How I Write

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Malcolm Gladwell is on the show today and he's one of the most influential nonfiction writers of the 21st century. You know him from books like Outliers, The Tipping Point, and David and Goliath, as well as his essays in The New Yorker. I told Malcolm, "I want to learn one thing from you: how you tell a story like you do. What is...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Gillian Flynn is the author of one of my favorite books of all time: Gone Girl. Before the episode, I wondered who I'd be meeting. What kind of person could write such a crazy, bloody mystery? She ended up being super fun, light, and down-to-earth. We spent the whole time talking about her passions: books and the craft of writing...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Taylor Tomlinson is on the show today, and she is one of the world's top comedians with multiple Netflix specials and a book called "Actually, Nevermind". I love having stand-up comedians on the show because their creative process is so pure. No matter your writing style, you can learn from them. Like any writer, they observe the...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Dean Koontz has written more than a hundred novels and sold over 500 million copies of his books. This is my second time having him on the show. The first time, we discussed writing practices, routines, and rituals: the standard topics we cover on How I Write. This time was different. We explored the supernatural, mysticism, and h...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Jodi Picoult is on the show today, and she has published 30 novels and sold more than 50 million copies of her books. For a while, she was writing a book a year! What I admire so much about her is how much fun she clearly has with her craft. Her research sent her ghost hunting and up to Alaska to visit Eskimos. She also gets so in...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Robert Greene is on the show today, who's famous for books like The 50th Law and The 48 Laws of Power. How does he write books that so many people want to read? How has he written books so compelling that people literally want to steal them? That’s what we discuss in this conversation. What I admire so much about Robert, and the r...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Andy Weir is on the show today, and he's famous for books like Project Hail Mary and The Martian, both of which turned into movies. In this conversation, we discuss science fiction as much as writing. How does he come up with new ideas? What makes for a good plot? How does he think through the science itself, bending reality in fu...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Mark Normand is on the show today to teach us how to write good comedy. He moved to New York in 2006 when he was a nobody, barely knew how to tell jokes. This interview tells the story of how he worked his way up from admiring Seinfeld from afar to actually opening for him on tour in various cities. About the host Hey! I’m David P...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Michael Arndt, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter, is on the show today to teach us how to write great stories. We started the conversation by discussing his time at Pixar. I asked Michael, "You worked on movies like Toy Story 3. What is it about Pixar's DNA that has made them so successful for so long?" We also discussed Litt...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Francine Prose has written more than 30 books and taught at both Harvard and Bard College. If you ask her how to become a better writer, she'll tell you to start by reading like a writer. Look at words and sentences, characters and details. Study them, dissect them. Then find books that you love, ones that have stood the test of t...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Harlan Coben has written 38 books. If you want to write thrilling and suspenseful stories, he's the guy to learn from. His vibe is like a tough-love basketball coach who tells you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. And while it might feel a little challenging at times, I promise you'll leave this conversation motiva...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite R. F. Kuang came on the show to talk about her love for language and what it means to live like a writer. She has written seven books, won the Nebula Award for Best Novel, and trained at some of the world's top universities: Cambridge, Oxford, and Yale. What stands out is her ability to write in so many different voices: the econo...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Matt Haig sold more than 10 million copies of his book, The Midnight Library. I just checked on Amazon, and it has over 288,000 reviews. This book was a total hit, a smashing success. I invited Matt on the show to ask him about his process: how he writes and how he tells great stories. Given his success, I also had to ask if it's...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Elif Shafak and Robert Macfarlane are two of the most dreamy and articulate writers I know. Elif has written 21 books, 13 of which are novels, and she’s the president of the Royal Society of Literature. Robert writes about the natural world, and he does so in such a poetic and enchanted way. His writing is infused with wonder. I’v...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Andrew Sean Greer won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2018 novel "Less". I had to ask him what it's like to win a Pulitzer Prize. His story about that is my favorite part of the interview. We also talked about his writing process: how he tells great stories, develops great characters, and writes good sentences. He shared his mantras, s...

Learn more about Alpha School at ⁠https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite Mark Forsyth has spent years studying how great writers piece words together. People like Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, but also musicians like the Beatles and Taylor Swift. For him, it all comes down to figures of rhetoric: timeless tools you can use to make your writing more memorable and enjoyable. I asked Mark to break them dow...

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....

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...

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...

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 approac...

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....

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 bi...

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 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...

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 some...

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 Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer, a journalist, and a comedian. What stood out from this conversation is his love for literature, which shows up both in his three novels and in how he's studied people li...