the art of writing

Chekhov: “The task of a writer is not to solve the problem but to state the problem correctly.”

I think that greatness is best described as “invisibility.” Great writing is invisible. It might take you a minute or two to get into the flow, but once you’re reading it, you’re flowing through it and don’t even realize you are reading words. Your mind is hallucinating the story for you, so seamlessly that it feels like you’re imagining it for... See more

The novelist Jennifer Egan says, “You can only write regularly if you’re willing to write badly. You can’t write regularly and well. One should accept bad writing as a way of priming the pump, a warm-up exercise that allows you to write well.”

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

I wanna write a poem. But I want it to say what you’re thinking. I wanna patch up the holes when your boat starts sinking. I wanna write that ‘one of a kind’ poem, that ‘free your mind’ poem, that ‘I like how you made that rhyme’ poem, that ‘I like that last line’ poem, that ‘Can I hear that one more time? (That is, if you don’t mind.)’ poem. I

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