I Have to Be the Best Becomes I Am the Best | 5min snip from London Writers' Salon

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#025: Will Storr — The Science of Storytelling, Moving Past Rejection & Writing Impactful Non-Fiction

London Writers' Salon

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CHAPTER

I Have to Be the Best Becomes I Am the Best

"I'm only safe if I'm the best. That's what it was like growing up," says author of Ants Memoir. The book is about a young boy who had this floor idea that he was the best. "It took what could have been just a series of anecdotes about and being like being heroic."

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In this episode we speak to the award-winning author, Will Storr (@wstorr) about The Science of Storytelling, from his research process to planning and writing his first draft, why he thinks “writing is mostly about rejection” and why ultimately critics' feedback doesn’t matter to him. We also delve into his signature “Sacred Flaw” technique, which will help you truly understand your character (if fiction), or yourself if you’re writing a memoir.

ABOUT WILL STORR

Will Storr is an award-winning writer. He’s the author of five critically acclaimed books: The Status Game (Sept 2021), The Science of Storytelling, The Selfie, The Heretics and The Hunger and The Howling of Killian Lone. His journalism has appeared in titles such as The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The New Yorker and The New York Times. His prizes include a National Press Club award for excellence and the AFM award for Best Investigative Journalism. He’s an in-demand ghostwriter whose books have spent months at the top of The Sunday Times bestseller chart.

QUOTES BY WILL:

"There was a study in the 1950s of a small island in Micronesia which ran this status game of yams and whoever brought the biggest yam to the feast was declared number one. The yam growers would grow in secret plots on the island and cover them with overgrow. I always think about the yams because this book is it's a yam is what it is and all the things that we're trying to do, it's just a big, bloody yam. That's all it is. And it can feel really important. And if I get a shitty review this week from The Guardian, it's just somebody mocking a yam. It sounds contradictory because on the one hand saying status is really important and it is really important. We need it. But I do think it's really useful to remind ourselves that it's just symbols that we're chasing. And we are kind of drugged into thinking that it is of immense importance that this critic likes my book, but it isn't. No one else really cares. It's just a yam."

RESOURCES:

Connect with Will

Twitter:@wstorr

Website: willstorr.com

Will’s Books:

The Status Game

The Science of Storytelling

The Selfie

The Heretics

The Howling of Killian Lone

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