Award-winning New York Times bestselling author, investigative journalist, and anthropologist, Scott Carney, stopped by the show recently to talk about the dangers of putting yourself into the story, what he’s learned in his 20+ years in mainstream publishing, and how he juggles his multiple creative adventures.

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Throughout his globe-trotting career as a journalist Scott has spent extensive time in South Asia, been a contributing editor at WIRED for over five years, and written for Mother Jones, Men s Journal, Playboy, Foreign Policy, Discover, Outside, Fast Company, and many others.

Mr. Carney is the author of a trio of nonfiction books that combine investigative journalism and anthropology, including The Red Market (where he explored the black market for human body parts), A Death on Diamond Mountain (an examination of the dark side of spiritual seekers), and most recently, the New York Times bestseller What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength.

As part of his research for What Doesn’t Kill Us, Scott spent time with Dutch extreme athlete and fitness guru Wim Hof to try to understand the science behind his now famous method to control his body temperature in extreme conditions and tap into ancient super-human abilities.

In addition to his writing, Scott is a public speaker and educator who has been a senior fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism and a Scripps Fellow at the Center for Environmental Journalism in Boulder, Colorado.

His work has been featured on NPR and National Geographic TV.

His most recent project is a video course for writers, called The Fine Print, aimed at helping freelancers, journalists, and creative entrepreneurs to think of themselves as a startup business and help merge their creative and business sensibilities.

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In Part One of this file Scott Carney and I discuss:

• Why he dropped out of his Anthropology PhD program to become a professional writer
• How to protect yourself from negotiating bad contracts
• Why you don’t have to fall into the traps so many broke journalists fall into
• The writer’s natural state of “productive procrastination”
• Why you need to gun for those “theme park” sized ideas
• The power of outlines and how to write 80,000 words in eight months

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What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary – Scott Carney

ScottCarney.com

Scott Carney’s video course — The Fine Print.

The Ice Guru [Wim Hof] Comes to Brooklyn – The Atlantic

Scott Carney on Twitter

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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The multiple New York Times bestselling non-fiction author and New Yorker columnist, Maria Konnikova, dropped by the show back in early 2016 to chat with me about what it’s like to be a contributing journalist for a storied institution, productivity hacks, and her own creative process.

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This is a fan favorite from the archives that I’m updating because it’s an insightful interview and Maria has also been in the news recently for winning her first premier professional poker title.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and as the story goes — reported by Poker News — over “… a year ago … Konnikova decided to learn the game of poker and asked the infamous, Erik Seidel [winner of eight World Series of Poker and a World Poker Tour title] to help mentor/coach her. Her goal … was to play poker for a year, to learn the game, and then write a book about it.”

The book was pitched as a chronicle of her “… yearlong journey from poker neophyte to the World Series … an exploration of the balance of luck and skill in our daily lives and how we can become the best decision makers we possibly can.”

Lo and behold, an intensive one-year poker crash-course helped her win her first prestige pro tournament and a cool $85K in early 2018.

It’s a crazy story, and a fantastic reason to revisit our talk here, and to find her book, The Biggest Bluff, when it’s published in Summer 2019.

Her last bestseller — The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time — examined the psychology of the con, and as Forbes described the book, “One of the best science writers of our time examines the minds, motives, and methods of con artists — and the people who fall for their cons.”

Ms. Konnikova has a PhD in Psychology from Columbia University and has contributed countless articles and essays for The Atlantic, The New York Times, Slate, The Paris Review, The Wall Street Journal, WIRED, and Scientific American, to name only a few.

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In this file Maria Konnikova and I discuss:

• How to avoid writer’s block
• Why a standing desk isn’t for everyone
• How to simplify your research & writing process
• Why writing is hard … just like any other job
• The author’s definition of creativity

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• MariaKonnikova.com
• Maria Konnikova Wins the $1,650 PCA National Championship for $84,600
• Updates on her upcoming book The Biggest Bluff
• The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time
• Maria Konnikova New Yorker Contributor Page
• The Joy of Psyching Myself Out by M. Konnikova
• Freedom App
• The Paris Review Interviews
• Maria Konnikova on Facebook
• Maria Konnikova on Twitter
• Kelton Reid on Twitter

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In Part Two of this file the Editor-in-Chief of Copyblogger, my colleague and friend, Stefanie Flaxman, returned to chat with me about her journey from solopreneur to headline honcho, the rules of “ruthless editing,” her philosophy of creativity, and much more.

