Morgan Housel: How to Master Writing | How I Write

Morgan Housel is one of the top non-fiction writers in the world. He is most famous for his book “The Psychology of Money”, which has now sold more than 8 million copies.

Before he wrote the book, he wrote more than 4,000 blog posts for publications like The Wall Street Journal and The Motley Fool, and that’s how he honed his craft. This is my second time having Morgan on the show. The first time, I just wanted to talk about Morgan, how he goes about his work. But this time I said: “Tell me about stories.”

“How do you find stories? How do you tell stories? How do you think about the rhythm of stories?” That’s why he’s been able to sell millions of books in the world of psychology, investing, and business: because of his ability to tell a really good story. Enjoy!

00:00:50 Collecting Good Stories
00:04:12 Storytelling Beats Facts
00:05:16 How to Hook Readers
00:08:39 How Morgan Uses ChatGPT
00:15:53 Teaching vs Preaching in Writing
00:18:01 The #1 Worst Writing Advice
00:25:18 Wide Funnel, Tight Filter Framework
00:27:08 How to Find Your Writing Style
00:31:45 Why Write Books in an Online World
00:36:20 How Morgan Wrote ‘The Art of Spending Money’
00:47:16 Morgan’s Admiration for Beautiful Writing
00:53:28 How to Start a Chapter
00:57:18 Becoming More Observant
01:01:01 You Don’t Need New Ideas
01:08:16 How Morgan Deals With Rejection

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.

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