The art of rough drafts with George Saunders

Worklife with Adam Grant

TED

Management, Worklife Podcast, Worklife With Adam Grant, Work Life Balance, Ted Talks, Podcast About Work Life, Ted Adam Grant, Adam Grant Podcasts, Ted Podcasts, Adam Grant, Organizational Psychologist, Business

4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2023

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Before his stories regularly appeared in The New Yorker, before the MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, and before being named one of the world’s most influential people by TIME, George Saunders was a roofer. And a doorman. And a technical writer. In this episode, George sits down with Adam and shares what he’s learned from his winding path towards becoming a professional author, the secrets of creating work that sticks, and how to receive feedback and elevate our rough drafts.

Available transcripts for WorkLife can be found at go.ted.com/WLtranscripts

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Adam Grant, host of the Ted Podcast to Work Life.
0:10.8	This season, we worked with our sponsor, UKG, to share amazing stories from their workplace.
0:15.9	Stay tuned for a story from our archives about Brian, who's taking big strides to promote
0:20.4	belonging.
0:21.4	Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant.
0:25.2	Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast on the Science of What Makes Us Tick.
0:29.5	I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating
0:33.2	people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking.
0:41.5	My guest today is George Saunders.
0:43.7	He's a writer, beloved for his short stories in the New Yorker, as well as his novellas
0:47.8	and books, including his bestselling novel, Lincoln in the Bardo.
0:52.0	Originally from Texas, George held odd jobs in his youth and took a bit of a winding
0:56.3	road toward becoming a writer.
0:58.5	Today, he's won more awards for his writing than I can count, and been honored with Guggen
1:02.9	Heim and MacArthur Fellowships.
1:05.2	He teaches creative writing at Syracuse, and I'm a big fan of his newsletter Story Club,
1:09.9	where he shares wisdom on writing, creativity, criticism, and character.
1:14.8	Those are the key themes of our conversation today.
1:18.8	George, you ready for this?
1:23.0	I am, Adam.
1:24.0	Well, I've been looking forward to this for a while.
1:26.2	Me too.
	...

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