How Bestselling Author & Investigative Journalist Scott Carney Writes: Part Two

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

In Part Two of this file, the award-winning New York Times bestselling author, investigative journalist, and anthropologist, Scott Carney, returned 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.

Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You By

Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting.

Start getting more from your site today!

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.

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 Scott Carney and I discuss:

• Tips for escaping the great “distraction machine” and focusing on only what’s in front of you
• Why the author’s whole life has been built around writer’s block
• Scott’s routines for successfully juggling multiple large writing projects
• How the author uses his investigative journalism to actualize his adventures and vice versa
• The importance of making a living vs writing simply for your own pleasure
• Why he wants to take Hemingway to rehab

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
• 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

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