18: Oliver Burkeman on the Joy of Writing (Even When You Don't Feel Like Writing)

Oliver Burkeman is a journalist with The Guardian where he writes a popular column about self-help culture, productivity and the science of happiness.

 

He’s also the author of an excellent book that has taken the self-help industry by storm: The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking. 

 

I spoke with Oliver about his column and how he planned, researched and wrote his book. We also talked about many aspects of his writing process, like:

 

• The power of Morning Pages, a journaling technique that was developed and popularized by the creativity coach and writer Julia Cameron, and how he uses it to tackle difficult issues.

• How he battles what Steven Pressfield has called “The Resistance” by focusing on getting down to work each morning, regardless of how he feels at the moment, or whether he feels particularly inspired.

• How, through his writing, he enjoys having clearly conveyed very complex ideas to non-experts, whom he calls “intelligent generalists”. 

You can find the show notes to this episode over at writewithimpact.com/episode18.

 

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