Creative Principles

Latest Episodes:

Ep452 - Sue Ellen Thompson, Poet & Mentor 'Sea Nettles: New & Selected Poems' Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

Sue Ellen Thompson’s poems have been read more than a dozen times on National Public Radio by Garrison Keillor, have been featured in U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser’s nationally syndicated newspaper column, and have received numerous awards, including the 1986 Samuel French Morse Prize, the 2003 Pablo Neruda Prize, and two Individual Artist’s Grants from the State of Connecticut. She is the author of six books, her most recent one being 'Sea Nettles: New & Selected Poems' where she explores relationships between people of three generations as they evolve over decades. Currently, she also teaches at The Writers’ Center in Bethesda where she mentors adult poets. To learn more about her and her workshops, go to https://sueellenthompson.com/ In this interview, Thompson and I talk about writing poetry as a teenager, why she quit her editorial job to pursue her passion, working as a freelancer, tips for writers, her workshops, her poems, and how her students encourage her. Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60 seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom of your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep451 - Nathan Pyle, Author - Artist - Creator Apple TV+’s ‘Strange Planet’ Aug 23, 2023

Show notes

“I moved to New York fifteen years ago. Didn’t really have much interest in drawing at that time—vaguely interested, but when I found Threadless, this whole community of artists on the internet who help each other and bounce ideas off each other, and it was a way to make money,” says Nathan Pyle. In many of the episodes in Dan Harmon’s show Community, the character Abed is actually wearing a graphic tee from Threadless, a Chicago-based design company who crowdsource unique graphic tee shirt ideas. At the time, the company paid about $2,500 for beloved designs. “It took me a long time. I think I did 100 submissions, at least, before I got my first license. Before anyone purchased anything. But, in those 100 submissions, I was learning a lot, I was making friends. That was me creating, doing something at night, while I worked another job in the day.” Over time, Pyle learned more and more about designing. Eventually, this hobby helped pay about 20 percent of his income. Eventually, it completely took over and in 2021, Pyle teamed up with Dan Harmon to create Strange Planet for Apple TV. Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep450 - Melanie Figg, Poet-Mentor-Coach 'Trace' Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

Melanie Figg has been writing poetry since college. Since then, her poems, essays, and reviews have been published in more than 70 print and online literary journals. Her poetry chapbook 'Hurry, Love', was published in standard & fine arts editions, and her full-length collection of poems 'Trace', won the Many Voices Project competition, and Kirkus Reviews not only gave it a prestigious Kirkus-starred review but also named it one of the Best Indie Books of 2020. She also has received six awards for Excellence in Teaching from The Loft Literary Center, the University of Utah, and the Jerome Foundation, and she currently teaches workshops at The Writer's Center, Hugo House, The Loft Literary Center, as well as at regional book festivals and in private homes in the DC area. You can learn more about her classes and workshops here: https://www.melaniefigg.net/classes--workshops.html In this interview, Figgs talks about what inspired her to start writing and creating stories, what makes a good teacher, how she balances her work, finding time to write, how students find her and how she determines who she works with, why she likes being a coach and dealing with people's inner critic and procrastination. Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60 seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom of your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep449 - Rich Cohen, Author 'When the Game Was War' & 'The Adventures of Herbie Cohen' Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

Rich Cohen is a New York Times bestseller writer best known for his books 'The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse', 'The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King' & 'The Adventures of Herbie Cohen'. His new book, 'When The Game Was War: The NBA’s Greatest Season', will be published on September 5th, by Random House. In this interview, Cohen talks about what inspired his writing style, why he doesn't stick to one topic, his new book 'When the Game Was War', his writing and editing process, writing about his father, his relationship with his editor, and tips for new writers. Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60 seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom of your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep448 - Jesse V. Johnson Returns, Director 'Triple Threat', 'Avengement" & 'Debt Collectors" Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

Jesse V. Johnson is a British film director, screenwriter, and stunt coordinator, who is most known for 'Triple Threat', 'Avengement" & 'Debt Collectors". In this interview, Johnson talks about why he started writing, what he looks for in a script, why he thinks the perfect ratio for action movies is reality plus %10 fantasy, why he doesn't like to have too many fight descriptions on his scripts, how to film action scenes the right way, and the most potent tool to have as a director. This is a special interview associated with my first documentary, Daredevil Society, a series about the history of stunt performers, including everyone from Buster Keaton to Jackie Chan to Zoe Bell to Keanu Reeves. Learn more or become an investor here: www.daredevilsociety.com/docuseries Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60 seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom of your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep447 - Ed Solomon Returns, Talks ‘Full Circle’ & Blacklist Workshop ‘Word by Word’ Aug 11, 2023

