How Celeste Ng writes fiery prose

Worklife with Adam Grant

TED

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4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It took Celeste Ng a long time to believe she could write for a living. Now she’s the New York Times bestselling author of the novels “Everything I Never Told You” and “Little Fires Everywhere”-- which was developed into a hit TV show by Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine. Adam and Celeste have been friends since college–they met through her first writing job. They discuss Celeste’s versatile writing process, her insights on thinking and communicating more clearly, and how she feeds her curiosity–both as a reader and a writer. Celeste’s latest book, “Our Missing Hearts,” is out now. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/RWAG5

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks to Work Human for sponsoring this episode.
0:05.3	Welcome back to Rethinking.
0:09.3	I'm Adam Grant and I'm excited to bring you today's conversation with a claimed novelist
0:13.7	Celeste A.
0:15.5	Her debut book, Everything I Never Told You, won a slew of awards.
0:20.7	Her next book, Little Fires Everywhere, was the Goodreads Choice winner for fiction.
0:25.6	It spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list and was adapted into a hit Hulu
0:30.4	series.
0:31.4	Her third novel, Our Missing Hearts, Just Hit The Shelfs.
0:36.0	No spoilers, but I'll say it's masterful, a rare combination of a gripping plot, compelling
0:41.7	characters, and a powerful message.
0:43.9	I'm not surprised because I've known Celeste for a long time.
0:48.2	We've been friends since college.
0:49.8	We met in one of her very first writing gigs and from day one, it was clear she was
0:54.0	going to be a star.
0:55.4	She was a remarkably insightful observer and riveting storyteller.
0:59.4	I know you'll enjoy learning from her writing process, not just as a vehicle for communicating,
1:04.4	but as a tool for thinking.
1:06.5	Hi Celeste.
1:07.5	Hi Adam, how are you?
1:09.5	It's been a really long time.
1:11.4	It's nice to see you.
	...

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