Meet Pulitzer Prize-Winning Stanford Professor – Richard Powers

Richard is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Overstory, one of the most praised novels of the decade. His writing absolutely explodes with life. But perhaps Richard’s most impressive skill is his character development. And we’re not talking about the stodgy character arc you learned in English class. Richard shares 40+ years and 14 novels worth of insight on how to write characters that readers can’t get out of their head.

This episode is a deep dive into the psychoanalytical complexities of character: drama and tension, thinking and feeling, motivation and suspense. Plus, we dive into the three different types of character-driven drama: People against People, People against Themselves, and People against the Environment.

In a nutshell, this episode is a novel-writing masterclass that you don’t want to miss.

WRITE OF PASSAGE:
Want to learn more about the final class for Write of Passage?
https://writeofpassage.com/

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:46 Understanding Character Relationships
00:04:09 Characterization Techniques
00:10:07 The Role of Inner Values in Drama
00:12:52 The Three Levels of Drama
00:15:15 Man vs. Nature in Literature
00:21:00 Empathy for Trees and the Non-Human World
00:27:58 The Emotional Impact of Fiction
00:31:49 The Mechanics of Voice and Syntax
00:43:14 Hidden Characters and Sentence Structure
00:44:45 Writing Descriptively: Techniques and Examples
00:51:18 The Craft of Rewriting and Editing
00:55:07 Crafting Effective Introductions
01:00:12 The Role of Tension in Storytelling
01:06:57 Crafting Realistic Dialogue
01:17:05 The Balance of Solitude and Engagement in Writing
01:21:28 Richard’s Daily Writing Practices

PODCAST LINKS:
Website: https://writeofpassage.com/how-i-write
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSbo...

ABOUT THE HOST:
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.