Finding Your Critics and A Formula For Interesting-ness | with Derek Thompson | How I Write Podcast
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2024
- Derek Thompson weaves together ideas from all over the place - economics, public policy, sports, and even pop culture. His writing is a breath of fresh air in a world of cookie cutter Internet content. Where other click-hungry journalists have caved to antagonistic practices, Derek’s writing is cool and charitable. And it’s also poetic. With a background in theater, he draws inspiration from the likes of literature and playwrights. This conversation will appeal to anybody who wants to write more elegantly, deal with critics, and master the art of the non-fiction story.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:50 What is Derek’s process for writing
00:03:30 Derek’s cocoon of darkness
00:04:24 How does Derek set up his daily routine
00:05:20 The literal way that Derek writes
00:06:05 Does Derek dream about writing
00:06:25 The Eminem of Macroeconomic Analysis
00:06:55 Having a schedule like John Updike
00:08:15 Why Derek’s self-talk is loud
00:09:25 How theater has influenced Derek’s writing
00:11:15 Every good scene is a fight
00:12:25 How Derek thinks about conflict and tension
00:14:50 Derek’s recently contentious article on masking
00:16:30 What Derek thinks about critic
00:18:25 Moments of despair
00:21:25 Moments of Aha!
00:22:25 Subconscious dreams
00:23:25 Derek’s 9am mindset
00:26:10 Derek’s formula for interesting-ness
00:29:55 Writing and trust
00:31:15 Rants
00:32:25 Writing process as a Darwinian process
00:35:55 The Darkside of Moneyball
00:39:55 The Internet allows you to be weird at scale
00:41:25 The impressionist canon
00:45:15 Derek’s obsession with naming things
00:46:55 Hit Makers
00:49:30 How Derek’s distribution is now different
00:50:25 Balancing simplicity and complexity
00:51:25 Writing musically
00:52:35 "Repetition is the god particle of music"
00:57:25 What we see when we read
00:1:03:25 Why Derek writes
SPEAKER LINKS:
Twitter: / dkthomp
Website: www.theatlantic.com/author/de...
Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Books: Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction - a.co/d/3yAif4H
WRITE OF PASSAGE:
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
Click here: take.writeofpassage.school/wr...
PODCAST LINKS:
Website: writeofpassage.school/how-i-w...
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSbo...
ABOUT THE HOST:
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.
Derek Thompson used to be an actor. Now, he’s a writer at The Atlantic and a published author.
What changed? Not much, actually. Derek applied lessons from Shakespeare to the world of journalism.
Here are his maxims for writing:
1. Formula for interestingness: Novel + important = interesting.
2. All interestingness arises from the presence of conflict. To make academic ideas interesting, find the conflict… the point of tension.
3. Ignore the A-holes. Find critics who are rooting for you and listen to them instead.
4. The taste of individuals is surprisingly weird. The taste of the masses is surprisingly basic.
5. Many successful people are like good oil scouts: They spend a lot of time searching for their space, and then they drill deep when they find the right niche.
6. Write to be remembered - so, write musically.
7. Repetition is the God particle of music. Rhythm repeats within songs. Verses repeat, and the chorus repeats too. There's no music without repetition. If you want to make your writing musical, add repetition.
8. When something doesn’t make sense to you, it probably doesn’t make sense to a million readers. When something seems kind of interesting to you, it’s probably kind of interesting to a million readers.
9. Writing a first draft is like crawling through 1,000 mud pits of uncertainty, doubt, mental blockage, and uninspiration so you can sprint for a few minutes in the clean fields of flow between them.
10. Some questions to ask if you're researching a subject: Can you explain this to me like I barely know anything about this subject? What, if anything, is actually interesting or new about this story? Is there some angle here that I'm not even seeing?
11. Every great scene in theater is a fight. Think of your favorite scene from your favorite movie. Did the characters agree on everything? Nope. Writing comes alive when there's conflict hanging in the air.
Really loving this show/podcast..Keep up the good work❤️
Hey David, thanks for this series. Loving them all!
Great back to back guests
Hi David, awesome nugget! I'm trying to get in touch with Derek and would love it if you can make an introduction!
Hit Makers is one of the most underrated books I've ever read. Ahead of its time. I think if it was released 2-3 years later it would've really taken hold in the creator space - I reference it constantly.
PS David - these sets are INCREDIBLE
YES! I read it when it was published and it really shaped my philosophy about media and distribution. I've been thinking about rereading it and knowing you loved the book is powerful motivation.
tim urban next
He's coming on! The episode will be released toward the next of 2023 or in early 2024
Please have another artist draw you. Even in the last video, these drawings don't look as good as Perell
😚 'PromoSM'