Link / Media

Join me for a discussion with Matt Ortile, former executive editor of Catapult and one of the best editors — of personal essays or otherwise — I know. This is one of my absolute favorite conversations about writing I’ve ever had in a workshop. Though it’s ostensibly about personal essays (and, to be sure, you’ll get a ton of advice about putting those together), we really branch out and get into some utterly fascinating conversations about writing in general: what makes good writing, how to think about story concepts, where story ideas come from, and so much more. (If you’re short on time, head to 11:51 in the video to learn about the Ladder of Abstraction — I promise it’ll blow your mind.)