59 min listen
Nathan Hill, author of “Wellness”
FromWriters on Writing: A Weekly Podcast for Writers, Readers, & Book Lovers
Nathan Hill, author of “Wellness”
FromWriters on Writing: A Weekly Podcast for Writers, Readers, & Book Lovers
ratings:
Length:
61 minutes
Released:
Nov 22, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Nathan Hill first came on the show in 2017 with his ¬best-selling debut novel, The Nix, which was named the #1 book of the year by Audible and Entertainment Weekly, and one of the year’s best books by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Slate, and many others.
Wellness came out this year. It’s also a New York Times bestseller and was selected by Oprah Winfrey for her book club in September. Nathan joins Marrie Stone to talk about it, along with how his characters reveal themselves to him, how he manages time in a novel, how he weaves copious amounts of research into the narrative, how he plays with unconventional points of view, and much more. He also shares his thoughts on getting an MFA, how he found his agent, and his advice to aspiring novelists who feel stuck on the outside of the publishing industry.
Along the way, the conversation references an article Nathan wrote for Oprah’s Magazine, “How to Write a Novel in 7 Easy Steps.” It’s funny, irreverent, but has some great advice.
For more information on Writers on Writing and additional writing tips, visit our Patreon page. To listen to past interviews, visit our website. We’re also excited to announce the opening of our new bookstore on bookshop.org. We’ve stocked it with titles from our guests, as well as some of our own personal favorites. By purchasing through the store, you’ll support both independent bookstores and our show. New titles will be added all the time (it’s a work in progress). Finally, on Spotify you can listen to an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at [email protected]. We love to hear from our listeners.
(Recorded on November 21, 2023)
Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Host: Marrie Stone
Music and sound editing: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
Wellness came out this year. It’s also a New York Times bestseller and was selected by Oprah Winfrey for her book club in September. Nathan joins Marrie Stone to talk about it, along with how his characters reveal themselves to him, how he manages time in a novel, how he weaves copious amounts of research into the narrative, how he plays with unconventional points of view, and much more. He also shares his thoughts on getting an MFA, how he found his agent, and his advice to aspiring novelists who feel stuck on the outside of the publishing industry.
Along the way, the conversation references an article Nathan wrote for Oprah’s Magazine, “How to Write a Novel in 7 Easy Steps.” It’s funny, irreverent, but has some great advice.
For more information on Writers on Writing and additional writing tips, visit our Patreon page. To listen to past interviews, visit our website. We’re also excited to announce the opening of our new bookstore on bookshop.org. We’ve stocked it with titles from our guests, as well as some of our own personal favorites. By purchasing through the store, you’ll support both independent bookstores and our show. New titles will be added all the time (it’s a work in progress). Finally, on Spotify you can listen to an album’s worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at [email protected]. We love to hear from our listeners.
(Recorded on November 21, 2023)
Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Host: Marrie Stone
Music and sound editing: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)
Released:
Nov 22, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
V.V. Ganeshananthan, author of “Brotherless Night”: Writers use language with intention. So when V.V. (Sugi) Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night uses the word “terrorist” six times on the first page of a novel about the Sri Lankan civil war, and incorporates the second person, the reader understands they’re as much active participant as passive observer in the book. Sugi joins Marrie Stone to talk about the novel’s origin and why she initially didn’t have the “chops” to write it. She talks about her own relationship with Sri Lanka and the research that went into rendering this period of history to life. Writers may find interest in Sugi’s decision to write in the first (and second) person; the power of writing in the subjunctive; how to describe a foreign time and place (with its particular dishes and unfamiliar names) without being overly explanatory; how Sugi deals with difficult writing challenges the same way she deals with going to the dentist; finding trusted readers; and more. Su by Writers on Writing: A Weekly Podcast for Writers, Readers, & Book Lovers