David Grann, best-selling author of "Killers of the Flower Moon," on his creative process
Ahead of its April release, Jon Wertheim profiled the New York Times bestselling author of "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder."
David Grann spoke to 60 Minutes about how he researches and writes these wildly popular and immersive pieces of narrative non-fiction. He keeps his faithful readers hanging with a page-turning mix of history, journalism and true crime and has also become a darling of Hollywood developers.
His book "Killers of the Flower Moon," was adapted into a movie by Martin Scorsese, with a star-studded cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Brendan Fraser and Robert De Niro. The movie premiered at Cannes at Cannes in May, hit screens in October and is now a serious contender in the film award season. It received seven Golden Globe nominations on Monday, including one for best motion picture drama.
Grann spoke with 60 Minutes about what it takes to create these captivating books.
Grann writes on topics ranging from British explorers in the Amazon to the systematic murders of Native Americans, escaped prisoners to shipwreck mutinies. The one constant: exhaustive investigation. Each of his books is based on true events and is a culmination of years of research both in archives and on the ground. His dedication to his craft borders on obsession, something he believes is necessary in reconstructing history's forgotten tales.
Grann walked 60 Minutes through his office, which houses thousands of records, journals and various other documents for reference while he writes, before storing them away.
"There are so many buried, hidden stories, secrets, evidence, voices in archives," Grann explained. "So much of American history is scattered about."
Though spending years in an archive meticulously searching through old texts might seem tiresome, Grann told 60 Minutes it's well worth the trouble. The difficulty and beauty in searching for something unknown, he said, is that "quality of serendipity" that can change everything. He spoke with 60 Minutes correspondent Jon Wertheim about one such moment at the National Archives in Fort Worth, Texas, when he found a ledger that uncovered a historical secret that shaped his novel, "Killers of the Flower Moon."
"So I'm pulling boxes…and in one of these boxes I see, it looked like a ledger almost," Grann explained of his findings. "To be honest it was one of the most important documents I found over five years, and it was completely accidental."
Though painstaking research is the foundation of any good piece of narrative non-fiction, Grann explained that in order to take his work a step further and create something special, he needs to cultivate meaningful relationships with sources and live realistic experiences similar to those of his characters.
"You develop relationships and friendships and things that change you," Grann said. "And so for me…that is really the secret reward. And those parts aren't always in the books or the stories you tell, but they are the things that enrich your life."
The videos above were originally published on April 16, 2023. They were edited by Will Croxton