reader. writer.

What works

Embrace the challenge. This strategy feels like the opposite of my favorite, which is to break down something hard into easy steps. It just goes to show that success may not always be about taking one specific path forward but multiple ones. In this case, I let myself be motivated by the fact that something I am trying to do is hard to do, and there is something satisfying in just making the attempt. The reward for me is not the completion of something challenging, but the feeling that I am engaged in something challenging. 

What I am reading 

I recently completed a quick read of Lisa Mangum’s Write Fearless. Edit Smart. Get Published, and Kate McKean’s Write Through it, both engaging and encouraging. McKean’s book is especially helpful for someone seeking the traditional publishing route, which I am not, though I still found helpful insights. I also recommend her newsletter (now on Ghost). I took note of several of Mangum’s writing tips to try in the future.

What I am writing

After a final push, I have reached the end of the tunnel.  Well, the edge of the end. I have finished the revising process and am diving into editing, a much quicker process (knock on wood). This is such a great feeling, as if I haven’t been kidding myself that this project was leading somewhere. It’s also daunting because it is almost time to share the work, which is a different kind of hard. For this challenge, I am grateful this blog has given me a space to practice sharing my words with others. I know what I post here isn’t perfect (nor are my novels), but it’s okay anyway.

Democracy, yes, please

Two seemingly opposite ideas can be true. The first is that there are near constant reasons for alarm and grief in my country right now, in particular the brutal treatment of our fellow human beings, including US citizens, by people claiming to represent our government, not to mention the reckless destruction of programs designed to serve us all. So we need to pay attention and take action whenever we can. Let me be clear where I stand: elected and appointed Republicans are betraying the public trust and proving that they are exceptionally talented at criticizing government and totally incompetent if not wholly corrupt when put in charge of government.

At the same time, I weary of outrage. We suffer from a media ecosystem that conflates newsworthy-ness with entertainment and political strategists who have decided the ends justify the means, so demonizing one’s opponents is allowed to substitute for educating us on meaningful policy distinctions. It feels as if our political leaders are forced to behave like pro-wrestlers, seeking ever more spectacle to keep an apathetic public engaged.

It is a chicken and egg situation I know—media and politicians tailor their efforts to suit a public easily bored and impatient with details, so short in attention that tl;dr doesn’t even get the dignity of full words, only initials.

Like many of our challenges, there is a solution other than trying to shame individuals into reading policy briefs—like pollution, like fair wages, like campaign contributions, like ending gerrymandering, this can’t be done unilaterally or through individual efforts—we must apply restrictions to everyone. A restaurant that pays its staff a living wage will be at a disadvantage if the competitors are allowed to rely on tips, choosing to let the staff bear the financial risks instead of the owners. A company that embraces environmentally-friendly approaches including pollution reduction will have fewer profits than one that doesn’t. Etcetera. 

The delivery of news shouldn’t be affected by profits or ratings. Campaign contributions should be highly restricted, and our primary source of information should be reputable news organizations, ideally independent public ones with sufficient funding to research fully and report on candidates and politics in transparent ways.

We also need sweeping limits on corruption—politics wouldn’t be such a big business if individuals and corporations didn’t make so much money when they help unscrupulous politicians win. 

As someone whose nerves can’t take much more of politics as pro-wrestling, let me say this from deep in my heart—let politics be boring. And may government work to benefit us all, not the corrupt few.