George Saunders: What Writers Really Do When They Write
... See moreAnnie Dillard calls the writer’s life colorless to the point of sensory deprivation. That fits. But, as she also knows, there is another kind of color that can only be discovered three years down a writing hole. It is a subtle, nightly color; your eyes need time to adjust to the dark before you can see them. You wouldn't believe their beauty if I t
I handled that conundrum the usual way: I went and checked out some of my favorite internet thinkers. These people had no idea what a huge influence they were on me, but all of my ideas were just amalgams of the stuff they were talking about. I tried to pull from a diverse group, Black women sci-fi authors, Chinese business analysts, nuclear disarm
... See moreHank Green • A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor: A Novel (The Carls Book 2)
More and more, I find myself turning to reading and writing to grapple with the fact that I only get to live out one life. Chewing on the cud of my one earthly existence lets me experience life once on the way down—as I go about my day and live it all in real-time—and once again on the way back up, when I regurgitate it back onto the page.
It’s a li
... See moretime. I like the person I am in my stories better than I like the real me. That person is smarter, wittier, more patient, funnier—his view of the world is wiser. When I stop writing and come back to myself, I feel more limited, opinionated, and petty.