In Medium, Stian Westlake rails against “The Tyranny of Malcolms,” that is, those Malcolm Gladwellesque anecdotes people often use to open nonfiction book chapters. Since I’ve written (both in this blog and in my new book) that you should consider opening your chapters with a story, I feel compelled to explain why it’s still a…
I listened to Malcolm Gladwell and Paul Headlam’s new five-hour audiobook Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon. It fascinated, entertained, and touched me — even though it had a little more Gladwell in it than we really needed. This is an audiobook unlike any other If you’re interested in “Miracle and Wonder,” you need…
Malcolm Gladwell is creating an exclusive audiobook from interviews with Paul Simon. It’s called “Miracle and Wonder.” And I have to admit I am pretty excited about this. Paul Simon’s talent In my opinion, Paul Simon is the foremost poet of the Twentieth Century. His ability to connect melody, rhyme, and meaning is without parallel….
We all have authors we admire. But that’s no reason to act the way they do. Which nonfiction authors do you think are awesome? My list includes Malcolm Gladwell, Mary Roach, Daniel Pink, Jay Baer, Michael Lewis, Bill Bryson, and Isaac Asimov. And I have no desire to emulate their writing habits. Isaac Asimov wrote…
If you’re famous you don’t have to be useful. A while ago, I had an assignment to present to a small group: the CMOs of a massive media company. Since this company had a dozen major media brands, there were about twelve people in the room. They had tapped me after having me speak to…
Any author will tell you: the money’s in the speeches. A slightly successful author gets occasional gigs and small fees. A moderately successful author gets regular bookings and decent fees. A monster bestselling author is getting rich off royalties — which is very rare — but she’s also getting paid an awful lot to speak….
I am now a writer and a writing coach. I wanted to reflect on the relationship between those two activities. Is writing unconscious? Does deconstructing it for coaching purposes make you self-conscious? Or does coaching help, not just the person coached, but the person doing the coaching? When people are good at something — standup comedy, tennis,…