the art of writing

If you write to please others, you are selling out. You are in the process of audience capture. This way of talking, which is how the fear in me talks, is common—as if writing for an audience and writing for yourself are at odds with each other. I really used to feel like that.

But I no longer think that it is quite right. The relationship between... See more

There’s a quote I like from Theodor Adorno, who said, “for a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes place to live." While I’ve never been a refugee, I still feel that quote really strongly, as someone who’s never quite felt fully at home in most of my ordinary life– always a bit of an alien, always an outsider, always a minority, always... See more

1. The aim of my writing is never to make money. If there are opportunities, I will pay attention, but it is never the direct aim. I obsessively focus on other funding mechanisms such that I don't have to worry much about how to monetize writing.

2. I write for readers like me. I dislike a lot of the current trends in books. I think they dumb down... See more