The truth is, I think, […] for me inspiration comes from a bunch of places. (Counting on his fingers …) Desperation, deadlines … A lot of times, ideas will turn up while you are doing something else. And most of all, I think, ideas come from confluence. They come from two things flowing together, they come, essentially from day-dreaming. It’s … it’s something I suspect that’s something that every human being does. ...
August Ultralearning, Scott H Young (must read. if you are looking to tackle something foundationally important, this book gives you one solid approach. it’s mostly common sense. but common sense that is laid out in a really logical manner. i learnt to plan my project, that hard learning is normal, that failure is normal, and that persistence is a prerequisite. all critical things, since learning no longer “comes naturally” to me.) ...
via Neil Gaiman chaot1k-daydreams asked: Hey, Mr. Gaiman, sorry to bother you. I just had a couple questions? I’m trying to become a better writer and write more, but I feel like I’m falling out of my own style when I write. I either write too much or too little, over-embellish or make it feel bland, and I’m not quite sure what I’m doing wrong by I feel like it’s both wrong and not what I want to write. I was hoping you might have some advice? ...
Lots of fantasy, a lovely book of poetry, a beautifully written nonfiction book. All this, on July’s list of books :) July Love Looks Pretty on You, Lang Leav (must read. in my imagination, leav is a talented younger sister, who has been through a lot more and writes her advice just for me, in her poems) Working, Robert Caro (if you haven’t read the Power Broker, you should if you haven’t read the Lyndon volumes, you should this book is Caro’s account of the work, that went into those works. the ceaseless toil, the thankless years, the people and their stories Caro is Caro, master of the craft. There are only a few explicit lessons here. but plenty if you care enough to read between the lines plenty if you make this an annual read, like i will) ...
“Don’t just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents.” — Epictetus, The Art of Living
It was my better half’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Abby! ’Twas a good month for reading :) June The Song of the Bird, Anthony de Mello (absolutely read. buy and give people copies. this book for me, goes beyond a quake book. it has shaped my life, and thoughts, since boyhood, subconsciously then and with intent now.) The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Poirot #1), Agatha Christie (re-reading my way through the Poirot canon. these books take me to the age I think I belong to, the late 1800s, early 1900s absolutely delightful) ...