Nathan Baugh is a writer, and student of creativity and storytelling. In this conversation, we dived deep into how a near-death experience set Nathan on a different path, how he goes about capturing ideas, why he’s venturing into YouTube, and his morning routine to write effectively. (0:00) Intro (2:51) Nathan’s Near Death Experience (5:06) Nathan’s Fiction Experiment (7:30) How To Become More Creative (10:53) Capturing Ideas (15:38) Nathan’s Dopamine Detox (17:22) Morning Routine (24:02) Why Creativity? (27:08) What Is Success On YouTube? (29:23) 3 Step Process For Getting Good At Anything (31:41) What Does Improvement Look Like For Creativity? (38:34) Why Does Nathan Enjoy Fiction? (47:30) Process Of Writing Book (52:32) Improving Taste (1:01:22) Trend: Non-Fiction Writers Are Going To Fiction (1:05:44) Setting? (1:08:41) Free Will Vs. Fate (1:13:54) What Story Are You Telling Yourself? (1:15:36) What Emotion Does Nathan Want People To Feel? (1:19:11) Nathan’s 5 Questions For Storytelling (1:24:12) World Building Tips For Me (1:29:18) Challenge Resources Mentioned Ed Sheehan Creativity Faucet – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbU8MSpqTac On Writing by Stephen King – https://www.amazon.com/Writing-10th-Anniversary-Memoir-Craft/dp/1439156816 The Cup of Coffee Theory of AI by Billy Oppenheimer – https://every.to/p/the-cup-of-coffee-theory-of-ai Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull – https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Overcoming-Unseen-Inspiration/dp/0812993012 Dune by Frank Herbert – https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Movie-Tie-Frank-Herbert/dp/0593438361 Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – https://www.amazon.com/Enders-Ender-Quintet-Orson-Scott/dp/0765394863 Red Rising by Pierce Brown – https://www.amazon.com/Red-Rising-Pierce-Brown/dp/034553980X Salt to the Sea by Rita Sepetys – https://www.amazon.com/Salt-Sea-Ruta-Sepetys/dp/0142423629 Nathan’s Links Twitter: https://twitter.com/nathanbaugh27 Newsletter: https://www.worldbuilders.ai StoryWork: https://nathanbaugh.lemonsqueezy.com/checkout?cart=3082ed0c-96c0-4c91-9be5-86781e733009

Nathan Baugh, fiction writer and author of the World Builders newsletter, talks about storytelling, world building, fiction, and the internet. They discuss the combination of short form non-fiction and long form fiction, the tradeoffs of traditional publishing vs. self-publishing, favorite opening sentences, Vonnegut's shape of stories, and balancing technology and the internet with deep work.