#223 | What’s Your Origin Story? In This Book, Successful Writers, Novelists, and Musicians Share Theirs!

episode SUMMARY:

Douglas Vigliotti discusses the fun book “Write About Now” by Jonathan Small. It is a captivating collection of interview excerpts from the author’s hit podcast that reveals how successful writers overcame obstacles to launch their creative careers. Discover the universal themes that link the winding paths of literary success. If you're a writer, creative, or simply fascinated by the journeys of storytellers, this episode is a must-listen for a peek at the birth of celebrated careers.

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Welcome back to “Books for Men”, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week I have a fun book to share with you. It is called “Write About Now” by Jonathan Small. It is a work of nonfiction. It's sort of like an essay collection or an excerpt collection. Something that I will get into, obviously when I talk a little bit about the book, it is shorter, so it's only around 200 pages, and it came out in 2024, so it is a new book. But before I share any more about that, I did want to remind you of something pretty big going on in my life, and that is my new book, “Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story” is officially available. You could purchase it pretty much everywhere. The link for that will be in the show notes.

(01:02)

If you've been living under a rock or this is your first time tuning into the podcast, I did a whole four-part series on what that book is all about. So you can go back and listen to that if you are interested in it. Or perhaps you want to hear me a little bit more off the cuff on other people's podcasts talking about the book. In that case, there are three that have aired recently and they are linked up in the show notes. One of them is “Creative Principles” with Brock Swinson. Another is the “Inspirational Authors Podcast” with Howard Lovy. And then the third is “Unmistakable Creative” with Srini Rao. That's the second time I've actually been on that podcast, way back in 2019, I believe. I did an episode on my book at the time “The Gap”. But anyway, if you want to find more out about “Aristotle for Novelists”, any of those conversations or the four-part series is a good starting point.

(02:00)

And also really quickly before we jump into the bulk of the episode, I did want to remind you that the lifeblood of every book is its reviews. So if you have read “Aristotle for Novelists” and you enjoyed “Aristotle for Novelists”, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. There are never enough reviews and even a couple sentences with your honest thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Okay, so I think you've heard enough self-promotion for the time being. I'll get off of my soapbox at least as it pertains to that. And now let me turn to the book or the author at hand. Jonathan Small, he's a journalist, he's a producer. He's a multimedia storyteller for large brands or has been like the New York Times and Conde Nast. But most importantly, he is the podcast host of the same name as the book right about now. And on that podcast, he's interviewed many, many authors about their work and careers writers like Andy Weir, Kristen Hannah, David Grann, Richard Osman, Ken Follett, and many, many more.

(03:10)

Also TV and film writers, all kinds of writers. Really. I was grateful to be hosted on the podcast a chat that I enjoyed quite a bit. Funnily enough, I don't think that episode has aired yet, so I wasn't able to link it in the show notes, but if it is, that will be included as well. Anyway, this led me to check out Jonathan's book right about now, and I immediately fell in love with the concept of origin stories. And that's what this book is really about. Or like Jon says, in the opening of the book, “We all have an origin story, a winding singular narrative that explains how we got from there to here. No two origin stories are exactly the same. And no life has just one origin story.” And I really just love that concept, mostly because I think it's true. We all come at our life with highly individualized life experiences, idiosyncrasies, strengths, weaknesses, just everything really.

(04:17)

And how we synthesize that is totally on us. But the one thing that does remain true is that we all have a different story and ultimately a path to get to where you are today. It's almost impossible to predict the future, but it's easier to look back and say, oh, those were the dominoes that fell that enabled me to get to where I am today. And in the sense of this book, it's talking about writers and how they got started on their journey to ultimately write the work and create the things that they are creating. So in short, this book is key excerpts from the interviews that Jon has conducted with various writers, journalists, comedians, memoirists, and novelists like the ones I had mentioned earlier, or even musicians like Chris Frantz, the drummer for The Talking Heads. There's a pretty cool story that he shares in the book about when they were first opening for The Ramones.

(05:25)

And the reason why The Ramones allowed them to open for them is because they said, comparatively speaking, it was going to make 'em look better. So they suck. And I think that he overheard Johnny Ramone say that to somebody. Of course, you could read more about that exchange in the book or perhaps go listen to the episode on John's podcast. It's funny, I probably should have led with what the subtitle of this book is because it kind of explains the book pretty well—instead of me trying to summarize it. And it’s “Successful Authors on Overcoming Obstacles, Finding Inspiration, and the Birth of Their Careers.” I think for any writer or creative person, what could be more entertaining than that? The one thing that I think would be fun to key on here is John's origin story, which I talked to him a little bit about in the conversation that I had with him, but also in the book, he shares how he got started writing advice, columns of all things for Glamour and Cosmo.

