fear of being misunderstood

I think there’s great value in misunderstanding when you read. I like the idea of thinking that the author meant one thing—and being totally wrong about it. Ultimately, what you get out of a book doesn’t come from what you comprehend, but from what you don’t comprehend, at least not yet.

Every five years, I go back and reread The Three-Cornered Worl

Taylor Swift needs marketing. She needs teams of people, working around the clock, to make us care about her work.

Yet for some reason, we believe that the moment we put our work out into the world, everyone is going to spit out their coffee in rapt attention. The truth is far more liberating.

Anything precious is self-conscious, and that kills creativity.