Write Conscious

Today I am doing a book review on Dennis Mckenna's "The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss which is an autobiography of Terrence and Dennis Mckenna's life together. The book is motivating, sad, and a a glimpse inside the life of the most influential psychedelic advocates of all time. Most people view Terrence Mckenna as the mushroom man. However, he was an academic, author, great public speaker and friend to many! We won't be talking about DMT elves today, but rather I'll be praising and tracking Terrence and Dennis' life decisions that led to their second wave psychedelic revolution in the 90's. Feel free to comment any thoughts and stayed tuned for more book breakdowns on all of Terrence Mckenna's books. Looking to do "Food of the Gods" next. Peace and love!

Today we are doing a book review and reading some poems from Joy Harjo's "In Mad Love and War." I love this book (along with most of Harjo's work) and am super excited to share this work with you guys. Harjo was recently the National Poet Laureate of the United States (and deserved it for sure!) Let me know what you guys thought of the poems! We will be covering all of Harjo's work on this channel over the next month so subscribe to tune in!

Here are my recommendations for the best Native American Literature. These books are all novels and were written during the "Native American Renaissance." They are also considered the "Big 5 (canon)" of modern Native American Literature. These works were so popular that many Native American Studies journals in the 90's banned any submissions pertaining to these books to help create space for new authors. I will be going over many different Native American Lit books in the coming weeks so be sure to check out the playlist and follow the series. The works we cover today Ceremony - Leslie Marmon Silko https://amzn.to/3JRqqj7 Love Medicine - Louise Erdrich https://amzn.to/3dyaE0x Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles - Gerald Vizenor https://amzn.to/3PnUrIr House Made of Dawn - N. Scott Momaday https://amzn.to/3Qro6l8 Winter in the Blood - James Welch https://amzn.to/3SSg1I4

Today we are tier-ranking the German Idealists and their impact on philosophy. I really want to stop pissing off the philosophy bros with my scuffed breakdowns and rankings. But, I Kant ground myself enough in my wacky phenomenological experience to get offline and rejoin the Mitwelt 🤣 Philosophers covered include Immanuel Kant Johann Gottlieb Fichte Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Friedrich Hölderlin Jacob Boehme

Today we are tier-ranking all the famous modernist poets! I will be reading some poems from most of the authors and breaking down their legacy and why their work is still important. Or not... Let me know what you think of my picks and who you would have placed differently! I know some poets on here aren't considered "Modernists" but just wanted to add more for fun 🖤 Poets Covered Include Cesar Vallejo Marianne Moore Robert Frost T.S. Eliot Ezra Pound Rainer Marie Rilke William Carlos Williams Antonio Machado Lorca W.B. Yeats Wallace Stevens

Robert Bly's "The Sibling Society" is a scathing critique of America's direction by a legendary poet. In today's book review and presentation I will be doing a chapter by chapter breakdown of the text, updating some of the information from 1996, and providing solutions on what we can do to change the world. There are Robert Bly inspired video edits throughout the video, a never before released (on YouTube) Robert Bly interview on "The Sibling Society" and a couple other gems embedded within this video. I am also launching the Robert Bly course alongside this video. The course is free and has a Discord dedicated to Robert Bly, The Robert Bly Resource center (work in progress) and a place for you to submit Robert Bly inspired projects for me to comment on. Check out the link below for more information! https://writeconscious.com/courses/robert-bly/ Chapters Covered (Timestamps Coming Soon) Introduction The Woodstock Moment Jack, the Beanstalk, and the Half-Adult Swimming Among the Half-Adults The Adventures of Ganesha The Wild Girl and Her Sister What Do Daughters Stand to Lose or Gain in a Sibling Society? What Do Sons Stand to Lose or Gain in a Sibling Society? Disdain and Contempt for Children in the Sibling Society. Benjamin Franklin's Pig Teaching our Children That Nothing Works Looking at Women's and Men's Movements from Inside the Sibling House Exultation in the Midst of Flatness The Difficulty of Understanding Mythology What is Vertical Thought? The Snake That Wants to Eat All Its Brides Epilogue

Authors of all levels love to rewrite myths and fairytales. However, there is an infinite pit of terrible remixes online and in the Kindle graveyard. Writing myths and fairytales requires enough planning and execution to stand alongside the original story, prevent too many reader objections, and add a unique flair to the original.

