Cheers! Welcome to our year-end Holiday Party for 2025. How Long Did Famous Novels Take to Write (infographic)? Kafka’s diaries are heartening Why We Should Keep Notebooks (According to Joan Didion) Milena on being more intentional as a reader/writer The last chapter of Stephen Pressfield’s The War of Art and his blurb of Adam’s American Tiger Who couldn’t use 3 years uninterrupted in a cabin in the woods to finish your novel lol Revisiting “Beginner’s Mindset” and the concept of the Duning-Kruger Effect: The “Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with low ability in a specific area overestimate their competence, while experts often underestimate theirs, stemming from a lack of self-awareness about their own deficiencies or the complexity of the topic. Essentially, you need some knowledge to realize how much you don't know; the unskilled lack this meta-cognitive ability, leading to inflated confidence, while the skilled recognize the vastness of what's unknown, sometimes leading to underconfidence.” Milena's Two Favorite Books of 2025! Milena read (or listened to) 64 books this year, and her faves all come down to language Joining up with yours truly and our favorite TWF interviews in 2025: Albom, Zang, Lockhart, Skolnick, and Jeneva (freakin) Rose lol, and a shoutout to the most popular episode of the year with Emma Knight We were named one of the “12 Best Writing Podcasts” by LARB, and won a Spotify “2025 Most Shared Show” Awarde a dream, and American Tiger is a gorgeous, subtly subversive yarn ringing with truth." [This episode is sponsored by Ulysses. Go to ⁠ulys.app/writeabook⁠ to download Ulysses, and use the code FILES at checkout to get 25% off the first year of your yearly subscription."] [Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] Show Notes: How Long Did Famous Novels Take to Write? (infographic) Ever wondered how long it takes to write a classic? via @agelessliterature Why We Should Keep Notebooks (According to Joan Didion) via @literahua Milena’s Two Favorite Books of 2025 Milena Gonzalez | Writer | Reader | Book Reviewer diary_of_a_book_babe on Instagram Kelton Reid Instagram Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related