Neil Strauss is a ten-time New York Times best-selling author, renowned for "The Game" where he went undercover in the world of pickup artists. His follow-up, "The Truth," delves into relationships and their complexities. 

As a journalist, he's contributed to The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and won awards like the ASCAP-Deems Taylor. Some of his other popular books include collaborations with Jenna Jameson, Motley Crue, and Marilyn Manson. Strauss began his career at Village Voice and has since had his work appear in over thirty books. Outside of writing, he's acted in shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, DJ’ed globally, and written for major TV networks. He even hosted "The Inner Circle with Neil Strauss" on SiriusXM.

You can find him here

How to Write a Book

Goal is to help you get started on writing a book, but even more than that, it’s that you already have a book inside you, you just need to understand how to get it out. By the end of this I felt like I could do this. And more than that, it surprised me by  exposing this giant emotional weight I’d been carrying since childhood that I didn't even know I had! So I learned that free writing an be really helpful!

1. Started off with free writing about a burning subject in you, or just what you’ve learning so far in the conference

2. Process of Writing 1st Sentence

• 1st sentence, grabber, write to get them to keep reading
• Your job as a writer is to make them care, bc they don’t care at all.  
• First line of 1984 by George Orwell
  • “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.  
• Fear and Loathing by Hunter S Thompson
  • We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold
• The stranger  by Albert Camus
  • Mother died today
• Creates curiosity, paints a picture of character.  

2. Writing Tips

What ruins writing is worrying about what other people think

First draft is only for you, no one will ever see it. You just vomit it out. Use real names and experiences. It’s ok to just get things wrong.  

• Second draft is fro the reader. It’s nicer, change names if you want.  
• Third draft is for the hater/critic.  
• Use “t/c” for unknown facts to keep flow going
• The audience comes last
• If it’s not scary to have other ppl read it, you didn’t get vulnerable enough. The best work is polarizing.  

Apps

• Freedom app helps you stay productive by stopping distraction
• Opal  blocks apps
• Apps that lock up your phone

2. What to Write about

• What are you curious about and excited about right now
• Experiences that are interesting

Summary

 Free writing can be great and maybe you can make a book out of it

I had been meditating on the way to the conference to try to get my head straight, and this just sort of fell out of me. It was first draft word vomit.  

Neil did a wonderful job of explaining his process in a simple, very doable way.  I got more out of it than just a writing process. it was cathartic and healing.