On Writing

1. “We tell stories because we have a hollow place in our heart. You don’t fill that with success. You fill it by finding yourself in the stories you tell.”

–Guillermo Del Toro

You’re talking to a person at a party and his or her attention is elsewhere, annoyingly. How do you get their attention back to you, and then hold it?

For me, that’s the essence of my approach to writing.

My information consumption philosophy is simple: (1) It must have a long shelf life. (2) It must have taken considerable effort to create. With these two principles, you can cut out most of the junk from your information diet.

well-arranged words rearrange reality.

Rebecca Solnit - “underneath the task of writing a particular piece is the general one of making a self who can make the work you are meant to make.” https://t.co/hfVXl0yIp2

on framing, and the spellpower of words https://t.co/rGZToTMTiM

A phrase that’s been showing up recently is, “no pressure.” It usually comes in a pitch letter of some sort, written by someone who isn’t in a position to exert any pressure.

So why say it?

It’s a bit like, “while supplies last.” And “to be honest…” which is perhaps the most self-negating of the three.

It’s throat-clearing, a word salad designed to so... See more

"You can make anything by writing." — C.S. Lewis