Member-only story
Why Most Fiction Isn’t Worth Reading, and The Deadly Journey To Write Something That Is
Fiction tells lies in the most truthful possible manner.
In almost every story you love, the hero goes into the unknown, finds something of value, and brings it back to her community.
In a “meta” way, writing fiction is the same process. The writer, herself a hero voyaging into the unknown, must go where no one else has gone, find something of value, and bring it back to her community (the reader).
A bad writer steals the insights of other writers, not bothering to go on his own journey of discovery.
The great writer risks reputation, sanity, and even his life to go beyond the veil and bring back gold.
Are you willing to go exactly where you are most afraid to go?
What makes art great?
One of my favorite musicians of all time is a guy named Daniel Johnston. His music was so simple and child-like that it was hardly music — but it was still transcendent. Somehow, he was tapped into divinity.
What makes a musician great, anyway?
Is it the technical ability to play Mozart? Obviously, no. If that were true, we’d all just listen to music that is…
