Andrew Mostert

Andrew Mostert asked Lawrence Wright:

I'm a sophomore college student. I really admire your curiosity and the attentiveness you bring to your writing. What advice would you give me if I asked you how I can some day have a career like yours? Do you think it would be significantly more difficult for someone of my generation to become a magazine writer in the America of the near future? What do you wish you spent more time doing when you were my age?

Lawrence Wright Thanks, Andrew, those are very interesting questions. let me start with the last one. I wish I had taken my own future more seriously. I was an indifferent student, and I've spent a lot of time trying to make up for that. Magazines will continue, in one form or another. I thought I was in a dying industry for a long time but I've seen how hungry people are to get into subjects deeply, and that's what magazines offer. Prepare yourself by acquiring skills: languages, history, political science, explore ardently and never stop. And you'll have a wonderful career.

More Answered Questions

Paul Bruene

Paul Bruene asked Lawrence Wright:

Did you find it harder to cultivate sources in the CIA or in the world of Scientology?

Cwiegard

Cwiegard asked Lawrence Wright:

I enjoyed "Going Clear" as an excellent exploration of the dark side of human nature through the prism of a cult religion. I understand that a fiction pandemic thriller is a very different writing effort, but did your nonfiction career inform your new writing effort, either regarding human nature, the role of research in establishing realism, or some other way?

Derek

Derek asked Lawrence Wright:

I learned quite a bit about UBL and Al Qaeda by reading "The Looming Tower". While I also enjoyed and learnt quite a bit about Scientology from "Going Clear", I came away with many more questions about the church and their members than Al Qaeda. Is this something readers have told you before? Or did you experience this yourself?

All answers from Lawrence Wright…

Lawrence Wright

2,388 followers

To ask Lawrence Wright a question, please sign up.

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions