“I haven’t had trouble with writer’s block. I think it’s because my process involves writing very badly. My first drafts are filled with lurching, clichéd writing, outright flailing around. Writing that doesn’t have a good voice or any voice. But then there will be good moments. It seems writer’s block is often a dislike of writing badly and waiting for writing better to happen.”
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“The more I write, the more I've come to realize that books have a different place in our society than other media. Books are different from television or film because they ask you to finish the project. You have to be actively engaged to read a book. It's more like a blueprint. What it really is, is an opportunity... A book is a place where you're forced to use your imagination. I find it disappointing that you're not being asked to imagine more.”
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“It’s not what happens to people on the page; it’s about what happens to a reader in his heart and mind.”
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“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”
― Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
― Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
“Blessed are the weird people:
poets, misfits, writers
mystics, painters, troubadours
for they teach us to see the world through different eyes.”
― Pearls of Wisdom: 30 Inspirational Ideas to live your best life now
poets, misfits, writers
mystics, painters, troubadours
for they teach us to see the world through different eyes.”
― Pearls of Wisdom: 30 Inspirational Ideas to live your best life now
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Brian’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Brian’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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