On writing
“After writing and recording an album, I allow myself a large and ever-increasingly long exhale. But leading up to the process, I tend to get consumed by a theme that carries me through to the writing - I know when it’s happening now because it feels like picking up breadcrumbs; one book leads to another, or I feel called to travel or learn somethi
... See moreWhen writing in public, there is a common idea that you should make it accessible . This is a left over from mass media. Words addressed to a large and diverse set of people need to be simple and clear and free of jargon. It is valuable to write clearly of course, to a degree. Clear writing is clear thinking. But to make the content accessible? To ... See more
A Blog Post Is a Very Long and Complex Search Query to Find Fascinating People and Make Them Route Interesting Stuff to Your Inbox
My product won’t write sentences for you. The slow process of writing is what clarifies thought, shapes identity, and cultivates a lens to the world. Writing is the whole point; it isn’t a chore to optimize, it’s an infinite game.
Michael Dean • Mega-Update
“This is a very radical job this dealing with the ideas you get if you are an artist and take your job seriously, this shaping a vision into the medium of words. It’s what I like best to do in the world, and craft is what I like to talk about when I talk about writing […]
Ursula K. Le Guin — ‘The Question I Get Asked Most Often’
Every time I cut something, I'll never delete it. I just copy and paste it under a line at the bottom of the document. That's how I know I'm making progress – the graveyard gets larger and larger and the only things that are left alive are the things I didn't think I should kill.
I learned something when I came here. I'll be working on something, and I'll come to an impasse. I'll say, “I don't know where this poem is going.” Or let's say I'm writing the libretto for an opera, and I won't know what these two characters are going to do.
I'll go out and I'll prune a tree for an hour, cut away the dead wood—and things like that.... See more
I'll go out and I'll prune a tree for an hour, cut away the dead wood—and things like that.... See more
Ted Gioia • How to Write
Ted Gioia
Annie
"Grammar is a piano I play by ear." — Joan Didion.