To write more? I bet one of them is to write more. All us writers tend to make that resolution every year. But the trick to keeping those resolutions is to make your goal something measurable, and achievable. For example, no nebulous 'write more' goals. Pick something solid like 'write a story each month' or …
Stop thinking up reasons not to write
Whenever I don't know what to blog about (like today) I just open up 'Several Short Sentences about Writing' to a random page, and then I have a blog topic. Today, I read this: Anything you think you need in order to write--or be 'inspired' to write or 'get in the mood' to write--becomes a …
Plot or not?
I'm losing interest in plot, as a reader. I care less and less about a protagonist and a villain and a mystery and a battle, and more about character and prose and interesting thoughts. Will I ever read genre fiction again? I don't know... Also, I sense this is going to rub off on my …
Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders
Love, death, ghosts, and history. What a sad, funny, interesting and heart-squeezing novel. From Wikipedia: Many years ago, during a visit to Washington DC, my wife's cousin pointed out to us a crypt on a hill and mentioned that, in 1862, while Abraham Lincoln was president, his beloved son, Willie, died, and was temporarily interred …
Mystery on the side
I'm listening to another Nabokov novel, and no surprise, it's great. This one is about a struggling businessman who also seems a bit mentally unstable, running across a vagrant who happens to look exactly like him. The instant he sees this face, a plan sparks in his mind. You can tell, but, you don't know …
Jonas David 