I Spent 50 Hours With 20 Master Writers

It’s the start of 2024 and to celebrate I thought I’d run through some of the best lessons I’ve picked up over the last 12 months.
This past year has had over 20 episodes produced so there was a lot to choose from but I ended up settling on 8 insights from some of my favorite conversations both inside and outside of the podcast.
Expect to learn how Tim Ferriss sets an extremely high/low quality bar, why Marc Andreessen uses a barbell approach to consume information, Kevin Kelly’s reason to be the only (not the best), how Riva Tez paints with words, why The Cultural Tutor won’t read anything from the past 50 years, how Tyler Cowen brings joy to his work, my thoughts on artificial intelligence, and much more…
WRITE OF PASSAGE:
Want to learn more about the next class Write of Passage?
take.writeofpassage.school/wr...
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:45 Tim Ferriss
00:08:30 Kevin Kelly
00:17:48 Cultural Tutor
00:25:02 Marc Andreessen
00:29:00 Shiny Dime Challenge
00:30:20 Riva Tez
00:36:08 Steven Pressfield
00:42:10 Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok
00:45:58 Ava Huang
00:50:00 Core Ideas
PODCAST LINKS:
Website: writeofpassage.school/how-i-w...
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSbo...
ABOUT THE HOST:
I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.

[@DavidPerellChannel]

I've interviewed 20 of the world's top writers over the past six months. Here are the best lessons I've learned... 1. Tim Ferriss: Have a low bar for inputs, but a high bar for outputs. When Tim was writing The 4-Hour Work Week, his only rule for himself was to "write two crappy pages per day." That kept him at the keyboard on a daily basis. But his low bar for writing came with an exceptionally high bar for what he actually shared in public. 2. Kevin Kelly: Don't aim to be the best. Be the only. His writing is driven by the obsessive and unrestrained pursuit of his own curiosities. Whenever I'm with him, I get the sense that he's always fooling around and is somehow so aligned with his work that productive writing can't help but seep out of him. The output isn't forced though. He says: “Productivity is often a distraction. Don't aim for better ways to get through your tasks as quickly as possible. Instead, look for writing projects that you never want to stop doing.” 3. Cultural Tutor: If it was published in the past 50 years, don’t read it. The problem with new books isn't that they're bad. The problem is that everybody else is reading them, which doesn't give you much edge as a writer. 4. Marc Andreessen: Use a barbell approach to consume information. His method directly contradicts the Cultural Tutor's. He focuses on what's happening right now while also reading a lot of timeless material that was published 10+ years ago. The things he reads are either timely or timeless, with almost nothing in between. 5. Riva Tez: Writing is painting with words. Passion makes poets out of all of us. You don't need a thesaurus if you write with enough heart. When you care about what you're saying, the language comes out fresh. The formal and logical aspects of your writing need not overpower the soul and poetry. 6. Steven Pressfield: Care for the craft of writing. Steven had tried to send me a copy of his new book, The Daily Pressfield, but for a hodgepodge of reasons, I never received it. Insisting that I read it before recording the interview, he drove an hour each way to hand-deliver his book to me, introduce himself for 20 seconds, drive home, and drive right back the next day. He sent a digital copy, and he wouldn't use a day-of shipping service because it was "too important." 7. Tyler Cowen + Alex Tabarrok: The joy they bring to their work. You get the sense that they're drawing from a bottomless well of curiosity because they've found the work they're called to be doing. 20 years into their partnership, they still laugh like childhood best friends when they're together. 8. Ava Huang: Reaching Beyond Consensus To reach beyond consensus is to write something in a fresh and novel way that’s surprising and memorable. And it takes work. The ideas that initially come to mind for you when you're creating won't usually be the best ones, so dig and dig until you find something that surprises you as the writer, and in turn, surprises your reader too.

[@aliabdaal]

This is so good!

[@DeconTheMonkey]

“Don’t aim to be the best. Be the only.” This idea just makes sense and liberates and empowers!

