3 Writing Lessons from Pulitzer Winner Paul Harding

Paul Harding spent 15 years writing his debut novel, Tinkers, which was rejected by dozens of publishers before being picked up by a small press for $1,000.

The book went on to win the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, stunning the literary world. Harding's unconventional approach to storytelling offers valuable insights for writers across all mediums.

He sat down with David Perrell and gave a ton of advice. We pulled just a few tidbits—be sure to watch the whole interview below.

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Slow Down and Observe

Harding's most repeated advice is deceptively simple: "Slow down."

"You have to sift down a little bit," Harding said. "You're not used to just slowing down. Because so much of what we have to do day to day, moment to moment is, 'Yeah, I got it. I know that.' You're not thinking about it. It's just reflex."

The key is learning to observe things before your brain automatically categorizes what you're seeing and moves on. You have to be patient and observant.

When Harding wrote the opening of Tinkers, he didn't rush toward symbolic meaning. Instead, he started with the real-life image of his grandfather hallucinating cracks in the ceiling, following it methodically. What if the cracks got bigger? What if the ceiling caved in? What next?

This patient exploration led to an extended metaphor that readers remember. So how can you be patient in your own writing? How can you imagine a scene going in a surprising direction?

In another interview with The Millions, Harding said, "There’s a big hatch in the floor and I climb down into the world of the novel and the second I go down in there, no presumptions. I shut up, look and listen, and take notes."

Read Ambitiously

"I think that your writing can only be as good as the best stuff that you've read," Harding said. "And furthermore, it can only be as good as the best readings that you can give to the best stuff."

It's what he calls "ambitious reading." This applies to screenwriters, too—get your hands on scripts. Devour pages from all genres. See how writers are creatively approaching their stories and how their voice comes through the words.

And then start trying to figure out where you fall. It's okay to aspire to greatness. You want to write something good, so determine what "good" looks like to you.

Harding said, "Melville was just trying to write a book as good as Hamlet. Shakespeare is just trying to write a book that was as good as the Joseph and his brothers story in Genesis."

Study the masters across mediums. Read Paddy Chayefsky's Network, watch how the Coen Brothers structure No Country for Old Men, analyze how The Sopranos builds character through mundane moments.

Know Your Audience

A script is a tool to tell a story, but it's also something you write to be sold and seen. So, who is your audience? Harding says it's important to know that.

"I always say to my students, the minute I write a sentence down, I can hear billions of people stampeding for the exits, right? But then there's a dozen people who come from the cheap seats down to the front row, and they say, 'Yeah, what happened next?' Those are the people you're writing your book for. If you try to get everybody, you're going to please no one."

This lesson is crucial in a medium where commercial viability often drives creative decisions. Rather than writing for everyone, identify your specific audience.

Are you writing a psychological thriller for A24 sensibilities? A network procedural? A streaming limited series? Understanding who will connect with your story helps you make authentic, creative choices instead of generic ones that satisfy no one.

Here's how to find your audience in five steps.