Counter-Currents
Counter-Currents Radio Podcast No. 562
Advice for Aspiring Writers
Counter-Currents Radio
204 words / 2:10:22
Greg Johnson was joined by accomplished authors John Derbyshire (website), Jim Goad, James J. O’Meara, Fred Reed, and Kathryn S. on the latest broadcast of Counter-Currents Radio in order to share their advice for aspiring writers. It is now available for download and online listening.
Topics discussed include:
00:02:22 Enter John Derbyshire
00:02:55 Enter Fred Reed
00:03:05 Enter Jim Goad
00:04:18 When did you decide you wanted to become a writer?
00:07:08 How much of writing is nature vs. nurture?
00:12:39 Do you have any writing rituals?
00:18:21 Do you ever have trouble getting started?
00:20:58 What about inspiration?
00:29:18 Which writers are your idols?
00:38:31 Pen and paper vs. computers
00:41:42 How much time did you spend trying to disprove Riemann’s hypothesis?
00:43:12 Did John ever read A History of Pi?
00:44:46 Are there books on writing that you would recommend?
00:50:58 What do you guys think of Substack?
00:57:05 Enter Kathryn S.
00:57:36 Enter James J. O’Meara
00:58:10 Should writers use artificial intelligence?
01:06:19 Do you write while on drugs?
01:15:34 Are there any writers or types of writing that you dislike?
01:31:24 Thoughts on lyricism
01:48:15 How important is it to have a clean sense of your audience?
01:58:27 Will you ever retire from writing?
To listen in a player, click here or below. To download, right-click the link and click “save as.”
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5 comments
I have an anecdote, which is kind of old, you’ve probably heard it before, but it may be of use to ye scribblers:
supposedly, in order to motivate himself to write, the poet Keats would wake up in the morning, shower, and dress up in a business suit, as if he were going into the office. He would then exit his house, walk around the block, return and go back in his house, sit at his desk and begin to write. That would put him in the proper mindset.
I don’t know if he would go back out and walk around the block and return in order to end his workday in the evening though.
I found this discussion to be interesting and immensely enjoyable.
So many great writers here are a treasure.
Santa sends a modest donation, and here is wishing Counter-Currents a great 2024.
🙂
Thank you so much, and Merry Christmas!
I love that the Elements of Style and Fussell’s Class book are both recommended here.
Enjoyable conversation. Thank you.
When the discussion turned to writers that are disliked, and the postmodernists were mentioned, I immediately thought of that entertaining essay from 2002, A Reader’s Manifesto (B.R. Myers). I recall reading it the first time back when it was originally published and I fell out of my chair, laughing. The nauseating pretentiousness of a lot of modern writers in the U.S. !
Greg Johnson’s and Kathryn S.’s comments about writers and academics who are actually hostile to Western culture are spot on. I can’t tell you how common this is, unfortunately, among academics who specialize in the Greco Roman world. Everything has to be seen through the prism of today’s politics. I don’t mean to say everyone is “woke” (far from it), but there’s always that tinge of diss when they lecture or write about ancient Greece and Rome. Everything must be contextualized today, and not to provide a bigger picture, but to make sure no one in the audience gets the wrong idea that there was anything particularly special about the Greeks and the Romans (and therefore, by extension, Western Civilization, generally). Right now it’s all about the elevation of Persia and Mesopotamia.
Again, an enjoyable conversation all around.
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