My Top 10 Writing Lessons from 2025

David Perell reflects on key insights from recent "How I Write" episodes, featuring clips and lessons from interviews with various writers. He highlights Robert Macfarlane's impressionistic writing and sense of wonder, Jayne Anne Phillips's focus on being "inside the material" and the mystery of writing, and Paul Harding's ambition to "dare to be great" by studying literary giants. The episode also covers Dana Gioia's perspective on poetry and cultural figures, Henrik Karlsson's emphasis on observing reality, Alain de Botton's critique of prepackaged worldviews in the news, Lulu Cheng Meservey's advice on authentic writing, and Mitch Albom's storytelling techniques. Perell emphasizes the importance of finding personal connections to writing, learning from diverse influences, and communicating honestly. He also promotes Sublime, a writing tool, and Podcast Magic, a tool for transcribing podcast snippets. The episode concludes with David Whyte's view of poetry as a "secret code to life," illustrated by his poem "The True Love."