Oct 2620 Ways to Fight to DepressionIn 1820, the Reverend Sydney Smith sent a letter to Lady Morpeth to console her on her depression. Titled, “Advice concerning low spirits”, the letter contains 20 suggestions on how to lift her spirits. The letter has become a classic for a reason — its advice is timeless, wise and…Depression2 min readDepression2 min read
Oct 10Member-onlyWhy pain doesn’t have to lead to sufferingA man is as much affected pleasurably or painfully by the image of a thing past or future, as by the image of a thing present. — Baruch Spinoza, ‘Ethics’ There is something distinctly human in how we process pain. We register it in the immediate way that all animals…Pain5 min readPain5 min read
Sep 30“Write for your ideal reader”I found this quote in Julia Cameron’s The Right to Write, a motivational text that contains many effective techniques for overcoming internal blocks to creativity. She’s written many such books — and become more famous for them than her own fiction — most notably, The Artist’s Way. The best advice…Writing Life2 min readWriting Life2 min read
Sep 7Let Fiction Be Whatever it Wants to BeIn his wonderful book of writing advice, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders tackles the age-old question: What is Fiction for? …Fiction2 min readFiction2 min read
Sep 6Member-onlyWhy Trying to Solve Our Problems Just Makes Us Unhappy“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” — Søren Kierkegaard Why is trying to relax so stressful? Why do our attempts to fix our depression and anxiety only send us deeper into the spiral? …Happiness7 min readHappiness7 min read
Aug 155 Things I learnt about Writing from George SaundersWriting advice from a Man Booker Prize Winner — Writing advice doesn’t come any better than when it’s from a Man Booker Prize Winner. Especially when it’s from a writer as wise, humble and funny as George Saunders. He’s a master of the short story, and has been teaching the format at Syracuse University for the past twenty years…Writing5 min readWriting5 min read
Jul 305 things I learnt about Writing from Chuck Palahniuk“The job of the creative person is to recognize and express things for others…Whatever the case, we recognize the truth when we read it. The best writers seem to read our minds, and they nail exactly what we’ve never been able to put into words.” Palahniuk’s new(ish) non-fiction book on…Writing4 min readWriting4 min read
Jul 24The Moral Duty of Fiction“Fiction can never pronounce ultimate solutions, but it can lead to understanding. It leads, and that’s all. It gives visions of what’s possible.” — John Gardner In an interview with The Paris Review (collected in this book edition), the writer John Gardner reflects on what it means to write good…Philosophy3 min readPhilosophy3 min read
Jul 18Julian Barnes on how ‘Fiction explains and expands life’In the opening to Barnes’ collection of literary essays, Through the Window, he offers one of the best descriptions I’ve read for what fiction can do for us: Fiction, more than any other written form, explains and expands life. Biology, of course, also explains life; so do biography and biochemistry…Self Improvement2 min readSelf Improvement2 min read
Jul 6What made Chekhov a revolutionary writer? He refused to judgeIn 1890, Chekhov wrote a story called ‘The Horse-Stealers’, about a pair of horse thieves who dupe a drunken medical attendant and steal his horse. When Chekhov’s publisher friend Aleksey Suvorin read the story, he challenged Chekhov for failing to come down hard on the thieves. …Writing4 min readWriting4 min read
