Michael Pollan's Best Writing Advice

This episode is presented by Wispr Flow, a tool that turns voice notes into clear writing. I use it every day and recommend it to every writer I know. Try it for free at ref.wisprflow.ai/howiwrite Michael Pollan is one of my all-time favorite nonfiction writers. He has been writing about food, nature, and consciousness for decades. For him, the writing process begins with a question. He finds something he's interested in and embarks on an adventure. He experiences things, talks to people, learns, and then compiles it all into a book. His writing style feels as if he's putting an arm around you, simply reporting back what he's learned and experienced, all in a very friendly way. The adventure we discussed most in this conversation was when he bought a cow and followed it from birth to slaughter, illustrating the industrial food system's impact on meat production. Michael has taught nonfiction writing at Harvard and UC Berkeley. At the end of the interview, he said: "I just gave you an entire semester's worth of content in one hour." 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:48 Caffeine and writing 00:03:37 Do drugs make you creative? 00:10:45 How psychedelics change writing 00:12:57 Michael's journaling method 00:16:29 Writing routine 00:18:55 Two ways to write a draft 00:20:34 Why write in the first person 00:26:09 The cow story 00:34:08 How to balance story and facts 00:39:02 Metaphor is a cheat code 00:42:48 Finding the right question 00:51:25 Why you should read novels 00:55:40 How Michael does research 01:01:43 What makes a good character 01:08:35 Art expands our consciousness 01:11:05 What junior writers must know *About the host* Hey! 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. *Follow me* Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell

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