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Stef is a professional writer and editor who manages the editorial team for Copyblogger.com, where she helps publish one of “… the most popular [and influential] content marketing and writing blog[s]…” available, for a very large audience of online writers.

[Incidentally Copyblogger is the reason The Writer Files exists and where the written series was started.]

A long-time contributor to the Copyblogger community, she officially joined the team in 2014 with a mission to help ensure stringent editorial standards, and create content aimed at helping fellow entrepreneurs stand out from the competition.

Ms. Flaxman’s weekly podcast, Editor-in-Chief (2015-2016), delivered her signature “… art of writing, updated for marketing in the digital age, to help you become the Editor-in-Chief of your own digital business.”

Before Copyblogger, Stef ran her own online writing and editing shop, Revision Fairy, which she started in 2008. She has also done stints as the West Coast Office Manager for Mediabistro and an editor for PR Newswire.

If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews.

If you missed the first half you can find it right here.

In Part Two of this file Stefanie Flaxman and I discuss:

• My very first day as a copywriter at Copyblogger
• Why you’re never as nervous as your first guest post for a huge online audience
• The inefficiency of perfectionism
• Stef’s philosophy of writer’s block, responsibility tangents, and creativity
• Why so much of the writing process doesn’t involve actual writing
• One great hack to jumpstart your own writing

Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ...

Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes

• If you’re ready to see for yourself why more than 201,344 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — swing by StudioPress.com for all the details.
• How Copyblogger’s Editor-in-Chief Stefanie Flaxman Writes: Part One
• Copyblogger.com – Build Your Online Authority with
  Powerfully Effective Content Marketing
• Stefanie Flaxman’s Author Page at Copyblogger
• Editor-in-Chief podcast archive
• Revision Fairy – Stef’s Website
• How Chief Content Officer Sonia Simone Writes
• Kelton Reid on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to a double-stuffed episode of the show with the Editor-in-Chief of Copyblogger, my colleague and friend, Stefanie Flaxman, who stopped by this week to rap with me about her journey from solopreneur to headline honcho, the rules of “ruthless editing,” her philosophy of creativity, and much more.

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Stef is a professional writer and editor who manages the editorial team for Copyblogger.com, where she helps publish one of “… the most popular [and influential] content marketing and writing blog[s]…” available, for a very large audience of online writers.

[Incidentally Copyblogger is the reason The Writer Files exists and where the written series was started.]

A long-time contributor to the Copyblogger community, she officially joined the team in 2014 with a mission to help ensure stringent editorial standards, and create content aimed at helping fellow entrepreneurs stand out from the competition.

Ms. Flaxman’s weekly podcast, Editor-in-Chief (2015-2016), delivered her signature “… art of writing, updated for marketing in the digital age, to help you become the Editor-in-Chief of your own digital business.”

Before Copyblogger, Stef ran her own online writing and editing shop, Revision Fairy, which she started in 2008. She has also done stints as the West Coast Office Manager for Mediabistro and an editor for PR Newswire.

If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews.

In Part One of this file Stefanie Flaxman and I discuss:

• Her early exposure to journalism and unique path to a career in writing and editing
• How her discovery of Brian Clark’s trailblazing blog helped take her own business to the next level
• Why great things happen when you make yourself vulnerable
• How Stef became a true “triple threat” in her field
• Why you should write every day no matter how busy you are
• How to incorporate balance and philosophy into your content mindset

Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ...

Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes

• If you’re ready to see for yourself why more than 201,344 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — swing by StudioPress.com for all the details.
• How Copyblogger’s Editor-in-Chief Stefanie Flaxman Writes: Part Two
• Copyblogger.com – Build Your Online Authority with
  Powerfully Effective Content Marketing
• Stefanie Flaxman’s Author Page at Copyblogger
• Editor-in-Chief podcast archive
• Revision Fairy – Stef’s Website
• How Chief Content Officer Sonia Simone Writes
• Behind the Scenes: How The Writer Files Is Produced w/ Robert Bruce
• Kelton Reid on Twitter

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In Part Two of another special edition of the show we traditionally call “writer porn,” writer, educator, and co-founder of Prolifiko, Bec Evans, returned to conclude our chat about writer personality types, productivity secrets, and understanding your writing psychology. Bec is the co-founder of Prolifiko, a new digital coach aimed at helping writers beat writer’s... Listen to episode

Welcome to another special edition of the show we traditionally call “writer porn,” and this week the writer, educator, and co-founder of Prolifiko, Bec Evans, stopped by to chat with me about writer personality types, productivity secrets, and understanding your writing psychology. Bec is the co-founder of Prolifiko, a new digital coach aimed at helping... Listen to episode