(06:25)

Everyone starts somewhere, but maybe more importantly and not in the book was something that John shared with me in conversation. And that was like so many Holden Caulfield captured his heart and was influential to spark his creative and writing career. And of course, the reason why I wanted to share that with you is, because last week I did a deep dive into “The Catcher in the Rye”. So I thought that there was a fun link there. Also in this book, Jon interviews Joyce Maynard, who was the muse, the lover of JD Salinger, not to demean her own skill and talent, of course, as a writer, novelist, and memoirist. But that was the tie-in. So that's why I led with that. But there was a very interesting quote that John shares in this book where she talks quite vividly about that.

(07:28)

She said, “I was a very young 18-year-old, completely inexperienced in the world. I thought I had my dear friend who knew me like nobody else. I was basically getting letters from Holden Caulfield telling me I was the most brilliant writer, the most wonderful girl. And these were from my friend, my mentor, and my spiritual guide. I went to see him when school got out and didn't leave. I quit the world and gave up my full scholarship at Yale. I gave up a really good job that I had for the summer at the New York Times believing I would be with him forever.” So naturally, their relationship was very complicated in many ways, but I thought it was an interesting tidbit to share with you, and you could read more about that in Jon's book, of course. Or actually, it's part of the documentary that I shared in last week's episode titled Salinger. So I promised to start tying all of the books that I share on this podcast back to some of the ideas in “Aristotle for Novelists” because it is how I read books.

(08:29)

And the first thing that I wanted to share with you is this is a good example of something that is episodic. So it is not narrative-based, but it all ties together with one central theme. This is something that I talk about in the book, of course. Great examples of this are sitcoms, essay collections, sort, and story collections. A lot of 'em revolve around one theme. There are novels that do this as well, that are loosely tied together. One great example of that is “A Visit from the Goon Squad.” Something that I've talked about on this podcast before has been an entire episode, but this is definitely a good example of what you would classify as an episodic. The second thing that I wanted to really key on here is all of these excerpts and passages are centered around one thing, and I'll go back to the subtitle, “Successful Authors on Overcoming Obstacles …”

(09:29)

And this is the central element of all stories. A protagonist who wants something with obstacles, internal and external standing in their way, if they overcome them, it's a comedy if they succumb to them. It's a tragedy in all of these excerpts, little mini stories of authors who are overcoming their obstacles. It is a good example of what a miniature story can look like. And so this is just a great example of how you can intertwine life stories and stories on the page and screen. In my eyes, they are virtually the same thing because as Aristotle reminds us, storytelling is an imitation of life. And that is why we took so kindly to it because we are imitators. And so all of these examples of life stories, although they are small and anecdotal, are little examples of that idea. And the last thing that I wanted to key on here before I wrap this episode up, I'd feel a little amiss, I would say if I didn't mention this.

(10:37)

And that is I'm totally aware that when you look back on something or connect the dots, there's a lot left out. But that is just the nature of stories. And good ones tell you what you need to know. They don't tell you everything. They tell you what's essential. And I think that this book is a good reminder that we own our stories. And to me, nothing is more frustrating than when people try to own your story. They know your life better than you. It's like, no, no, this is my story. You don't get to own it or write it. All you get to do is listen to it. You could like it, you could not like it, but you don't get to write it because you probably don't know it as well as you think you do. And I think the real value in a book like this is you see how so many stories, creative stories especially involve consistent elements like beating self-doubt, imposter syndrome, rejection, God piles in piles of rejection, but more importantly, a relentlessness and a commitment.

(11:50):=

And like Jon says in the book, “ … there's power in knowing that you're not the only one.” And I think for writers, it could be a very lonely thing and you could kind of silo yourself into thinking that you are the only one. And although your story is unique, there are universal themes that link the stories of writers together. And as I've already mentioned, you'll learn those in this book. I'll close with this quote from Betsey Johnson, who is a fashion designer, someone who is featured in the book, and she says, “I think luck's a big part of your life. No matter how the luck happens, you got to have the talent—that's the given, and you have to work your ass off—that's expected. You take that on and you're up for that. But the luck part is what, to me, really kept me optimistic and kept me going.”

(12:42)

Alright, so that just about does it. I want to thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. And as a quick reminder, my new book, “Aristotle for Novelists”, is now available. The link for that will be in the show notes. Also, if you did enjoy this episode, please remember to click subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on because that is the best way to get this show in front of more eyeballs and ears and inspire more men to read. If you'd like to connect with me, there are two ways to do so, either by visiting my website, DouglasVigliotti.com, or come say hello on Instagram @DouglasVigliotti. It is the only social media that I have. And of course, last but not least, if you want more information on this podcast, including signing up for the monthly newsletter, all you have to do is head over to the website BooksforMen.org.