article, "You can't have creativity without boredom" by Aaron Angello, so we highly encourage you to read it!

Adrian Sanders is a full-time copy editor living in Elizabethtown, KY. She is a graduate of Western Kentucky University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English-Creative Writing. Her poems have appeared in various print and online publications such as Indiana Review Online, Juke Joint, Maudlin House, GASHER, and others. Sanders’s chapbooks are This Side of the Dirt and Lynchian. They can be found at B**S** Lit and Alien Buddha Press, respectively.

LISTENER RESPONSE

Dr. David Lenoir shares his views on speculative fiction in response to our afterthought, "Speculative Fiction: The REAL Definition."

HEY JON MEYERS

Learn more about today's secret topic here and here!

CALL TO ACTION

Put your phone down and notice your surroundings. Tell us how it goes!

For more information about WriterFest, check out writerfestnashville.com!

What if organizing your life fostered greater mental well-being?What if mental well-being helped you reach great results and satisfaction?

Professor Sara Wigal teaches us how to accelerate productivity while being mindful of our personal needs and emotions. As a teacher, she uses specific, proven strategies to help her students organize their lives for better results and better mental resilience. You can read Sara's research here!

CALL TO ACTION

Try to Implement a Mindful Practice into Your Writing Life

or

Use Your Timeboxing Skills to Schedule Specific Writing Times (Write Anyway)