Replay: Steve Almond shares the Five Things He's Learned about Writing, Failing, and Trying Again
Check out the first five minutes of his recent class.
"In our time together, I’ll discuss what I’ve come to learn is the right approach, which is to accept failure as a necessary step on the way to success, and to reframe our creative failures as opportunities for learning and growth. I’ll share the process by which I came to understand that it was, in fact, the writing of my earlier books that ultimately allowed me to work through all the bad decisions that doomed my unpublished novels."
– Steve Almond, Five Things I’ve Learned about Writing, Failing, and Trying Again
On March 24th, Steve returned to Five Things I've Learned to host his second class focused on writing and the thinking and personal practices writers need most to succeed. His first class, Five Things I've Learned about Where Stories Come From shared Steve's sense of the powerful emotions that serve as the engines of our storytelling.
This entirely new session dives even deeper. In Five Things I’ve Learned about Writing, Failing, and Trying Again, Steve shares his personal journey and the ways in which he's worked to transform what he initially perceived as failures into opportunities for growth. He focuses specifically on the challenges he encountered while composing his previous "failed" novels, and how he came to understand that each was, in fact, instrumental in shaping his eventual success.
Steve is the author of twelve books of fiction and nonfiction, including the New York Times bestsellers All the Secrets of the World, Candyfreak and Against Football. His recent books include William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life, which is about reading and writing and the struggle to pay attention to our lives, and Bad Stories, a literary investigation of the 2016 election.
For four years, Steve hosted the New York Times Dear Sugars podcast with his pal Cheryl Strayed. His short stories have been anthologized widely, in the Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, Best American Erotica, and Best American Mysteries series.
Thanks for being part of Five Things I’ve Learned on Substack. Visit myfivethings.com to view personal video invitations from more than 100 more writers, thinkers, and artists we admire – and to get special discounted pricing with our Five Things I’ve Learned Multi Pass.