Sunday Pick: Sci-fi writer Andy Weir doesn't love writing | from ReThinking with Adam Grant
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Happy Sunday, TED Talks Daily listeners. It's Elise Hugh. As we often do on Sundays, today we're sharing a recent episode of another podcast from the TED Audio Collective, handpicked by us for you. Andy Weir is the best-selling author of sci-fi books, including The Martian and Project Hail Mary, which is in theaters right now. He's known for weaving deep, carefully researched science into his novels, including building intricate worlds that have captivated millions of readers. But plot twist, Andy doesn't actually love the act of writing itself. How does he motivate himself to do it anyway? In this episode of Rethinking, host Adam Grant talks with Andy about the creative process, how to discard bad ideas, and finding joy in building worlds.
To hear more deep conversations, you can find Rethinking wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about the TED Audio Collective at audiocollective.ted.com. Now on to the episode right after a short break.
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Hey everyone, it's Adam Graham. Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast on the science of what makes us tick. I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking.
My guest today is Andy Weir. He's become my favorite sci-fi writer, best known for his mega hits The Martian and Project Hail Mary. But he wasn't a number one New York Times bestselling author overnight. He started out self-publishing as a side gig while working as a computer programmer. And to borrow one of Andy's most quoted lines, what I admire most about his writing is his ability to science the shit out of it. Ha ha ha ha. Andy, it's great to meet you. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Why doesn't Andy Weir love writing despite his success?
I'm excited to talk to the guy behind these books I've loved so much. And I think your mind is just endlessly interesting. The characters you come up with and the worlds that you transport me into would never have crossed my mind in a
I can't wait to figure out where that comes from. A lot of daydreaming, I guess. For me, I come up with like 100 ideas a day and usually 100 of them suck. But once in a while, I'll come up with something.
How does Andy Weir motivate himself to write?
I'm like, well, that's actually kind of interesting. Maybe I could work on that a little more.
I feel like we could take maybe 90 of those ideas and just farm them out to other writers.
I don't think you understand how much these ideas suck.
What is the importance of discarding bad ideas in the creative process?
One time I came up with an idea of this guy who just seems to be lucky all the time. He wins the lottery, he just keeps going on. But it turns out it's actually his cat that's just really lucky, but the cat likes him, so he's lucky. And that's the story. The big twist at the end is it's actually the cat that's lucky, not him.
How does Andy Weir find joy in worldbuilding and research?
So just so you understand some of the ideas that I don't develop...
I don't know. I think that could be an interesting short story. I'm not sure if I would stay with him the whole book.
What are you talking about, man? This is a six-book series. Felicitous Feline, Volume 1.
I don't know. I mean, the fact that you were able to pull off Castaway on Mars and make it so endlessly interesting, I feel like you could do the same thing with a lucky cat. I do think, though, that hearing this is liberating to a lot of people who want to be creative, right? Because we only get to see your best ideas.
Exactly, yeah.
We don't see the ones that are on the cutting room floor.
Well, you also don't see the first draft of even the good ideas. If you read any of my book's first drafts, you would not like them. What I tell authors or people who want to try to break into the business or people who are in the business and just ask my advice because they erroneously think I know things.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:04–2:34
2
Why doesn't Andy Weir love writing despite his success?
2:34–2:59
3
How does Andy Weir motivate himself to write?
2:59–3:11
4
What is the importance of discarding bad ideas in the creative process?
3:11–3:30
5
How does Andy Weir find joy in worldbuilding and research?
3:30–15:28
6
What does Andy Weir say about writing with sequels in mind?
15:28–27:51
7
How does Andy Weir view the concept of originality in storytelling?
27:51–44:06
Speakers
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