DiscoverThe Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and NeuroscienceHow NY Times Bestselling Author Peter Heller Writes: Part One - Redux
How NY Times Bestselling Author Peter Heller Writes: Part One - Redux

How NY Times Bestselling Author Peter Heller Writes: Part One - Redux

Update: 2025-12-12
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Part 1 of 2 Throwback to a Pre-Pandemic podcast! Pete has some big news on the radar …


The New York Times bestselling novelist, award-winning adventure writer, and journalist, Peter Heller, spoke with me about his early life as a starving poet, breaking into journalism, how he makes things up for a living, and what it's like to be compared to your heroes.


Peter is a longtime contributor to NPR, and a former contributing editor at Outside Magazine, Men’s Journal, and National Geographic Adventure. He received an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in fiction and poetry, is the author of four nonfiction books, and winner of the National Outdoor Book Award for Literature.


Heller is also a notable bestselling author of a half-dozen novels including The Dog Stars – a lauded breakout bestseller, now published in 22 languages – The Painter, and Celine (a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize that won the prestigious Reading the West Book Award, shared in the past by Western writer Cormac McCarthy).


His latest novel, and Edgar Award Nominee, The River, has been called a "... heart-pounding survival story of .... two college students on a wilderness canoe trip – [and] a gripping tale of a friendship tested by fire, white water, and violence."


The New York Times called The River, “[A] modern-day survival tale .... [with] the urgency of a thriller.”


[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]


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In this file Peter and I discussed:




  • How the author channels his fictional characters




  • The only way to start a novel




  • Why once you start "making it up" you can never go back




  • Productivity hacks for writing 1000 words a day, rain or shine




  • The importance of connecting with your  #writingcommunity




  • And fantastic advice from other award-winning authors to help you relax and let it rip   




Show Notes:






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

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How NY Times Bestselling Author Peter Heller Writes: Part One - Redux

How NY Times Bestselling Author Peter Heller Writes: Part One - Redux

Kelton Reid