Have you ever bought a book with Bitcoin? Do you know you can publish your book on the blockchain? Today we'll be talking about why we need to transition from Amazon and traditional publishers to censor free and ethical platforms that align with our art. We will also explore crypto book publisher canonic.xyz and going over the many great options authors have by publishing on the blockchain.

Novelist Henry Miller changed the American writing scene forever. By brining in the taboo with books like his "The Tropic of Cancer" and "Black Spring" he helped bridge the gap between modernism and post-modernism. That's a beautiful place to be. Transcending the timidness of the modernists and rejecting the narcissism of the post-modernists enabled Miller to write tight prose without navel gazing. What writing tips from Henry Miller did you enjoy most??

Today I am tier-ranking Sigmund Freud's disciples! Freud made a huge impact on twentieth thought, but it could be argued that his students made a much larger impact! Today I will be discussing and ranking Alfred Adler, Anna Freud, Otto Rank, Wilhelm Reich, Jacques Lacan, and Carl Jung and talking about their impact and ideas!

Jack Kerouac is one of the most iconic beat generation authors. Today we are going over his 30 tips for writers. Some of these are bizarre, but I try to decode them in the least academic way possible (staying true to Beat ideals). Jack Kerouac along with Gary Synder, Joanne Kyger, Allen Ginsberg and others created a major revolution in writing. By bringing in spontaneity, rebellion, eastern ideals, and travel writing to the American scene, it helped loosen up the rigidity created by Modernism. Here are the 30 rules! Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy Submissive to everything, open, listening Try never get drunk outside yr own house Be in love with yr life Something that you feel will find its own form Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind Blow as deep as you want to blow Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind The unspeakable visions of the individual No time for poetry but exactly what is Visionary tics shivering in the chest In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition Like Proust be an old teahead of time Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog The jewel centre of interest is the eye within the eye Write in recollection and amazement for yourself Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea Accept loss forever Believe in the holy contour of life Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind Don’t think of words when you stop but to see picture better Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better You’re a Genius all the time Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

John Berryman, the author of the famous book "Dream Songs" hated creative writing programs. There are very few videos or interviews of him reading or giving advice to his students. I read the entirety of "The Selected Letters of John Berryman," all of his print/online interviews, and watched and videos available and came up with only a few quotes for you guys. However, that little advice informs how the intuitive and rigorous "The Dream Songs" and his other landmark works were written. Some topics include Why to surround yourself with poets Why writing slow is better than writing fast Tips for writing long-form epic poetry How to have confidence as a new writer

Today we are talking about nine modern authors who committed suicide. It is very sad that the writing/artistic community has suffered from self-harm problems for so long. This video mixes some comedy, analysis of similarities between these authors, and pure shock of how some of these author's ended their life. Each one of these authors were just getting started with their best works. Some like David Foster Wallace had three or four decades of legendary masterpieces still left in him. Please be safe and if you're feeling suicidal call the suicide hotline or someone close to you who can physically watch over you. I've struggled with mental health before and people are more than willing to help. Even if you think no one will! Authors include Yukio Mishima Ernest Hemingway David Foster Wallace Sylvia Plath Anne Sexton Virgina Woolf Richard Brautigan John Berryman Hunter S. Thompson

Today we are discussing Robert Bly's thoughts on Walt Whitman! There are no video/audio recording of Robert Bly talking about Whitman, so all we have is his essay "My Doubts about Whitman" in his book of essays on poetry "Looking for Dragon Smoke." We will go over Bly's four praises of Whitman and his five criticisms of Whitman!

