Gregg Hurwitz, author of 'The Last Orphan' - New York Times bestseller discusses diving into research, fixing the small things, and advice from James Patterson
Immersive research: Gregg Hurwitz goes beyond books to personally experience what his characters endure.
Meticulous planning: Hurwitz ensures his stories have 'handholds' for guidance through the narrative.
Uninterrupted focus: Despite distractions, he carves out designated writing time for deep work.
Deep dives
Capturing the Essence of Orphan X
The story revolves around Evan Smoke, known as Orphan X, trained as an assassin from a young age. He operates under his own moral compass and helps those in need with his specialized skills. The pressure intensifies as a massive manhunt is launched, and he faces a life-and-death decision regarding his code or his existence.
Immersive Research and Experiential Writing
Greg Hurwitz delves deep into research, going beyond reading books to experiencing firsthand what his characters encounter. He undergoes mixed martial arts training, experiences claustrophobia in chokeholds, swims with sharks, and even infiltrates mind control cults to infuse authenticity and vividness into his writing.
Crafting an Engaging Narrative
By immersing himself in various experiences, Hurwitz taps into the sensory and emotional aspects of storytelling. His firsthand encounters allow him to bring a front-row seat experience to his readers, making the narrative more captivating and real.
Writing Process and Story Structure
Hurwitz meticulously plans his stories, ensuring there are ample 'handholds' like an indoor rock climbing wall to guide him through the narrative. While he may not know every detail, key scenes and chapters gradually reveal themselves as he progresses through the writing process.
Maintaining Discipline and Focus
Despite a busy schedule and distractions, Hurwitz carves out designated writing time where phones are off-limits and deep work takes precedence. He thrives on uninterrupted focus and strives to allocate dedicated hours for immersive writing sessions, ensuring productivity and creative flow.
This week, we chat to multi-million New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, Gregg Hurwitz. He's written many screenplays, comic books, took charge of Batman, and is known for the 'Orphan X' series. The newest one, 'The Last Orphan', sees Evan Smoak, the Nowhere Man, on one last mission after he was taken from a group home as an orphan and trained as an assassin.
We discuss how he made a plan at the start of his career, in order to make writing a regular job so it could last as long as possible. Also, you can hear how he's managed to get back to a state of pure writing, without any of the distractions that surround success. We chat about how even though he's written and published many books, he still gets stuck in the baggy middle like everyone else.
Gregg runs through his extensive research, which has seen him jump from planes, train with Navy SEALS, and go under cover in mind control cults.
