Inspiration: Writers on Writing

On this page you will find links to videos of well-known authors discussing topics related to writing, craft, story-telling, motivation, methods, and process. Sometimes, the best way to move forward as writers is to look back at those who have already done it successfully and consider how their stories, knowledge, and experiences might be adapted to fit our personal goals and needs.

Margaret Atwood (“Top 5 Writing Tips)

Billy Collins (Point Loma Writer’s Symposium, 2013)

John DuFresne (“How to Write a Story”)

Anne Fadiman (On Her Father Clifton and the Lifetime Reading Plan”)

Neil Gaiman I (“Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?”) & II (“On Writing: Nerdist Podcast”)

Elizabeth Gilbert I (“Your Elusive Creative Genius”) & II (“Success, Failure, and Drive to Keep Creating”)

Malcolm Gladwell (“Where His Ideas Come From”)

Seamus Heaney (Nobel Lecture)

Kazuo Ishiguro (“On Writing and Literature”)

Stephen King (“On Writing”)

Jhumpa Lahiri (“Interview”)

Ian McEwan (“On Finding Confidence”)

Brad Meltzer (“Write Your Story, Change History”)

Toni Morrison (“Motivation for Writing”)

Alice Munro (In Her Own Words”)

Steven Pinker (“Linguistics, Style and Writing in the 21st Century – with Steven Pinker”)

George Saunders (“On Writing and Ruthless Editing”)

David Sedaris (“On Life as a Writer”)

Jennifer Sinor (“Giggle and Drown”)

Kurt Vonnegut (“The Shape of Stories”)

Alice Walker (Chicago Humanities Festival, 2018)

David Foster Wallace (On His Writing)