By Brendan O’Meara
Did you know it’s Dinovember? Not die as in death, but dino as in dinosaurs, which is how and why today’s guest is Sam Chiarelli (@DinophileSam on Twitter), author of the memoir Dig: A Personal Prehistoric Journey, published by Hippocampus Books.
What is up? It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to bad-ass writers, filmmakers, producers, and podcasters about the art and craft of telling true stories. I try and unpack their artist journey as well as habits and routines so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work. I’m @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod on Twitter. I’m Brendan O’Meara in real life.
Sam’s book is about chasing your curiosity and following your deepest passions, or re-finding them again as if they got lost in the rock years and years ago. Maybe consider excavating what excited you as a child, that time when you did what you wanted for no other reason than you thought it was fun and cool.
Speaking of that, I know I often get into the trap of not re-reading as many books or re-watching as many movies because the act of revisiting something is a missed opportunity to try something new, read another book, see another movie, etc.
But kids are unashamedly capable of watching a movie they love fifty times, often restarting the movie the second it ends. I think we need more of this as adults. I read The Great Gatsby every year and I’ll watch certain movies and docs several times with a pencil and notebook to see how the movie gets stitched together, same with narrative radio. My point being, the great power of Sam’s book allows you to surrender to those childlike whims without fear of embarrassment.
Oh, by the way, Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for coming along this CNFin’ journey. I’d be deeply grateful to you if you shared the podcast with your immediate circle and, if you’re feeling extra generous and maybe a bit doped up on food, writing a review over on iTunes.
Okay, that’s it, let’s get this thing rolling, Ep. 127 with Sam Chiarelli.
Thanks also to our sponsors in Goucher College’s MFA in Nonfiction and Creative Nonfiction magazine.
