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The Unmistakable Creative Podcast
The DNA of a Storyteller with Robert Kurson
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In this episode author Robert Kurson shares his journey from being an F-student in high school, to a desperately unhappy Harvard educated Lawyer and eventual New York Times Bestselling Author
HIGHLIGHTS:
- A formative relationship that played a fundamental role in Robert’s career
- Why a strong work ethic is important for a creative career
- The struggles of a challenging academic career
- Finding a level of belief that keeps you going
- From F’s in High School to Harvard School
- The power of being desperately unhappy
- Making a drastic identity shift that allows us to produce incredible results
- Finding meaning in the activities in which we lose track of time
- How small opportunities can change into big change in our lives
- Why we must take risk and experience temporary pain for our greatest achievements
- Why unhappiness increases our capacity for taking risk
- Mastering craft the storytelling
- Developing a sense for how a good story sounds
- The power of speaking from the heart
Quotes
Really great storytellers are people who notice the most
A well told story is a universal thing
Robert Kurson is an American author, best known for his 2004 bestselling book, Shadow Divers, the true story of two Americans who discover a World War II German U-boat sunk 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey. His new book Pirate Hunters is a gripping, true story today, of the hunt for lost gold, bitter rivalries on the high seas, a long-ago legendary pirate captain, and two adventurous American men determined to win treasure – and find something even deeper – along the way.
Kurson began his career as an attorney, graduating from Harvard Law School, and practicing real estate law. Kurson’s professional writing career began at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he started as a sports agate clerk and soon gained a full-time features writing job. In 2000, Esquire published “My Favorite Teacher,” his first magazine story, which became a finalist for a National Magazine Award. He moved from the Sun-Times to Chicago magazine, then to Esquire, where he won a National Magazine Award and was a contributing editor for years. His stories have appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications
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