How I Write Mitch Albom: Storytelling Master Shares His Secrets | How I Write
In a deep dive into storytelling, bestselling author Mitch Albom shares his secrets from a career that boasts over 40 million book sales. He emphasizes the importance of a central theme and knowing your ending before starting, revealing how to hook readers instantly. Mitch discusses the art of pacing, trimming unnecessary details, and crafting compelling character arcs. He also reflects on writing with humility, capturing universal truths, and treating writing like a disciplined job, all while keeping the reader’s curiosity front and center.
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Serve One Central Idea
- Decide the one big idea your piece must serve and tether every scene to it.
- Know your ending or theme early so the story never drifts aimlessly.
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Start With The Ending
- Know the ending or north star before you write the middle.
- Endings guide choices and keep the narrative focused as you build the plot.
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Story Skills Learned At The Dinner Table
- Storytelling skill often comes from lived practice, not formal training.
- Albom learned pacing and attention-getting at family dinner table storytelling.
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Intro
00:00 • 36sec
Serving the Story: Theme as North Star
00:36 • 3min
Hooking the Reader Quickly
03:14 • 3min
Telling Slow Parts Fast and Pacing
06:00 • 2min
Starting with Theme to Build Premise
07:50 • 5min
What Makes a Compelling Premise
12:40 • 2min
Using Simplicity Over Emotion
15:00 • 5min
Revision Process: Self-Editing to Tighten
19:40 • 3min
Deadlines, Discipline, and Writing Routine
22:43 • 8min
Finding Unique Angles in Journalism
30:20 • 8min
Character Arcs: Start, Transformation, End
37:56 • 5min
Writing for Readers Over Self
42:40 • 3min
Idea Capture and Never-Ending Idea File
45:30 • 3min
Make Stories Accessible: Translate Details into Theme
48:30 • 2min
Finding Human Gold: The Father Who Carried His Son
50:55 • 4min
Pacing, Rhythm, and When to Pause
54:48 • 6min
Rhythm in Writing: A Musical Approach
01:00:20 • 9min
Writing About Faith with Humility
01:09:30 • 5min
Have a Little Faith: The File on God
01:14:03 • 6min
Songwriting and Memorable Hooks
01:20:20 • 2min
Love as a Central Theme in Twice
01:22:23 • 11min
Loss of Love Versus Loss of Life
01:32:56 • 5min
Outro
01:37:48 • 6sec
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The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
Mitch Albom
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Have a little faith
Montserrat Batista Pequeroles
Mitch Albom
Have a Little Faith is a true story that follows Mitch Albom's eight-year journey with two men of faith: an elderly Jewish rabbi and a Christian pastor in Detroit.
The book explores themes of faith, purpose, and unity across different religious and social contexts.
Through his interactions with these men, Albom delves into profound questions about life, death, forgiveness, and the power of faith in difficult times.
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Twice
Mitch Albom
In 'Twice', Mitch Albom tells the story of Alfie Logan, who discovers at age eight that he can relive any moment once.
As he grows older, Alfie uses this gift to correct mistakes and navigate love, but learns a crucial rule: once he undoes a love, that person can never love him again.
The novel explores themes of desire, devotion, and regret through Alfie's life story, which unfolds during a mysterious investigation late in his life.
#3359
• Mentioned in 10 episodes
Adventures in the Screen Trade
William Goldman
Adventures in the Screen Trade is a candid and insightful look at the Hollywood film industry, written by William Goldman.
The book is divided into three parts, offering essays on Hollywood realities, stories from Goldman's projects, and a practical guide to adapting a short story into a screenplay.
It includes the full screenplay of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and provides valuable advice for aspiring screenwriters.
#6634
• Mentioned in 5 episodes
A River Runs Through It
Norman Maclean
The book is set in the small towns and mountains of western Montana and revolves around the narrator, Norman Maclean, and his brother Paul.
It delves into their experiences with fly fishing, their close-knit family, and the broader themes of life, nature, and human relationships.
The story is a blend of memoir, elegy, and allegory, using fly fishing as a metaphor to explore deeper existential questions.
The narrative is marked by vivid descriptions of nature and a poignant reflection on the author's past, particularly the tragic events that shaped his life.
#52513
The Little Liar
Mitch Albom
The Little Liar by Mitch Albom is a novel that explores the human repercussions of deception during the Holocaust.
The story centers around Nico Krispis, an eleven-year-old boy from Salonika, Greece, who has never told a lie.
When the Nazis invade, a German officer tricks Nico into persuading his fellow Jewish residents to board trains supposedly heading to new jobs and safety.
Unaware of the true destination, Nico reassures passengers until he discovers the horrific truth on the final train.
The novel follows Nico, his older brother Sebastian, the girl Fannie who loves both brothers, and the Nazi officer Udo Graf, as their lives are forever changed by the lies and consequences that unfold over the next 40 years.
The book delves into themes of truth, forgiveness, and the long-lasting impacts of deception.
#1425
• Mentioned in 20 episodes
Gilead
Marilynne Robinson
In 'Gilead', Marilynne Robinson crafts a deeply personal and introspective narrative through the eyes of John Ames, a 76-year-old pastor writing to his seven-year-old son in 1956.
The novel explores themes of faith, forgiveness, and redemption as Ames recounts his life, his family's history, and the tensions between his abolitionist grandfather and his pacifist father.
The book is a meditation on the human condition, highlighting the beauty in everyday moments and the profound bond between fathers and sons.
It won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
#1963
• Mentioned in 15 episodes
Flatland
A Romance of Many Dimensions
Edwin A. Abbott
Written in 1884, 'Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions' is a satirical novella by Edwin Abbott Abbott.
The story is set in a two-dimensional world inhabited by geometric figures, where social status is determined by the number of sides of each figure.
The narrator, A Square, guides readers through the practicalities and social hierarchy of Flatland, before being introduced to the concept of higher dimensions by a Sphere.
The book is both an introduction to the idea of higher dimensions and a satire of Victorian society, critiquing its class system, gender roles, and social norms.
Despite its satirical elements, the book also delves into mathematical concepts and the limitations of perception in different dimensions.
#19680
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Mitch Albom
In 'The Five People You Meet in Heaven', Mitch Albom crafts a poignant narrative about Eddie, a maintenance worker at an amusement park who feels his life has been unfulfilled.
After his death, Eddie meets five people in heaven who reveal the interconnectedness of lives and the purpose behind his existence.
Through these encounters, Eddie learns valuable lessons about sacrifice, forgiveness, and the enduring power of love.
#22076
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
Tuesdays with Maury
25th Anniversary Edition
Mitch Albom
You can’t walk through an airport without seeing a Mitch Albom book on one of the shelves. He’s most famous for writing Tuesdays with Morrie, which may very well be the best-selling memoir of all time. He’s now written 14 books, which combined have sold more than 40 million copies.
In 45 years of hitting the keyboard, this is the deepest conversation he’s ever had about the craft of writing. I asked him to approach this like a college writing seminar. Give me the rigor. Give me the examples, baby. Show me how you go about your craft.
And that’s what he did. He taught me the ins-and-outs of character building, writing novels, and our conversation started with how to tell great stories.
Hey! 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.
Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel X: https://x.com/david_perell
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