Actionable lessons from the world's greatest creators

The Creator Archive

Sam Parr founded The Hustle (sold to Hubspot).

In the clip below, he shares that he learned how to write through copy work. It’s a tool that Ben Franklin, Hunter S. Thompson, and Judd Apatow all used.

Hunter S. Thompson wrote every sentence of The Great Gatsby so he could feel what it was like to write a great novel. Judd Apatow did this with SNL skits.

Sam shares:

“I spent months just locked in a room doing this thing called ‘copy hour’ where for an hour or two a day, I would just take the best sales letters of all time and copy them by hand. And you have to do it with a pen and paper—not typing it. I would learn the texture of the writing and see the patterns of great writing.”

He would borrow the things he liked and used those patterns to create his own voice.

“I think that’s the best way to learn in my opinion… And I still do it. Right before I have to write something, I’ll take a book that I like and just spend 10 minutes [writing it by hand].”

Sam Parr founded The Hustle (sold to Hubspot).

In the clip below, he shares that he learned how to write through copy work. It’s a tool that Ben Franklin, Hunter S. Thompson, and Judd Apatow all used.

Hunter S. Thompson wrote every sentence of The Great Gatsby so he could feel what it was like to write a great novel. Judd Apatow did this with SNL skits.

“I spent months just locked in a room doing this thing called ‘copy hour’ where for an hour or two a day, I would just take the best sales letters of all time and copy them by hand. And you have to do it with a pen and paper—not typing it. I would learn the texture of the writing and see the patterns of great writing.”

He would borrow the things he liked and used those patterns to create his own voice.

“I think that’s the best way to learn in my opinion… And I still do it. Right before I have to write something, I’ll take a book that I like and just spend 10 minutes [writing it by hand].”

The Creator Archive

Sam Parr on how to become a great writer