Show notes

“One of the only real skills that I seem to have cultivated is patience,” jokes screenwriter Ed Solomon. “Once you realize nothing is going to happen at the pace you thought it was going to happen at, trying to rid yourself of this notion of time and rush, allows you to deal with the constant let down of it’s not ready, more notes, or actors not available, or turnaround.” “That’s part of why I started to develop that I need to work on more than one thing at a time. But once you’ve been doing it long enough, you have all of these things that are one quarter through, an idea you’ve been noodling on for four years. That becomes your day to day.” Today, however, as of the publication of this article, screenwriters are just past the 100-day mark of the current Writer’s Strike. This is the first time, in a long time, that Solomon has had some time to sit and think on projects without deadlines, without accountability, but also without the next payday in mind. “I can never work on the same part of multiple scripts. I can’t be in the middle of one script and be in the middle of another script. That’s hard for me to jump back and forth between. What I do is, work on an outline, while rewriting something else. That kind of thing, I do very naturally.” Solomon says he would not advise the same advice to new writers. “It’s not as easy to jump around when you’re new because it’s so hard just to get through one, especially the first few. You have to get the muscle memory in, so when you get lost and feel like something is not moving forward, you stay with that feeling.” Look for this article on the Creative Screenwriting website and join Solomon’s next episode here: https://linktr.ee/wordbywordbl Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep446 - Jordan Morris, Screenwriting Coach, Founder of 'The Screenplay Factory' Aug 11, 2023

Show notes

Jordan Morris is an award-winning producer and director of films like Nintendo Quest and multiple festival Best Documentary winner, Missing Mom. He has worked on numerous films as an actor, production designer, art director, fabricator, location scout, set decorator, and screenwriter. Since 2013, Jordan has been creating and hosting popular seminars and workshops on screenwriting, and you can find his most recent programs and services on his website thescreenplayfactory.com. In this interview, Morris talks about his origins as a theater actor, when did he start taking writing seriously, working as a coach and the process he uses with his clients, why having mentors is crucial, the most important questions to ask yourself when building a character, the life and the death story model, and his advice for people who want to be professional writers. Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60 seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom of your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep445 - Alyson Levy & Alissa Nutting, Creators 'Teenage Euthanasia’ Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

A former runaway teen mom is accidentally resurrected in her family's funeral home, giving her a second chance to raise her now-teenage daughter. This is the unusual plot behind Adult Swim’s series, Teenage Euthanasia. Alyson Levy and Alissa Nutting, the creators of the series, describe themselves as “late bloomers.” Both had roundabout paths in the business, exploring comedy and animation, until they had an opportunity to pitch the idea for this series. “This is the first show I’ve really owned the writing,” says Levy, “after working on ten series or so, leading up to this.” The series stars voice talents such as Jo Firestone, Maria Bamford, Tim Robinson, and Bebe Neuwirth. This show in particular was one that had to adapt during the pandemic. “It allows diversity in the room. Being able to have someone who is in London and someone in Boise and someone in New York — as long as everyone can agree on time. These things are now possible,” says Nutting. In an effort to create one of the first animated series made by women and do so during the pandemic, one goal for the show was to shine a light on unique voices in the industry. “It’s really hard to break through as an outsider,” says Levy. “It’s hard to be a weirdo. It’s harder to be a woman weirdo or a queer woman weirdo. Weirdo is a small lane, but there’s a community of weirdos. It’s about becoming part of that and connecting with others. I feel like us making a second season, we cleared that bar that very few women have cleared.” Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep444 - Brooks Elms, Screenwriting Coach, Creator of 'Answer the Call' & 'Unleash Your Superpower' Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Brooks Elms is a screenwriter and independent filmmaker who has written over 25 screenplays, including one with Brad Peyton as Executive Producer, and one started by an Oscar-winning writer. When he is not writing, he loves coaching fellow writers who have a burning ambition to deeply serve their audiences. To learn more about his programs, check out his website brookselms-coaching.com. In this interview, Elms talks about what made him get into film and screenwriting, his work as a life coach for screenwriters, how his men's group changed his life, the biggest challenge of his job, changing mindsets to move forward and create personal and professional growth, and the most common obstacles writers face. Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60 seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom of your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep443 - Katelyn Brooke, Stunts 'American Horror Story', 'Westworld' & 'Tenet' Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

"I grew up playing soccer, basketball; multiple layer athlete, so I knew what I was able to learn, how coachable I was, the amount of teamwork I was able to give", says stunt woman Katelyn Brooke. "So I felt very confident that jobs were going to land, but I'm still a student. Always a student." In this interview, we talk about how she went from being in the music industry to doing stunts, how to train for certain stunts like getting hit by a car, the stunt community and the common misconceptions people have, keeping secrets as a stunt performer, and the lack of Oscar nominations for stunt actors. This is a special interview associated with my first documentary, Daredevil Society, a series about the history of stunt performers, including everyone from Buster Keaton to Jackie Chan to Zoe Bell to Keanu Reeves. Learn more or become an investor here: www.daredevilsociety.com/docuseries Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy! If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60 seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom of your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

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