What can we learn from a violent and neurotic human like Billy Milligan? Well, it today's video I will discuss how we all have fragmented consciousnesses, the origin of that fragmentation, and the method of healing it. To understand Billy Milligan we need to first discuss The Yale School of Trauma, Ernest Becker, Otto Rank, Sigmund Freud, Hegel, Schelling, Spinoza, Hegel, and Heraclitus! We aren't seeking a True Crime sensational click baity approach on this video. But, a methodology and framework to mitigate trauma! How does Hemingway relate to Billy Milligan? Do you have multiple personalities? Where did we go wrong with mental health? Find out in today's video!!!

Welcome to Author Wars! Our first battle is between Haruki Murakami and Kazuo Ishiguro! May the best author win! Both authors were born in Japan, but Kazuo Ishiguro has spent much of life living in Britain.

The BookTube WOKESTERS love to call old Ernest a womanizer, misogynist, and a dinosaur. But, we don't have time for that hate in 2022. I'm attending the Hemingway Society Conference this July in Wyoming. But, for some reason all the PHD women at the conference that are acclaimed feminists don't think Ernest Hemingway was a misogynist. So, who is right? The feminist PHD's who've studied Ernest Hemingway for decades... Or the random feminists who are famous for tearing down iconic figures in literature? Well, tune in to find out! I also go over Hemingway's trauma, it's relation to his hyper-masculinity, and other super meta/nerd stuff about Hemingway. LETS GO!

Writing Past Dark by Bonnie Friedman is a CERTIFIED classic in the writing space. So many writers have used the teachings and wisdom from this book to help their writing career. However, how do the ideas hold up thirty years later after the personal development boom?

Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison is one of the most prolific short story collections of all time!

Phillip Roth is a hardcore writer! His routine has no room for politics, women, or any messing around! Learn more about his writing routine, habits, and mentality during his prolific career spanning over 30 books.

Bruce Lee's evolutionary approach to martial arts at some level stemmed from his passion for reading. Bruce brought a book everywhere he went to make sure every minute of his life was purposeful. His list is very diverse and filled with hardcore classics. Most people don't realize Bruce died at 32. That's really young for such a great reading list!

Today we are studying some fiction craft advice from the prolific author Ursula K. Le Guin. Some ideas discussed are writing's connection to Taoism/Buddhism, who to look up to as an author, how radical politics can help you create dystopian novels, why fiction is important and more!

A full book breakdown and description of "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin. This video includes a breakdown of the novel's symbolism, providing an on overview summary, and a discussion on the texts connection to the psycho-analytical movement and spirituality. Ursula K. Le Guin is one of the best writers of all time! Her work has been changing my life for two decades, and I know it's helped millions of others too dive into book. This is a great book for an introduction to Le Guin's work, for kids/teenagers, or those new to the fantasy genre in general. Don't let the beginner tag dissuade you from reading this though! It is a really great text that deserves to be read and analyzed! I will be covering the rest of the Earthsea cycle (series) in the next two weeks. So stay tuned!

People have been going crazy over Ocean Vuong for years. Here is a book review on Ocean Vuong's "Time Is a Mother." We are being forced to care about certain books. Declining reading rates (which leads to less critical thinkers, a lack of knowledge of great poetry books, and self-hate) and the politcicatizion (from both sides) of readers by the publishing industry are the reason why books like this sell so big. Hear the full breakdown of this in the video!

Why do so many writers fail to ever even publish a book? Most of the time envy plays a role. Unlike other easy life paths, (any job that requires a college degree lol) the writing industry remains saturated, small, and corrupt. According to the New York Times, 97% of books published by publishing houses sell less than 5000% copies. With a common commission rate that means 97% of authors don't even make $10,000 for a book. Another option is government grant money or academia. However, those are now political breeding grounds looking for certain individuals to fit their agenda. You probably aren't that person! Last is self-publishing. But, if you don't have the marketing skills or capital to spread your work you'll be another ghost in the Kindle graveyard. All of this creates envy. We want to write for a living. To shut our family or friends up for good and bring home the BACON. But, when that doesn't happen for years and years... Negativity starts to creep up. Learn what that does and how to stop it in this video today. Let me know if you've ever been envious of other writers before! I have been!