Worklife with Adam Grant The art of rough drafts with George Saunders
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Oct 31, 2023 
George Saunders, an award-winning author and creative writing teacher, shares his eclectic path from roofer to literary giant. He discusses the importance of rough drafts and feedback in honing one's craft. The conversation dives into how kindness fuels creativity and the significance of aligning personal values with professional endeavors. Saunders also reflects on the art of crafting compelling endings and the challenges posed by AI in storytelling, stressing the enduring power of the human touch in writing.
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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 discovered Saunders through a viral graduation speech about regrets being failures of kindness.
- Saunders explains the speech's origin, initially written for his daughter's graduation and later rewritten from memory.
Kindness as a Skill
- Kindness is not simply niceness, it's a difficult skill requiring alertness and awareness.
- True kindness involves discerning what makes things better, even if it means uncomfortable engagement.
