The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

#PodcastersForJustice Award-winning author and essayist, Vanessa Veselka, spoke to me about her transformation as an artist, writing out of necessity, and the journey from nervy debut to National Book Award longlist. Vanessa is the author of the debut novel Zazen, which won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize in 2012. Her second novel, The Great Offshore Grounds, was longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction 2020, and winner of the Oregon Book Awards' Ken Kesey Award for Fiction. The book has been described by author Roxane Gay as “A magnificent beast of a novel.... One of the rare novels that understands the realities of American poverty,” and was named one of "The 10 Best Books of 2020," by Vulture. Vanessa's short stories have appeared in Tin House and ZYZZYVA, and her nonfiction in GQ, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, The Atavist, and was included in Best American Essays and the anthology Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism. Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" coffee mugs anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews In this file Vanessa Veselka and I discussed: Suffering and the itinerant life of an artist The novel as a democratic artform Why writers need to stand their ground and trust their intuition How to find magic in your writing process Protecting your most productive time And a lot more! Show Notes: VanessaVeselka.com The Great Offshore Grounds: A novel By Vanessa Veselka (Amazon) Zazen By Vanessa Veselka (Amazon) Vanessa Veselka on Facebook Vanessa Veselka on Instagram Vanessa Veselka on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning filmmakers and multi-hyphenate screenwriting duo, Kaz and Ryan Firpo, spoke to me about their breakout Hollywood moment, writing Marvel's Eternals, and how to eat a whale. The Firpos are cousins who grew up in Northern California – with a storied background in commercials and documentary filmmaking – who describe themselves as "filmmakers who write." In 2017 their first feature screenplay, RUIN, topped The Black List (a showcase for film writers) making them a hot commodity in Hollywood. In addition to writing and directing their first feature, their original sci-fi screenplay MIMI FROM RIO was purchased in a bidding war by Netflix with Ridley Scott producing. Their first entry for the MCU is the complex story, Eternals, about a race of immortals who help shape Earth's history and civilizations, and who must emerge from hiding after thousands of years to protect the world from the evil Deviants. Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews In this file The Firpos and I discussed: The importance of The Black List to launching their careers Working with Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao of Nomadland fame World-building vs. act-building in screenwriting Why you should read all the screenwriting craft books you can Having drinks with Angelina Jolie And a lot more! Show Notes: Marvel Studios’ Eternals | Final Trailer Bet Raise Fold: The Story of Online Poker Director: Ryan Firpo [Amazon] Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee [Amazon] Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field [Amazon] Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#PodcastersForJustice Critically-acclaimed debut author, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, spoke to me about becoming a late-stage "literary debutante," Walmart militias, and the #writinglife as an introvert. Jocelyn is a veteran public school art teacher, whose short story “Control Negro” was anthologized in Best American Short Stories 2018, guest-edited by New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay, and read live by LeVar Burton as part of PRI’s Selected Shorts series. Her buzzy debut is 2021 Kirkus Prize Finalist, My Monticello, five stories and a novella all set in Virginia. It has been described as a "...precisely imagined [novel exploring] burdened inheritances and extraordinary pursuits of belonging....Set in the near future..." It was selected by National Book award winner Charles Yu as his most anticipated book of the year, hailed as a "masterly feat” by the NY Times, called "electrifying" by Colson Whitehead, and "absolutely unforgettable" by Roxane Gay. Netflix recently bought the title novella "My Monticello" for adaptation and Jocelyn’s writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian, Kweli, Joyland, among others, and she has been a fellow at TinHouse, Hedgebrook and VCCA. Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews In this file Jocelyn Nicole Johnson and I discussed: What inspired her quasi-dystopian fiction How she was discovered at a short story reading Why getting tweeted by Roxane Gay was a game-changer How to build a writing community as a wallflower And a lot more! Show Notes: JocelynJohnson.com My Monticello: Fiction By Jocelyn Nicole Johnson (Amazon) 'My Monticello' grapples with the past, present and future of American racism - NPR Jocelyn Nicole Johnson on Facebook Jocelyn Nicole Johnson on Instagram Jocelyn Nicole Johnson on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#PodcastersForJusticeJournalist and Founder of the bestselling Six-Word Memoirs series, Larry Smith, spoke to me about his evolution as a journalist, TEDxing the Six-Word Memoir, and famous micro-memoirists.In the early days of Twitter, with a single tweet in 2006 – “Can you describe your life in six words?" – Larry Smith launched what would go on to become a runaway global phenomenon.The Six-Word Memoir Project has gone on to become a bestselling series of books, live event programs, a board game, and a popular lesson plan taught by teachers around the world.The 10th book in the series, A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Year: Hundreds of Stories on the Pandemic, offers a snapshot of unique viewpoints of kids, parents, and teachers sharing their six-word pandemic stories.The book also features numerous notable contributors including Piper Kerman (Smith’s wife and author of Orange Is the New Black), W. Kamau Bell (CNN commentator and comedian), Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love), and many others.Stay calm and write on ...Discover The Writer Files ExtraYou can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app!As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey.Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your InboxIf you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews In this file Larry Smith and I discussed: Interning with Dave Eggers at SF Weekly and launching Smith Magazine Shortened attention spans and the influence of Ernest Hemingway The power of storytelling for processing complex emotions Why writers need to get outside and take a walk And a lot more Show Notes: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good Year: Hundreds of Stories on the Pandemic by Six-Word Memoirs [Amazon] sixwordmemoirs.com sixwordsmith.com sixinschools.com Larry Smith on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning, New York Times bestselling psychological thriller writer, Chevy Stevens, spoke to me about her life as a recluse, dreaming in prose, scaring the King, and her latest, Dark Roads. Chevy's debut novel Still Missing went on to become a New York Times bestseller and winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel in 2010. Her popular books, including Those Girls – which Stephen King called “Incredibly scary and suspenseful,” – have been published in more than thirty countries and optioned for film. Her seventh novel, the standalone thriller, Dark Roads, has been described as an "instant classic" by #1 New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box. Author Gillian Flynn has called Chevy's work both "Gripping ... [and] unforgettable." Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files,  In this file Chevy Stevens and I discussed: Why writers need to be protective of their (daydreaming) time The romanticization of the writing life Tossing novel drafts in the trash bin The real-life "Highway of Tears" and a legacy of broken promises How to write a proper prologue, your first 50 pages ... And a lot more Show Notes: ChevyStevens.com Dark Roads: A Novel by Chevy Stevens (Amazon) Chevy Stevens Amazon author page Chevy Stevens on Facebook Chevy Stevens on Instagram Chevy Stevens on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#PodcastersForJustice Co-hosts of the top international podcast "What You Will Learn," Adam Ashton and Adam Jones, spoke to me about why writers should (and can) read more, how to turn a podcast into a book, and The Sh*t They Never Taught You. What You Will Learn became Australia's #1 Book Podcast with over 4 million downloads, 300 episodes, and interviews with some of the biggest non-fiction authors in the business (including Seth Godin). The Adams pledged to deliver "The Best Bits From The Best (Non-Fiction) Books" weekly on their show, and now they've distilled their collective knowledge even further into their own book. Their compendium, The Sh*t They Never Taught You, offers "... takeaways from over a hundred of the world’s greatest thinkers, capturing lessons in personal development, career, business, personal finances, human nature, history, and philosophy." Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews. In this file the Adams and I discussed: Everything from growth mindset, GTD, to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People The formulas for reading more with greater retention Why turning a podcast into a book isn't easy The importance of sticky notes, marginalia, life-changing books... And a lot more Show Notes: What You Will Learn What You Will Learn on Apple Podcasts The Sh*t They Never Taught You: What You Can Learn From Books (Amazon) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Amazon) Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene (Amazon) What You Will Learn on Facebook What You Will Learn Instagram What You Will Learn Twitter  Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#PodcastersForJustice Award-winning writer and journalist, Leïla Slimani, spoke to me about the challenges of writing historical fiction, impostor syndrome, and what it's like to live In the Country of Others. “Imagination is the strongest, most powerful human capability. It allows everything: you can move in time, in space, create worlds. That’s what I look for when I write, and when I read, too.” – Leïla Slimani Leïla is the French-Moroccan author of the award-winning, #1 internationally bestselling novel The Perfect Nanny – a New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of the Year – for which she became the first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Goncourt. Her latest novel, In the Country of Others (first in a planned trilogy about how women’s lives change over three generations), was named a Best Book of the Summer by Vogue, E Weekly, BuzzFeed, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Town & Country, Observer, The Millions, and Parade. Salman Rushdie said of the book, “The world of this novel—Morocco after World War II, leading up to the revolt against French colonialism—is beautifully created.... An exceptional, powerful novel from this justly celebrated writer,” and The New York Times Book Review wrote, "In the Country of Others . . . lays bare women’s intimate, lacerating experience of war and its consequent trauma.” Leila is also an award-winning journalist and outspoken commentator on women’s and human rights, and a French diplomat to French president Emmanuel Macron for the promotion of the French language and culture. Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews. In this file Leïla Slimani and I discussed: Giving voices to the voiceless and time traveling in your work Racial inequality and the global taboos surrounding the history of colonization The importance of coffee and cigarettes to the creative process A writer's guilt, the perils of success... And why writers just need a good glass of (French) red wine Show Notes: Leïla Slimani In the Country of Others: A Novel by Leïla Slimani (Amazon) Leïla Slimani Amazon author page Hey, Creator! Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#PodcastersForJustice Internationally bestselling novelist and short story author, Nickolas Butler, spoke to me about working sh*tty jobs, the irony of his latest title, Godspeed, and defining the modern western. Nickolas is an Iowa Writers' Workshop grad and author of the award-winning novel Shotgun Lovesongs, The Hearts of Men, and Little Faith, and the story collection Beneath the Bonfire. His latest novel is Godspeed, described as "... an incisive portrait of working-class life, the meth epidemic, and the many stratified realities of this one America we all live in, separately." New York Times bestselling author, Ace Atkins, said of the book, “A fast-moving, highly addictive novel of ambition, obsession, and long-festering dreams of the haves and have nots." Nickolas has published articles, reviews, short stories, and poetry in publications such as Ploughshares, Narrative, and The New York Times Book Review, among others. Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews. In this file Nickolas Butler and I discussed: Harnessing storytelling and the inner-lives of blue collar workers How to write a novel in under six months The importance of writing for your core readership And why writers need to challenge themselves, harness the power of deadlines, and turn their art into a craft Show Notes: NickolasButler.com Godspeed by Nickolas Butler (Amazon) Nickolas Butler Amazon author page Nickolas Butler on Instagram Nickolas Butler on Facebook Nickolas Butler on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#PodcastersForJustice Decorated speculative fiction and YA author and pundit, Charlie Jane Anders, chatted with me about the genesis of storytelling, how to weather 20 years of rejection, write through hard times, and her latest how-to for writers Never Say You Can’t Survive. "Being a writer doesn't have to mean you have a cool haircut and live in Brooklyn and go to fancy literary parties. It can mean that you're just someone who enjoys making up stories ... you don't even have to publish them." – Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane's novel Victories Greater Than Death – the first book in a new young-adult trilogy, April, 2021 – and 2019's Locus Award winner The City in the Middle of the Night – named one of the year's best books by the Guardian and others and optioned for TV by Sony. Her 2016 novel, All the Birds in the Sky, was #5 on Time Magazine's list of the year's 10 best novels, and won the Nebula, Locus and Crawford awards. Her latest is Never Say You Can’t Survive, a book about how to use creative writing to get through hard times. It's described as "... a practical guide to storytelling [and a] ... a manual for creativity in unprecedented times." Charlie Jane's fiction and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, McSweeney's, Mother Jones, Boston Review, Tor.com, Tin House, WIRED magazine, and many other places. Her TED Talk, "Go Ahead, Dream About the Future" has been viewed over 2M times. She also co-hosts the Hugo Award-winning podcast Our Opinions Are Correct with Annalee Newitz. Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews. In this file Charlie Jane Anders and I discussed: The importance of why "we all contain multitudes" Impostor syndrome and rubbing elbows with famous authors Her creative chameleon characteristics And why writers need to juxtapose the small and personal against the huge and epic Stay calm and write on ... Show Notes: CharlieJaneAnders.com Never Say You Can't Survive by Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders Amazon author page Our Opinions Are Correct the Hugo Award-winning podcast TED Talk, "Go Ahead, Dream About the Future" welovebookstores.org Charlie Jane Anders on Facebook Charlie Jane Anders on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#PodcastersForJustice New York Times bestselling author, Jason Mott, took a timeout to talk with me about the high-wire act of building Hell of a Book, talking about race in America, and NOT working with Brad Pitt. Jason is the author of The Returned, a New York Times bestseller that was turned into a TV series that ran for two seasons. His fourth novel is titled Hell of a Book, and is described as a "... funny and honest [work of fiction] that goes to the heart of racism, police violence, and the hidden costs exacted upon Black Americans, and America as a whole." The book has been named to dozens of "must read" lists for 2021 including Entertainment Weekly, The NY Post, GMA, USA Today, Fortune's 21 Most Anticipated Books Coming out in the Second Half of 2021 and more. Charles Yu, author of National Book Award winner Interior Chinatown called the book, "Playful, searching, raw and necessary..." Jason has BFA in fiction and an MFA in Poetry, both from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His poetry and fiction have appeared in various literary journals. Stay calm and write on ... Discover The Writer Files Extra You can now have The Writer Files podcast dropped right into your email inbox every time there’s a new show. No more shaking your podcast app! As a subscriber, Kelton will send you added insights, the chance to get TWF merch (like "Stay Calm and Write On" t-shirts anyone?), curated collections of shows like The Publishing Series and The Writer’s Brain, updates, and occasional special offers. Learn more at the link below and take our AuthorPods podcasting course survey. Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please "Follow" us to automatically see new interviews. In this file Jason Mott and I discussed: What it's like to write a book in your head for a decade Why he dared to dream to become a writer How to build a technically complex novel, draft by draft His study and love of film noir And why writers need to be nicer to themselves Show Notes: JasonMottAuthor.com Hell of a Book: A Novel by Jason Mott Jason Mott Amazon author page Jason Mott on Facebook Jason Mott on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices