The roundups will continue until morale improves
I was hoping to generate some discourse with my last post, but it would seem the world according to five people other than myself agrees with me. No one will stand up and defend Homer as a prophet, or as someone who shook the world? Shakespeare was just doing his job, building the English language as we know it? Okay.
In case this got by you, the Wall Street Journal for the past week or so has put out a couple great pieces: one, a bunch of writers let slip how they spend their day writing; and two, a killer interview with John Hillcoat, director of the festive and heartwarming holiday movie The Road and said loving tale’s author, Cormac McCarthy. It’s mainly McCarthy’s show.
Remember how I had that post about William Gay? Seriously, read him. Here’s an long interview with Gay at Oxford American. Better than the McCarthy interview.
Last is an interview with Tobias Wolff, a really warm piece about the short story, state of publishing, MFA programs, that sort of thing.
I get most of these from reading the litblogs to the right, by the way. You can cut out the middleman and read them, instead.
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“I get most of these from reading the litblogs to the right, by the way. You can cut out the middleman and read them, instead.”
But, then what would be the point of your blog at all? Right. You shall bring me the interesting gems and I shall not have to shuffle through the other crap. Sounds good? Good.
I was thinking about arguing because everyone was so damn agreeable and we both know I almost always decide you’re wrong… but that’s only because I’m always right. But, I was too busy this week and you know, stuff, so.
Write something about your life. Dangnabbit.
Read the first link on writer’s habits and got Richard Powers name out of it, who I’ve never heard of, but who seems to be treading similar paths to my own.
So, thanks.
I started being a better writer about the time I quit being fussy about where and when I write. Not saying they’re related. But they might be.
Man, Cormac… is the man!
What a hero.
I mean, it’s not to say that doing a job doesn’t change the world. It can. Louie Pasteur was going his job when he created the process of pasteurization. However, the idea that every. little. thing. matters. cannot apply to writers more than it applies to the chemist, the post office worker, or the cook.
I do think that if we all applied work to paper without the idea of fluff–then the literary world would have less crap.