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Back to Malcolm Gladwell: The Most Useful Hour You'll Ever Spend on Storytelling | How I Write, with Malcolm Gladwell.

How Does Malcolm Gladwell Find the Story in His Research?

Malcolm Gladwell finds the story by talking with no plan until one detail clicks. He sets meetings with no agenda, about every three weeks for two hours, and keeps going until he has 15, 20, or 25 hours of tape. He has done this four or five times. It started with Paul Simon, who kept asking when they would meet again, and each visit turned up something Gladwell had not come looking for.

He understood the point of the practice around hour 12 with an ICU doctor he already knew from another story. He had no idea where the talks were headed. In that hour the doctor said he had testified in a murder-case lawsuit: the prosecution called 50 expert witnesses, the defense called one, he was that one witness, and they won. That was the story. Gladwell went back through the tape knowing what he wanted.

The method is patience without a premise. The story is not chosen at the start. It shows up late, and the hours of tape finally have a point.

Transcript

Malcolm Gladwell: The Most Useful Hour You'll Ever Spend on Storytelling | How I Write ·

How I Write

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  2. Who Should Writers Interview for a Story?Malcolm Gladwell says writers should interview the person who can bring the most specificity to a topic. The most important person does not help.
  3. Why Does Day of the Jackal Read Like a How-to?Malcolm Gladwell says Day of the Jackal reads like a how-to, and he calls it the most important book of its genre.
  4. Why Does Malcolm Gladwell Give Readers a Framework?Malcolm Gladwell says writers who do his kind of writing have an obligation to give people tools to organize their experience.
  5. How Does Malcolm Gladwell Find the Moment a Story Turns on?Malcolm Gladwell finds the moment a story turns on by listening back to a long interview and building the piece around the line that turns one case into a…
  6. Does Malcolm Gladwell Regret Broken Windows?Malcolm Gladwell fell in love with broken windows in Tipping Point, and he has regretted that choice many times.
  7. What Would Malcolm Gladwell Teach First in a Writing Class?Malcolm Gladwell would start a writing class by teaching students how to ask questions.

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