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How I Write: Daily Summaries Delivered
by David Perell
Before book sales and PR buzz, your favorite writers began with two things: the blank page and an idea. Each week on How I Write, we go behind-the-scenes with today’s top writers to uncover the meta-mechanics of writing and the lifestyle behind it. You’ll be the first to hear writers deconstruct their creative process: from banging their head on the keyboard to marking the last period of their final draft. Victory. Come discover how great writing is made. And who knows? Maybe you’ll be next.
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- Today1h 8m
Jack Carr: Bestselling Author Shares His Entire Writing Process | How I Write
Learn more about Alpha School at https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Jack Carr is a master at writing thrillers. He's a former Navy SEAL turned author who loves books and storytelling. When he walked in, I told him, "I want you to teach me how you write so visually. You're so good at visually taking the minutiae of combat and violence, writing about weapons in a way that comes to life on the page. How do you actually do that?" And this is a guy whose method clearly works. He publishes a new novel every year, has built a successful writing business, and Amazon Prime adapted his book, The Terminal List, into an original series starring Chris Pratt. About the host Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 1 weeks ago1h 4m
Scott Dikkers: 11 Ways to Make Your Writing More Funny | How I Write
Learn more about Alpha School at https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Scott Dikkers is the former editor-in-chief of The Onion, the site that brought news satire to the internet. Before the episode, I went up to Scott and said, “I have one goal for this: I want to start writing funny. You know how to do it. Can you teach me everything you've learned?" He’s been doing this for decades, so he was able to take me by the hand and show me what he learned, very concretely. You're obviously not going to framework your way to becoming the next George Carlin, but there are universal principles of comedy that work in any kind of writing, whether it's for a group chat or when you are talking with friends on a Saturday night at the bar. And Scott is about to teach us how to do it. About the host Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 1 weeks ago54 min
What Professional Writers Really Think About AI | How I Write Compilation
Learn more about Alpha School at https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite AI and creativity. I've asked dozens of writers for their take; some think it's a godsend, while others believe it's the literal scum of the earth. Here are 12 of the best responses from literary award winners like Robert Macfarlane, builders like Sam Altman, and journalists like Ezra Klein. This is what people at the cutting edge are saying about how AI will impact writing, creativity, and culture. 00:00 Introduction 00:29 Ezra Klein 08:02 Maria Popova 09:55 Tyler Cowen 17:39 Tom Junod 22:30 Sam Altman 26:32 Steven Pinker 29:12 Jimmy Soni 40:14 Riva Tez 42:43 Yann Martel 46:01 Marc Andreessen 48:14 Robert Macfarlane 50:48 Jon Yaged About the host Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 2 weeks ago1h 31m
David Baldacci: How to Write Books That Actually Sell | How I Write
Learn more about Alpha School at https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite David Baldacci, one of the most prolific writers in the world, joins us on the show today. He has written 53 novels and seven children’s books, publishes two novels every year, and has sold more than 200 million copies worldwide. How does he craft great stories, develop compelling characters, and build tension? How does he approach the business of publishing? Drawing from his background as a lawyer and his time in boardrooms worldwide, what strategies does he employ to ensure his books sell and are read? This conversation explores those very questions. About the host Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 3 weeks ago1h 23m
David Shelley: How to Get Your Book Published | How I Write
This episode is presented by Wispr Flow, a tool that turns voice notes into clear writing. I use it every day and recommend it to every writer I know. Try it for free at ref.wisprflow.ai/howiwrite Learn more about Alpha School at go.alpha.school/howiwrite David Shelley is on the show today and he’s the CEO of Hachette, one of the Big Five publishers. In this conversation, I focused on two things. First, how should writers navigate the publishing industry? Second, how does the publishing industry actually work? Who better to learn from than someone at the top of the field? David has spent more than 30 years in book publishing, and his company sells roughly 220 million books every year, generating about $3.5 billion in annual revenue. About the host Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- 4 weeks ago1h 18m
David Sedaris: Bestselling Author Gives His Best Writing Advice | How I Write
This episode is presented by Wispr Flow, a tool that turns voice notes into clear writing. I use it every day and recommend it to every writer I know. Try it for free at ref.wisprflow.ai/howiwrite David Sedaris has long been one of the funniest writers in the game, and he’s got a method for how he does it. It starts with observation, always looking for what’s surprising, ridiculous, or a little bit strange about the world. Then, every single day, he writes the best ideas down in a journal. But there’s also a willingness to put himself in absurd situations, like working as a Christmas elf at Macy’s or cleaning up litter off English country roads for eight hours a day. He’s sold more than 16 million books, and he’s been writing for The New Yorker for more than 30 years. Today, he’s here to teach us how he does it. About the host Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Jun 24, 202659 min
Andrew Stanton: Meet The Writer Behind Toy Story 5 | How I Write
Andrew Stanton was the second animator at Pixar, and he has been working there for 30 years. If you want to know how Pixar runs, this is your guy. He has directed movies like Finding Nemo and WALL-E, and he's the director of Toy Story 5. I had to ask him, "What have you done at Pixar to keep that quality bar so high? It's hit after hit, appealing to both kids and adults. How do you achieve this consistently?" That's what this episode is all about. About the host Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Jun 17, 20261h 12m
Michael Pollan's Best Writing Advice | How I Write
This episode is presented by Wispr Flow, a tool that turns voice notes into clear writing. I use it every day and recommend it to every writer I know. Try it for free at ref.wisprflow.ai/howiwrite Michael Pollan is one of my all-time favorite nonfiction writers. He has been writing about food, nature, and consciousness for decades. For him, the writing process begins with a question. He finds something he's interested in and embarks on an adventure. He experiences things, talks to people, learns, and then compiles it all into a book. His writing style feels as if he's putting an arm around you, simply reporting back what he's learned and experienced, all in a very friendly way. The adventure we discussed most in this conversation was when he bought a cow and followed it from birth to slaughter, illustrating the industrial food system's impact on meat production. Michael has taught nonfiction writing at Harvard and UC Berkeley. At the end of the interview, he said: "I just gave you an entire semester's worth of content in one hour." About the host Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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About How I Write
Before book sales and PR buzz, your favorite writers began with two things: the blank page and an idea. Each week on How I Write, we go behind-the-scenes with today’s top writers to uncover the meta-mechanics of writing and the lifestyle behind it. You’ll be the first to hear writers deconstruct their creative process: from banging their head on the keyboard to marking the last period of their final draft. Victory. Come discover how great writing is made. And who knows? Maybe you’ll be next.
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