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Episode 44—Philip Gerard and the 'Thrill' of Creative Research
127 Plays8 years ago
Experimental podcast! A micro essay about a book I've read. Ping me on Twitter or email me if you dig it!
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Transcript
Format Change Due to Unforeseen Events
00:00:02
Speaker
Hey, it's Brendan, host of the hashtag CNF Podcast. Most weeks, actually the majority up until this week have been exclusively interviews, one on one, where I speak with an artist who is in some capacity creating works of nonfiction, narrative nonfiction or otherwise.
Exploring Short Podcast Episodes
00:00:28
Speaker
This week I had two guests drop out on me at the last second Couple that with a power outage the morning that I usually publish so now I'm publishing later in the day But I've been toying around with a potentially neat idea of doing like these micro SA podcasts on a book I've read and insight that comes from it
00:00:52
Speaker
So for episode 44 of hashtag CNF, I'm just going to read a little blog post essentially with citations and quotes from a book I've read. And that one, we'll just kind of dive into it if that sounds all right. I think it's going to be about under five minutes, so that's going to be a quick listen.
Episode 44: Philip Girard's 'The Art of Creative Research'
00:01:15
Speaker
So it is episode 44, Philip Girard on the thrill of creative research. So in a new segment for the podcast, potentially at least, I'm experimenting with little audio essays about various titles I've read and the wisdom gleaned from those pages. It could be from a podcast guest's book or maybe not.
00:01:40
Speaker
But the point is to insert some sonic joy into your ears in well under 10 minutes. Can't hurt to try, right? Which brings me to Philip Girard's The Art of Creative Research, a field guide for writers.
00:01:55
Speaker
The book pulses with curious energy and equips the writer with the tools to cull and curate information. Like a field guide for a series of hikes, this magnificent title leads you through the vast wealth of information and stories out there for the picking.
The Joy of Creative Research
00:02:13
Speaker
Just feel the love and joy coming from the pages when Gerard writes, quote, I love getting in my car in the pre-dawn darkness, watching the dashboard glow blue and silver and red as I turn the ignition. Feel the neighborhood still all around me.
00:02:30
Speaker
They're all asleep, my neighbors, and I'm awake, stealing away on an adventure." It gets at the pure fun of the process. Writing need not be torturous or perilous, because inside all those delightful artifacts lies something buried, something to be unearthed. He writes, if I'm good enough to make it happen, and I love it that sometimes I am good enough to make it happen.
00:02:59
Speaker
I love the moment when someone tells me something he or she never intended to say. The look of wonder and discovery in their eyes. The smiling tears of memory. The clutch in the throat that carries all the story you'll ever need to hear. The pang of goodbye. Leaving a stranger who has just confided his most precious secret, hoping you will honor it. I don't love that. I never get used to that.
Curiosity in Writing
00:03:26
Speaker
Yet afterward, how I do cherish the memory of." The art of creative research stems from what all writers have, whether they know it or not, and that's curiosity. Gerard writes, At the highway rest stops, I can't help but wonder where everyone else has come from and where they are bound.
00:03:46
Speaker
the chic couple in the red convertible sports car the rowdy family with all the wild kids pouring out of the camper the pensive loner hurrying back from the restroom with his hands jammed tight in his windbreaker pockets I want to get in all their cars and go someplace else anywhere but here and find out why why are they going what's waiting at the end of the road end quote
00:04:14
Speaker
What dissolves away are the illusions of making it big as a writer, the questions of money and fame, and what is left in the stockpot is a love of narrative, story, making something grounded and reaped from the time you spent buried in research. He writes, quote, it's a lot of work and it takes some gumption, but it sure is a thrill, end quote.
Explore More on Girard's Work
00:04:39
Speaker
For more about Philip's book and his process, be sure to listen to episode 38 of the hashtag CNF podcast, and be sure to pick up his book at your library or your local bookseller. Please subscribe to the podcast, my monthly reading list newsletter, and leave a kind review. Thank you so much for listening.