ReThinking The art of rough drafts with George Saunders
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Oct 31, 2023 
George Saunders, an award-winning author celebrated for his short stories and the bestselling Lincoln in the Bardo, shares insights from his unconventional path to writing success. He discusses the importance of kindness in storytelling and how accepting feedback can elevate rough drafts. Saunders delves into navigating uncertainty in writing, emphasizing the value of constructive criticism. He also explores the significance of endings in narratives and the challenges of addressing uncomfortable ideas, all while considering AI's limitations in capturing human experience.
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Unconventional Path to Writing
- George Saunders's career path was unconventional, starting with jobs like roofing and technical writing.
- He stumbled into writing after getting sick in Asia, realizing it was his true calling.
Kindness Speech Origins
- Adam Grant encountered Saunders's work through a viral graduation speech about regrets being failures of kindness.
- Saunders explains the speech's origin, stemming from a personal regret of not helping a bullied classmate.
Kindness as Strength
- Kindness is not just niceness but a difficult strength requiring alertness and awareness.
- True kindness involves discerning how to make things better, going beyond a passive approach.
