165: A Psychiatric Hospital Nearly Ruined My Life

8 snips

Oct 18, 2023

Banning Lyon, author of The Chair and The Valley, discusses his harrowing childhood experience in a psychiatric ward. He shares his writing process, the emotions writing the memoir brought up, and the cold call he made to find his agent. Lyon reflects on finding healing in nature and how sharing his past experiences helped him come to terms with his past. The chapter also explores Lyon's writing journey, including finding their voice and the emotional journey of getting their book published. The hosts express gratitude to Lyon and invite listeners to join their writing community.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Interview with Banning Lion, the Importance of Practice, and a Podcast Recommendation

01:46 • 2min

A Psychiatric Hospital Nearly Ruined My Life

03:37 • 2min

Finding Healing in Nature

05:33 • 13min

The Writing Process and Finding Representation

18:37 • 11min

Expressing Gratitude, Introduction to the Podcast, and Invitation to Join the Writing Community

29:59 • 3min

This episode is about how to write a near perfect essay. The story was written by Banning Lyon who writes about a harrowing childhood experience in a psychiatric ward. His essay was previously published in The Washington Post. After we discuss Banning’s story, you’ll hear an interview with the author on what his process was like, the difficult emotions writing the memoir brought up, and the cold call he made to find his agent.

Banning Lyon is the author of The Chair and The Valley, which will be available June 2024. His writing has been featured in The New York Times and The Washington Post. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and works as a backpacking guide in Yosemite National Park.

Writing Class Radio is hosted by Allison Langer and Andrea Askowitz. Audio production by Matt Cundill, Evan Surminski, Chloe Emond-Lane, and Aiden Glassey at the Sound Off Media Company. Theme music is by Justina Shandler.

There’s more writing class on our website including stories we study, editing resources, video classes, writing retreats, and live online classes. Join our writing community by following us on Patreon.

A Transcription can be found here.

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