Making Media
Episode 20 Morgan Housel on Writing
Making Media

Episode 20: Morgan Housel on Writing

Making Media

Episode 20

Morgan Housel on Writing

Morgan Housel is a best-selling financial writer. We cover his process in detail, how he writes one sentence at a time, and which authors he looks up to.

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(00:03:30) - (First question) - His writing process during The Freakishly Strong Base

(00:10:09) - The strategy he uses of intertwining unrelated stories with finance

(00:15:58) - The philosophy of "good enough" writing and the need to let go of a piece

(00:18:28) - Why he typically begins his articles with an enticing title prior to forming the content

(00:21:06) - How he blends storytelling with investing topics to engage readers

(00:25:05) - The balance between making a concise point and reinforcing it through examples

(00:27:06) - Why he opts for shorter pieces, exemplified by his book The Psychology of Money and its concise chapters

(00:28:05) - How he combines mental organization and note-taking tools for idea management

(00:31:34) - Why taking control of the writing and design process is critical for maintaining creative autonomy

(00:35:34) - Embracing feedback, downplaying viewership numbers, and the role of luck

(00:38:23) - The power of compounding and the slow nature of positive change

(00:40:04) - The process of writing his second book - Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes 

(00:41:06) -  Who he finds inspiration from in his career

(00:46:20) - Why personal taste and resonance define good writing

(00:49:12) - How writing can evoke a range of emotions

(00:51:40) - Why serving on Markel's board has been a fascinating and enjoyable experience

(00:53:16) - Debrief 

Morgan Housel on Writing

Introduction

Dom
Today, we are going behind the scenes with a master of his craft, Morgan Housel. Making Media is one big never-ending lesson on how to build a media business. Four months and 20 conversations in, we've talked to leaders of media businesses of all shapes and sizes, and every conversation inevitably comes back to the same thing, make great content.

What does that actually mean? And how do you do it? In the investing world that Matt and I are from, there are few, if any, who make better content than Morgan. His blog has been a personal favorite for years, and his first book, The Psychology of Money, just crossed three million sales. So we reached out to see if he would take us behind the scenes. Where does he write? When does he write? How much is art? How much is science?

To get into those details, we took a blog Morgan wrote in late 2017, called The Freakishly Strong Base and used that as a case study to explore his craft. It's one of my favorite pieces he's written and focuses on compounding in nature, business and investing.

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