Ep. 239 - Alex Berenson: How to Write a Page-Turner

Alex Berenson had the dream job. But he was unhappy. And perhaps it even scarred him in some ways. He switched it up. To his true dreams. To the dreams he had for himself since he was a child. I want to do this. First off, Alex has written 11 bestselling thriller novels. Alex knows how to get the reader to turn the page and ask, "What happens next?!" This is an unbelievably hard skill. But it's not the most important skill when you are moving into your dream job. I will tell you the most important skill. And Alex explains more clearly how he did it when we are in the podcast. The most important skill is to have this weird sort of "active arrogance". Here's the gap: The best in your profession have skills, experience, and they know how to sit down and DO something every day. The beginners: they WANT to do something. They PLAN to do something. They SAY they will eventually do it. They THINK they have the skills they need. But they never do it. The ones who succeeed. They have the arrogance to think they can just simply sit down and do it. .Despite not having the skills. Despite being total amataurs. They simply sit down and DO IT. By doing it, you LEARN the skills, you DO the job [a first novel in Alex's case], and you get better. DOING is the only way to succeed. Most poeple stop before this point. Alex didn't. And thank god. Because his 11 bestsellers have been lifesavers for me. A way for me to dream. A way for me to escape. Here's how Alex did it: [6:25] - Create your own universe "In 2003 and 2004, I went to Iraq for the paper," he said (he worked at The New York Times). "The war had ended, supposedly... we deposed Saddam. Most reporters go during the 'active phase,' so The Times said any cub reporter could put their hand up and go. So I put my hand up." Then he came back and realized he had stories. And John Wells was born. Alex has written 11 bestsellers. All page-turners. I wanted to know what made him start writing thrillers. I've always thought of writing fiction. I still wonder if that's what's next. Here's what he told me, "In my universe, nobody lies to me. They can lie to each other, they can even lie to themselves, they cannot lie to me." [11:00] - Some luck goes unnoticed "Coming back to the states was a shock," he said. "The wastefulness of this country really smacks you when you've been away for a while, certainly in a place like that." "What do you mean? What's an example?" "I think the example that struck me is the electrical grid." We take it for granted that the lights go on. And then use them like crazy. I live in NY. The lights are always on. It doesn't matter what time. And I never think about it. "American is a place of abundance," Alex said. "I guess that's a good thing. It's better to be rich than poor but realize that 80% of the world is never going to live in conditions anything like this. It really does just smack you in the face to realize how lucky we are and how little we realize that." [12:00] - Choose yourself I asked Alex if he thinks we're becoming complacent as a society. "Thats a real fear," Alex said. There are two sides. One side is if you give people everything will they stop wanting to work? Will they say they have enough. And give up. But then the other side is you work so hard and go nowhere. "The flip side of that is if you make the system so unfair that nobody believes hard work can get you ahead, they're not going to work either." And I think that's why work should be more than a paycheck. There has to be a vision. And following that vision is how you choose yourself. [15:00] - Have a little arrogance Alex said a lot of reporters want to write novels. He was one of them. But there's something that separates those who write from those who don't... "I did something arrogant," he said. "I wrote a novel." So I wondered if that's... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.