Make Sure You Don’t Have a Horrible Personality
I’m a huge fan of the Ira Glass talks on storytelling. You can find the first one here; you could also follow me on YouTube and find them all stockpiled…
I'm a huge fan of the Ira Glass talks on storytelling.
You can find the first one here; you could also follow me on YouTube and find them all stockpiled in my "favorite videos" list.
In the video I've embedded above, Ira Glass talks about one of the biggest problems with submissions he receives for his show:
The person has a horrible personality.
Who are people with horrible personalities?
The ones who only seem able to talk about themselves.
Herein lies, I believe, one of the great secrets to being a writer: You are curious about others; you are curious about the world.
To be interesting, we have to be interested in other people. That's how it works.
(If this doesn't describe you? Fake it for a while until it does.)
Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
