Jonathan Franzen: How to Write Truly Great Characters | How I Write
How I Write26 Nov 2025

Jonathan Franzen: How to Write Truly Great Characters | How I Write

Check out Sublime at https://sublime.app/?ref=perell Jonathan Franzen is one of the most influential novelists alive today. He sees fiction as the most fundamental human art, and in this conversation he explains how he actually makes it: the discipline, the daily grind, and the psychological spelunking required to write characters who feel startlingly alive. Franzen has always had an outsider’s eye. He questioned the hype of the Internet long before it was fashionable, and he’s been ruthless in diagnosing the spiritual emptiness of modern consumer life. Practically, more than anything else, this episode is about how he develops rich characters. For Franzen, the people are the story. When they’re real and true, fiction has a way of getting to the core of the human experience in a way that gives people a visceral experience, as if they’ve lived the story firsthand. About the host Hey! 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. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episoder(111)

Daniel Pink: How to Write Something Truly Useful | How I Write

Daniel Pink: How to Write Something Truly Useful | How I Write

Check out Sublime at https://sublime.app/?ref=perell Daniel Pink is one of the most successful nonfiction writers of the past 30 years. You've probably seen his books: "Drive," "The Power of Regret," ...

14 Jan 52min

Tom Junod: How to Write Unapologetically Well | How I Write

Tom Junod: How to Write Unapologetically Well | How I Write

Tom Junod is famous for writing essays that have defined both people and events. He wrote a piece called "The Falling Man" for Esquire, which is the canonical piece about 9/11. Later on, he wrote the ...

7 Jan 1h 9min

Adrian Tchaikovsky: How to Write Absurdly Well | How I Write

Adrian Tchaikovsky: How to Write Absurdly Well | How I Write

Adrian Tchaikovsky came on the show to talk about how he writes fantasy and science fiction. He won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for his book, Children of Time, and has written more than 60 books and no...

31 Des 20251h 5min

Elif Shafak: How to Write a Novel | How I Write

Elif Shafak: How to Write a Novel | How I Write

Check out Sublime at https://sublime.app/?ref=perell Elif Shafak has a way of writing that's lush and enchanted. She writes about real things in the world: water, houseboats, ordinary things that w...

26 Des 20251h 20min

Henry Shukman: How to Tell Stories Through Poetry | How I Write

Henry Shukman: How to Tell Stories Through Poetry | How I Write

Henry Shukman is a poet, author, mindfulness teacher and Zen master. He has studied meditation for 35 years, principally in the Sanbo Zen lineage. His most recent books are Original Love (HarperOne) a...

17 Des 20251h 21min

Ward Farnsworth: 14 Ways To Make Your Writing Memorable | How I Write Classic Episode

Ward Farnsworth: 14 Ways To Make Your Writing Memorable | How I Write Classic Episode

Every so often, I'll re-publish some of my favorite How I Write interviews. This classic episode is with Ward Farnsworth, a law professor and former dean at the University of Texas School of Law who h...

10 Des 20251h 1min

My Top 10 Writing Lessons from 2025

My Top 10 Writing Lessons from 2025

Check out Sublime at https://sublime.app/?ref=perell This episode brings together the moments from How I Write in 2025 that have stayed with me the longest. These are the clips I revisit when I need ...

3 Des 202551min

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