Reverence for Writers (and other thoughts)

I was on the Nieman Storyboard Podcast this week.

Earlier this week, I was on the Nieman Storyboard podcast, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard’s series of in-depth conversations about journalism and storytelling, hosted by Mark Armstrong, the founder (emeritus) of Longreads and co-founder of Ursa (of which I am an advisor.)

I am pretty sure that I didn’t call anyone a racist on this podcast either.

I did say this though, and I think it’s important, so I hope you’ll indulge me:

 I am awed by people who can walk into a room by themselves and sit with a laptop or a legal pad or a pile of paper and will worlds into existence. It is truly godlike, and it is, I know from my own experience, brutally painful. … I just think it's really important that we acknowledge that. I don't think we talk enough about that. We know how hard it is to be an athlete. We know how hard it is to be an actor because we see those things in front of our faces, but we don't see what it takes to write something great. But that doesn't mean that it's any less remarkable.

One of the advantages that writers have is that you don't need anybody else to do your work. If you're a writer and you need a job, you can lock yourself in a room and write a script and sell it. And I think the ability to do that is something that I think even some writers underappreciate. There's always going to be a market for that because there's a desperate need for good stories well-told that studios can then sell to an audience.

Here are the Spotify and Apple podcast links if you want to listen to the whole thing:

Earlier this year, they (Mallary Tenore Tarpley, specifically) also compiled A Guide to Books On Storytelling, that I imagine some of you will find valuable.

Have a Great Weekend.