A cultural preference shaped by larger state institutions…

This week we're talking about bad poetry, existential physics, and the persistent tyranny of little words.

Here’s what I’ve got for y’all this week:

1. In honor of Bad Poetry Day on this coming Thursday, August 18, check out “How to Write a Bad Poem in 9 Easy Steps,” by Katie Davis. And then, in all seriousness, get writing. You have to make bad art if you want to have any hope of ever making anything good.

2. I heard an NPR interview with Sabine Hossenfelder, the author of Existential Physics (out this week from Penguin Random House, but then again, isn’t pretty much everything?). The book sounds fascinating, exploring questions like why do we get older but never younger? and are the past, present, and future all happening at once? It’s definitely going on my TBR list.

3. I finally got around to reading the most recent Writer’s Digest and was so excited to read Tobias Buckell’s piece “The Tyranny of the Verb To Be.” Here’s a taste: “A militant preference for showing instead of telling is just a cultural preference shaped by larger state institutions…” It’s definitely worth a read, and it’s only in print so maybe pick up a copy at your local bookstore.

4. The public library in Oakland, CA, has curated an exhibit of things left behind in library books. If you happen to live close you can check it out in person, but they’ve also posted most of the items online, from notes, art, photos and more.

5. Some words of wisdom from Maya Angelou: "You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it."

6. Nerd Word of the Week: Potvaliancy ~ brave only as a result of being drunk.

7. I’m not a big gamer, but even I can appreciate how far video games have come on their narrative construction (and truth be told, I’ve wasted a lot of hours playing Red Dead Redemption II - that game is amazing).

8. “When we want someone to truly understand something, we turn it into a story.” LitHub posted a piece this morning by fantasy author Leslye Penelope on Fact, Fiction, and Truth. It’s a blurry line I love to revisit from time to time.

Happy writing, my friends,

April