“The way to do a piece of writing is three or four times over, never once.” Writing is hard. John McPhee, who invented literary nonfiction that reads like a novel, developed a four-draft writing method that transforms chaotic ideas into compelling narratives. McPhee pioneered creative nonfiction at The New Yorker, writing books like Oranges & Coming into the Country that made complex subjects fascinating through storytelling. His approach differs from traditional journalism by incorporati...
