BRIAN KOPPELMAN: Was it important to you to become a better writer?

JEMELE HILL: Oh…

KOPPELMAN: Like, were you aware of that? Like I want to be better at this?

HILL: It was, it was everything.

KOPPELMAN: See this is huge for people cause’ everyone’s always asking how do I get connected? How do I get an agent? How do I get the next thing? That’s only like this much of it. Little tiny bit of it.

HILL: Yeah.

KOPPELMAN: The thing is like, how do I get good?

HILL: Correct.

KOPPELMAN: How do I keep going? And so you attacked that part with rigor you think?

HILL: Yeah, that was, I mean, I’m such a journalism nerd in general, but a writing nerd also, and so I was forever trying to connect, you know, how do I find my voice, you know, I acted like you know, I was a detective looking for it not realizing.

KOPPELMAN: So inspiring.

HILL: Yeah.

KOPPELMAN: You were consciously trying to find…

HILL: Oh totally.

KOPPELMAN: What’s my original sound?

HILL: Yes, yes.

KOPPELMAN: How do I get the sound in my head, the sound that’s with my friends. I mean you know, it’s what Emerson, Ralph Emerson talked about, like if you, you know, the secret voice that you hear, that you know is out there. That if you can somehow get that expressed.

HILL: That was my struggle.

KOPPELMAN: The battle all writers go through.

HILL: That was my struggle.

Attention writing nerds! Journalism nerds! Story nerds! Nerd nerds!

Brian Koppleman’s The Moment interview with Jemele Hill is on point. Encouragement and truth, all in around an hour.

Listen to conversation in full.