featured posts

Jun. 26, 2011

Leonardo, procrastinator

Leonardo da Vinci’s epic procrastination and the practical use of procrastination as a sign that your work (rather than yourself) may be dull.

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Jun. 10, 2011

Think Quantity

Looking over the numbers of prolific artists and innovators reinforces the basic rule: Creativity is a function of the quantity of work produced.

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Mar. 21, 2011

The Five Commandments

A few rules for a novelist (or any artist, presumably) struggling to get a new project started.

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Feb. 8, 2011

“Madame Bovary” translated by Lydia Davis

Lydia Davis’s wonderful new translation of Flaubert’s masterpiece *Madame Bovary* feels quite modern.

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Jan. 10, 2011

Fast Fish and Loose Fish

What an ancient law of whaling teaches about story ideas.

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Nov. 18, 2010

Shoes

The earthy, sensuous craft of making shoes vs. the ethereal art of writing books.

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Oct. 13, 2010

“Next”

James Hynes’s *Next* is the best novel I’ve read in a very long time.

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Oct. 5, 2010

Drawing Circles

Lessons for creatives from two famous circles, Giotto’s O and the enso of Japanese calligraphy.

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Sep. 16, 2010

It’s All Been Done

The pleasures and doubts of writing in a genre.

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Aug. 10, 2010

Vita Brevis, Ars Brevior

A good but not great movie from 1965 is a reminder how short-lived most art is.

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