In Part Two of this special edition of the show we call “The Writer’s Brain,” a guest series with neuroscientist Michael Grybko, we dig into a phenomenon known as “impostor syndrome,” an experience many writers struggle with. The experience known as “impostor syndrome” has been recognized in over 70% of the population across a wide... Listen to episode

Welcome back to a special edition of The Writer Files called “The Writer’s Brain,” a guest series with neuroscientist Michael Grybko, and in this episode we dig into a phenomenon known as “impostor syndrome,” an experience many writers struggle with. The experience known as “impostor syndrome” has been recognized in over 70% of the population... Listen to episode

In Part Two of this file, the award-winning creator, producer, and host of the megahit Lore podcast, TV show, and book series, Aaron Mahnke, returned to share how he created his scary storytelling universe from scratch, his writing regimen for success, and advice to fellow scribes.

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In less than three years the writer and former graphic designer grew his humble “true life scary story” podcast, Lore, from a small email list and an effort to market his self-published novels, into a critically acclaimed show with more than 100 million downloads.

The podcast won Apple Podcasts’ Best of 2015 & 2016, and picked up a “Best History Podcast 2016” from the Academy of Podcasters. Lore was also recently turned into an Amazon TV series by producers of The Walking Dead and The X-Files (with Aaron as a co-exec. producer), as well as a live tour, and a book series from Penguin Random House.

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures is the first in a three-book series from the author. The books include both old and new tales from the world of Lore, with their signature blend of history and the macabre, to plumb the depths of our collective nightmares.

Entertainment Weekly noted that Mahnke “… dives deep into the world of folklore and the darker side of history in a quest to root out the fragment of truth at the bottom of our fears.”

The author has been featured in the Huffington Post, The Guardian, Esquire, The Atlantic, USA Today, and others.

If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews.

If you missed the first half you can find it right here.

In Part Two of this file Aaron Mahnke and I discuss:

• The writer’s process and the advantages of a home office for a podcast producer
• How to turn a scary, spoken word podcast into a hit TV show
• Why the author leans on planning and outlining
• Aaron’s reliance on the cloud to sync all of his script editing and weekly tasks
• Why professional writers can’t wait for inspiration
• And more great advice for keeping the ink flowing

Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ...

Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes

• If you’re ready to see for yourself why over 201,344 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — just go to StudioPress.com

TheWorldofLore.com

Subscribe to Lore on Apple Podcasts

Aaron Mahnke’s author page at Amazon

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures – Aaron Mahnke

Pints Pub has the largest selection of single-malt Scotch in Denver

Aaron Mahnke on Twitter

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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The award-winning creator, producer, and host of the megahit Lore podcast, TV show, and book series, Aaron Mahnke, joined me this week to share how he created his scary storytelling universe from scratch, his writing regimen for success, and advice to fellow scribes.

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In less than three years the writer and former graphic designer grew his humble “true life scary story” podcast, Lore, from a small email list and an effort to market his self-published novels, into a critically acclaimed show with more than 100 million downloads.

The podcast won Apple Podcasts’ Best of 2015 & 2016, and picked up a “Best History Podcast 2016” from the Academy of Podcasters. Lore was also recently turned into an Amazon TV series by producers of The Walking Dead and The X-Files (with Aaron as a co-exec. producer), as well as a live tour, and a book series from Penguin Random House.

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures is the first in a three-book series from the author. The books include both old and new tales from the world of Lore, with their signature blend of history and the macabre, to plumb the depths of our collective nightmares.

Entertainment Weekly noted that Mahnke “… dives deep into the world of folklore and the darker side of history in a quest to root out the fragment of truth at the bottom of our fears.”

The author has been featured in the Huffington Post, The Guardian, Esquire, The Atlantic, USA Today, and others.

If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews.

In Part One of this file Aaron Mahnke and I discuss:

• The writer’s ten year journey (including the lows) to award-winning podcast producer
• How an indie novelist turned a crazy idea into a scary storytelling universe
• Why you need to get out of your writer’s bubble
• The meticulous research and writing regimen that goes into The World of Lore

Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ...

Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes

• If you’re ready to see for yourself why over 201,344 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — just go to StudioPress.com

TheWorldofLore.com

Subscribe to Lore on Apple Podcasts

Aaron Mahnke’s author page at Amazon

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures – Aaron Mahnke

Aaron Mahnke on Twitter

Kelton Reid on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices