How Much Do We Need to Read to Have a Chance to Be Good?
updated 1mo ago
How Much Do We Need to Read to Have a Chance to Be Good?
To study the way we read is to study the way the mind works: the way it evaluates a statement for truth, the way it behaves in relation to another mind (i.e., the writer’s) across space and time.
from A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders
- Writer George Saunders calls this “achieving the iconic space,” and it’s what he’s after when he meets his creative writing students. “They arrive already wonderful. What we try to do over the next three years is help them achieve what I call their “iconic space” — the place from which they will write the stories only they could write, using what m... See more
from Notes on “Taste” by Brie Wolfson
loving how much of this is quotes
The basic drill I’m proposing here is: read the story, then turn your mind to the experience you’ve just had. Was there a place you found particularly moving? Something you resisted or that confused you? A moment when you found yourself tearing up, getting annoyed, thinking anew? Any lingering questions about the story? Any answer is acceptable.
from A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: From the Man Booker Prize-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
- What is “talent?” Well, I suppose it’s the ability to do that which is excellent (that which astounds, amazes, and so on). It’s a bit circular, really: if you can write something that astounds, that is, de facto, proof of talent. Is there a way to predict it, to diagnostically spot it early, and issue some sort of reassuring certification, that one... See more
from Office Hours by George Saunders
sari added