[@zorro7148]

I actually struggle to understand how this content is available to us for free. Your work is greatly appreciated. Thank you, David.

[@aodhanpmoran]

Deserves at least 100x the views. It'll come mate, keep it up. Standards are so high.

[@theravenswritingdesk]

Excellent work, thank you for reminding me that whatever adjective I put before "writer"-small, up-and-coming, unexperienced, sporadic-that it doesn't detract from the fact that I am a writer with a God given gift for the craft. Thank you for everything you do, and I look forward to the next eight lessons.

[@michaelortegacreative]

Incredibly valuable, I’m only 9 minutes in and I can tell how wonderfully dense this episode is. Thank you 🙏🏽

[@meenakshi6344]

I loved this video. You curated your favourite excerpts from the interviews, and you added your thoughts and feelings to them. It was like reading a heavily annotated book. Enriching.

[@joryiansmith]

"You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything." - Henry David Thoreau

[@joryiansmith]

"I find that the very things that I get criticized for, which is usually being different and just doing my own thing and just being original, is the very thing that's making me successful." - Shania Twain

[@andreaschneider6202]

@joryiansmith I am the first one to agree. Thank you for your comment. Best wishes, Andrea S.

[@andreaschneider6202]

@DavidPerellChannel David, it is no accident that you have the same middle name as the one and only Thoreau--you are a brilliant writer and a unique, cherished individual🙇🏻‍♀ Thank you for all your work🙏🏻 Have a blessed day, Andrea S.

[@masonfuerst]

Awesome video David. Thanks for creating this channel and sharing these episodes. I've learned a ton, and have only been watching them for the last few days. So to say I'm hooked is an understatement. Big fan of your work, keep it up.

[@talialavor8411]

Im absolutely enthralled with this channel, the guests and David. Everything about it is beautiful. The sound quality, the people, the unique perspectives, the studio, and David's calm and very present energy. Just nothing like it! You are the one!

[@madihamughees2731]

There's sincerity and passion in your work. You are making a difference for sure. Thank you

[@HeyWilliamSalas]

Damn this podcast is so good. So many nuggets every single time! Great format, you added so much context.

[@riccardocecco]

Thanks for your work David :) your energy tells a lot about you. I can feel you're really loving what you're doing and you deserve all the best. The podcast is incredible and you're one of the best interviewers in my opinion. And I watch a ton of different podcasts!! Keep going man 💪

[@Ankur_explores]

Great episode David!🎉

[@robleon]

Thanks for sharing your takeaways. I've been following along and our lists are pretty close! ✌🏻

[@jessehepburn]

Love seeing your journey and very thankful for you sharing these takeaways with us.

[@iAmWriting247]

Excited for this!

[@tobitotheworld4805]

"let everything happen to you. Beauty or terror" - Rainer Maria Rilke

[@HeathHolme]

Came here and learned plenty. Thanks for sharing 🙂

[@sandnyc]

Im here for this.🤩

[@eternalincantation]

thank you! very good one!

[@jessehepburn]

If you like Reagan’s speeches maybe you could interview his speech writer- Peter Robinson at the Hoover Institute

[@jaredcartermusic]

Epic. 👏

[@Thought_it_up]

Great implementation similar to Ferris. Core Ideas summary crushed it.

[@eugeniocg3079]

GOAT

[@tobitotheworld4805]

any chance we can get seth godin on the show?

[@leejackson1512]

I enjoyed most of those interviews and learned something from them. But I have to ask: why would I listen to anyone who espouses the notion of paying no attention to works produced within the past fifty years? The arrogance of a writer who makes such a statement while implying that we should pay attention to his uttering is immense. His rationale is that if we read more current authors, then we are going to be (essentially) regurgitating that which is already written. Interestingly, he reserves to himself the judgement to distinguish between those things that are current but still worth writing about while the rest of us are relegated to the nether regions of less than analytical thought. I zoomed right past him.