Optimism – Jacke Wilson

November 1, 2015

Good Luck NaNoWriMoers!

It’s National Novel Writing Month! And once again, I’m astounded by people who hate this project. (Has Laura Miller written her annual screed yet? I can’t wait.) Here’s a post from a while back: NaNoWriMo: A Full-Throated Defense What better way to tune up than to pull your favorite book off the shelf, study the Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, Publishing, Writing

contest, Laura Miller, nanowrimo, Optimism, Salon, Tolstoy, Writing

November 3, 2014

Good Luck NaNoWriMoers!

It’s National Novel Writing Month! And once again, I’m astounded by people who hate this project. (Has Laura Miller written her annual screed yet? I can’t wait.) Here’s a post from a year ago: NaNoWriMo: A Full-Throated Defense Democracy, Tolstoy (again!), NaNoWriMo, and hate. A good post. Onward and upward, everyone! Good luck with the Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, Publishing, Writing

Laura Miller, nanowrimo, Optimism, Salon, Tolstoy, Writing

April 25, 2014

At the Twilight’s Last Gleaming (Saying Farewell to a Dynasty)

Maybe it’s the fresh take on the space-time bending and head-blowing implications of Goodnight Moon, which has retroactively haunted my many thousands of readings of that book. Or maybe it’s just my usual interest in comparisons of Rome and America. In either case, I was struck by this passage: The stagnation of the Roman Empire Continue reading

Uncategorized

America, Dynasty, Ming, Optimism, Pessimism, Romans

March 22, 2014

Don’t Be Discouraged: You Are New!

Editor’s Note: In honor of springtime, I thought I’d rerun this post from last year, which remains one of the most popular posts we’ve had. Hope wins! In an interview with Tinhouse’s J.C. Hallman, Walter Kirn refers to a common anxiety among writers: J.C. Hallman: Do creative writers have an obligation to act as critics, to offer Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, Writing

motivation, Optimism, Publishing, Writers, Writing

February 15, 2014

What They Knew #26

Just realized that yesterday I posted what may be the darkest, most morbid post yet. On Valentine’s Day. Hey, at least it had “love” in the title! In any case, let’s look at something more optimistic. “Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how Continue reading

Authors, What They Knew

Anne Frank, Optimism

December 17, 2013

Three Bits of Holiday Cheer

Okay, enough with the bad news. The doom and gloom. The oh-so-bleak writing. Let’s bring ourselves into the proper mood for a December post! How about this? And this? Or this? We’re getting there, people… turning things around… and check back tomorrow for (hopefully) some good news from Jacke… some developments brewing… Continue reading

Uncategorized

Arts, Holidays, Optimism, Programs, Television