Jonathan Franzen is one of the most influential novelists alive today. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a National Book Award winner, and this conversation is all about how he writes his books. For him, great writing begins with great characters. And developing great

Four recommendations 1) The Technological Society: Ellul argued that society is driven not by capitalism or politics but by the demands of technology itself. In this world, progress becomes less about uplifting the human spirit and more about feeding the appetite of technology.

The Internet traps us in a Never-Ending Now. Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and just about every social media feeds have us on a hamster wheel of ephemeral consumption that never ever ends.

This is wonderful.

The best modern novelist

What would Jonathan Franzen tell up-and-coming writers? "My advice is to really work on the pages. Ask yourself: Is there a way to say this in fewer words? You don't need that many details. Two sentences are all you need for a minor character. It really doesn't take much."

Franzen: The problem with clichés is that stories are supposed to be vivid dreams. Your job as a writer is to create an experience for your reader that's so visceral that they feel like they're living the story themselves. When you do it right, the reader doesn't want it to end.

good gems in here on writing, why you must distance yourself from characters you create, the nuanced roles of humor in life…from Jonathan Franzen.

Marc Andreessen: “The person who writes down the thing has tremendous power.” “There are so few people who will just write down the thing.” Source: @pmarca on How I Write with @david_perell

David Perell keeps coming out with interviews where my instant reaction is “holy shit, I have to listen to this now”

Thanks for the wonderful discussion, @david_perell.

Atul Gawande told me: "Say yes to everything before you're 40, and say no to everything after you're 40." Here's why. https://t.co/q4CbJTn2eT

Links... Apple: https://t.co/UmemCLuAlc Spotify: https://t.co/ueMGMeJbk5 YouTube:

Years ago, Atul Gawande wrote a book called "Being Mortal" that grappled with death as beautifully as anything I've ever read. A few weeks ago, I finally got the chance to interview him. When I think about doctors who write well, he's the first person who comes to mind. His

"It captures something true for all masters: they look graceful because they don't make unnecessary movements. In that way, the elegance of good technique is deceptive. "

I love this line, “they look graceful because they don't make unnecessary movements. In that way, the elegance of good technique is deceptive.” Reminds me of:

If you look at the traditional publishing companies it looks insane for authors. But it makes much more sense if you zoom out and include the whole author speaking world as part of it. If the speaking guarantees falls, the whole industry will change.

Now that we have AI, writing doesn't signal proof of work like it used to. There's long been a genre of book that's really just a glorified business card. The authors would hand out these books, and people politely accepted them, and nobody expected a single page to be read.

“institutions are buying clear narratives”

An investor friend told me that when you're raising money, a fund doing a steady 15% with a crisp story will be more attractive to investors than a fund doing 20% with a muddy one. He insists that institutions are buying clear narratives as much as returns. There's a general