Tag Archives: writing

Rules for Writing

Posted on April 3, 2025 by Lee

I’m trying to write something for my Substack, which I haven’t updated in months, and it’s got me realising how much I still have to learn about the business of writing. I’m reading Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and thinking … Continue reading →

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Solitude and Struggle

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Lee

Haven’t blogged for a while. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to write, why write, why share what I write. I write almost every day and I know at least why I do that: it’s for myself, to get my … Continue reading →

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A Cigar is Just a Cigar

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Lee

On the “magic mountain,” what once seemed serious to you will become trivial. Death, for example: Joachim thinks that illness and death might “just be a sort of loafing about” and nothing really to worry about. We’re born, we live … Continue reading →

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Friday, 21st February 1997

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Lee

Besides getting his toilet fixed by a man called “Dirty Dave,” William Burroughs spent the day reading Asylum by Patrick McGrath. It’s been a long time since I read that book. I remember I enjoyed it but little more. What … Continue reading →

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Friends and Readers

Posted on January 11, 2024 by Lee

I’ve been reading Jack Kerouac’s Vanity of Duluoz, towards the end of which he describes the way William Burroughs showed support for him in the early years, motivating him to write more as he experimented and found his voice and … Continue reading →

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Sharing Dreams

Posted on November 14, 2023 by Lee

I’m reading Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb this week. Not telling the prophetic dreams makes them sick. It’s like an obsession, says one of the dreamers. It feels, upon waking, like the dream must be told, or at least written … Continue reading →

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How Wrong We Are

Posted on May 16, 2022 by Lee

I’ve been reading Will Storr’s The Science of Storytelling. Aspiring writers might want to read the book in full, but here’s some ideas I found interesting: Stories are about change. In other words: something happens. The best stories gradually transform … Continue reading →

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You must be ecstatic

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Lee

In The Night Manager, Madame Latulipe asks Jonathan if he is in love. “Not that I am aware, madame,” he replies. “You are unhappy? You are lonely?” “I am blissfully content.” “But to be content is not enough! You must … Continue reading →

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The Enjoyment in Writing

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Lee

Past, present, and future are bound together when Henry Miller is writing. “The past is the springboard, the present the melting pot, and the future the delectation.” The past is the springboard because it is from the memories of his … Continue reading →

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Orpheus

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Lee

Orpheus is playing his lyre with tears in his eyes, begging the rulers of the underworld to return Eurydice to him. All Pluto and Persephone want is to be rid of those dewy eyes, tearing at their heart strings. They … Continue reading →

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