Meet Pulitzer-Winning Stanford Professor (Richard Powers Interview)

Richard is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Overstory, one of the most praised novels of the decade. His writing absolutely explodes with life. But perhaps Richard’s most impressive skill is his character development. And we’re not talking about the stodgy character arc you learned in English class. Richard shares 40 years and 14 novels worth of insight on how to write characters that readers can’t get out of their head. This episode is a deep dive into the psychoanalytical complexities of character: drama and tension, thinking and feeling, motivation and suspense. Plus, we dive into the three different types of character-driven drama: People against People, People against Themselves, and People against the Environment. In a nutshell, this episode is a novel-writing masterclass that you don’t want to miss. WRITE OF PASSAGE: Want to learn more about the final class for Write of Passage? TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:46 Understanding Character Relationships 00:04:09 Characterization Techniques 00:10:07 The Role of Inner Values in Drama 00:12:52 The Three Levels of Drama 00:15:15 Man vs. Nature in Literature 00:21:00 Empathy for Trees and the Non-Human World 00:27:58 The Emotional Impact of Fiction 00:31:49 The Mechanics of Voice and Syntax 00:43:14 Hidden Characters and Sentence Structure 00:44:45 Writing Descriptively: Techniques and Examples 00:51:18 The Craft of Rewriting and Editing 00:55:07 Crafting Effective Introductions 01:00:12 The Role of Tension in Storytelling 01:06:57 Crafting Realistic Dialogue 01:17:05 The Balance of Solitude and Engagement in Writing 01:21:28 Richard’s Daily Writing Practices PODCAST LINKS: Website: Apple: Spotify: ABOUT THE HOST: I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.