Piers Newton-John

Recently I received the latest edition of Dumbo Feather. It’s a quarterly magazine filled with insightful articles and long-form interviews, and is my favourite publication. It arrived in my office letterbox, and I immediately started flipping through the pages. As I read, I walked, and the city streets were not safe for me. I was running into light poles and strangers, and just barely missing busses. Forget alcohol or texting, it’s the reading of a good book while in motion that is truly dangerous.

This is not an unusual experience for me, but this particular time I observed something about the way I read that I found interesting: I opened to the contents page and skimmed the topics and authors, and then immediately turned to page 52 - an article by Piers Newton-John. I didn’t know what the article was about, the title gave me no clues, and I didn’t make the decision consciously. I simply saw his name, and went to the page.

How does that happen? I wanted to read what he wrote, not because of WHAT he was writing about, but because of THE WAY he writes. That’s quite a power to hold, if you can be a writer that readers will read no matter what you are writing about.

I guess it’s that dynamic again of a good story, told well. Good thinking, but also good delivery. In Piers Newton-John’s case, I may have even decided to read him just on that good delivery. I like the way he writes.

I think every writer needs to have that aspiration: to tell their stories well. Not just to be a “thought leader” who is known for good ideas, but a writer who people want to read.