Serdar Yegulalp's Blog, page 53

Fringe Benefits

In a field that's trend-driven, all the most interesting and truly groundbreaking work can only come from the fringes.

Too Many Books In One

I've got one of those projects in mind that needs paring down.

Too Cultivated For My Own Good

One thing I've long hated about myself is how picky I've become when it comes to my tastes in fiction.

Trust In The Process

A phrase I repeat to myself often, chiefly when mired down in the middle of a draft: "Trust the process." Trust that the business of writing and re-writing, of reading and re-reading, of thinking and re-thinking, will bring you closer to the book you have in mind but which seems so far away right now. Trust that you will be able to see tomorrow what must be done, even when you can't see it today. Trust in your future self and its ability to follow the process. Trust the process, even when you fe...

The Least Weird Guy In The Room

One of the most humbling, and also clarifying, discoveries of my life was that while I liked weird stuff, I myself wasn't that weird.

The Great Maybe

Skepticism of one's own positions is difficult to cultivate, in big part because the rest of the world openly defies us to doubt ourselves constructively.

Let Us Now Praise Not At All Famous Bloggers

Some of the best stuff I've ever read has been posted on blogs with a sum total of maybe five readers, myself included.

Them Changes

Change is the essence of storytelling: we tell a story because we want to document something that has changed. Or someone.

Diamonds And Pearls

Stories aren't diamonds of symmetrical perfection. They're pearls of asymmetrical beauty, and should be loved as such.

My Unmade-up Mind

How not to succumb to the creative sunk-cost fallacy.