Encore: How To Write a Bestseller
How To! with Mike Pesca
Peach Fish Projects
4.3 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 22 November 2022
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Lauren already knows the plot of her bestselling novel—the problem is she hasn't written a word. Paralyzed by self-criticism and an earlier rejection, this former English major has spent years journaling instead of attempting the scary, difficult work of creative writing. On this episode of How To!, we turn to writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner, whose debut novel Fleishman Is in Trouble, was one of the hottest books of the year. Can she help Lauren finally put pen to paper? The first thing Lauren needs to do, Taffy says, is stop journaling, and start writing. And then keep writing: "You can't get to the good sentences if you don't write the bad ones first." Next, find a trusted reader, not a cheerleader, to give you honest feedback. And when doubt begins to creep in again, look at the writers you admire and simply ask, "Why them and not me?"
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi everyone, I'm Susie Weiss, and I've noticed there's just simply not enough podcasts in the world. So I'm launching my own. Let's go. Let's go, baby. Second Thought is a weekly show about pop culture. The stuff everyone's been binging, arguing about, obsessing over. Here's the thing about heated rivalry. I mean, even the most devoted swifties, I think we can agree, not our best work. We'll be hosting thoughtful conversations with culture's most important figures. Talk about genius. |
| 0:22.6 | Talk about generational talent. |
| 0:23.7 | Coming to headphones near you on |
| 0:25.0 | April 17th with a first guest you won't want to miss. Available wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:30.4 | Hey listeners, do you remember that book, Fleischman is in trouble by the writer Taffy Brodussar |
| 0:35.4 | Ackner? A few years ago, it was a runaway bestseller, |
| 0:38.7 | one of those novels that seemingly everyone was talking about all at once. It's been called a |
| 0:43.8 | maddening, unsettling masterpiece. Well, now Fleischman is in trouble is a TV series on Hulu. |
| 0:51.1 | I did not become a doctor to get rich, okay? I did it to live a meaningful life. |
| 0:54.5 | Money doesn't buy you happiness. |
| 0:55.8 | Oh, Toby, of course it does. |
| 0:57.9 | What, are you crazy? |
| 1:00.2 | You've reached Rachel Fleischman. |
| 1:02.6 | Meanwhile, November is officially national novel writing month. |
| 1:06.4 | So what are you doing? |
| 1:07.7 | Get on it. |
| 1:08.5 | And to help you, we thought this was a great time to revisit one of our |
| 1:12.4 | all-time favorite episodes, How to Write a Best Seller with Taffy Brodus R. Ackner. You will laugh and learn a lot, |
| 1:19.8 | I promise. I'm going to pass the mic back to our previous host, Charles Duhigg, but we'll be back |
| 1:25.1 | next week with a brand new episode. |
| 1:34.0 | If you are in your 40s like I am and you're a woman, you have earned a head full of stories in which someone better than you out there is doing this. Why should you even do this |
| 1:39.4 | when there's dinner to be made, when you already have a good job, when your children need you to write a book right |
... |
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