Obscure Curiosities

Tag: writing

  • Reflections: How the Creator Economy Now Feels Like a Complacency Treadmill

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    The promise of the creator economy was, and still is, seductive. It offers a decentralized path: the freedom to pursue silly creative writing, to build a direct line to an audience, and to fund a life based on what makes me happy. As Substack essayist Henrik Karlsson put it, it’s “thinking on the page.” But…

  • Reflections: What Does it Mean to Write “Good Stuff?”

    I want to focus on writing “good stuff.” What exactly does that mean? Find a formula that works, or ride the tried-and-true train to the bank? No, I just want to sit there and write something, then at the end of the day I feel like I said something good.  Every day is different and…

  • Reflections: Turnkey Phrases

    I’m on a never-ending quest for turnkey phrases, those magical combinations of words that drive themselves relentlessly towards unique expressions of ideas and memories. Once assembled, they’ll propel themselves forward like an unstoppable freight train, hellbent on smashing writer’s block, becoming my guiding light into the elusive territory of original expression. Every time I think…

  • Reflections: How Important is a Muse to a Writer?

    There must be a purpose when you write. It shouldn’t only be the topic that you wish to cover. Some of the best writing that I’ve encountered, whether my own or others, was a product of simply writing for a purpose besides covering one or more specific things. There are so many things that deserve…

  • 11 Takeaways from “Writing Without BS” by Josh Bernoff

    Finally got around to parsing my notes from this solid book on writing. Here are the 11 points that I made sure to write down, reshaped and summarized for your reading pleasure. 1. Write short (and prune without mercy) Bernoff’s “write short” advice stings, because I’m allergic to brevity. Still, pruning works; like trimming a…

  • Reflections: You Never Know Where the Words Will Take You

    “Writing: It starts at the keyboard, and it ends at the far corners of the universe.” — Paako, From Vincent Lowry, Constellation Chronicles: The Lost Civilization of Aries Long ago I came across this quote on Twitter and it got me thinking. Whenever I sit down to write something, I usually don’t have much of…

  • Reflections: Every Collection of Complete Works is Necessarily Incomplete

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    Incompleteness has been written about extensively in fields such as mathematics and philosophy. Sadly, it isn’t at all frequently discussed when it comes to volumes of complete works. A collection of complete works is supposed to be a group or set of literary, musical, artistic, or academic works created by a single author. Yet, one…

  • Reflections: Write Now, Sort Later

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    Some time ago, while sifting through some old articles I wrote for the writing advice book I never bothered to finish, I stumbled across this passage that I decided to file away for later: “Write for you first, always. Just focus on getting your thoughts out of your head and onto a tangible medium. You…