Writing?

Thinking about writing?

Writing about thinking about writing?

Thinking about writing about thinking?

Trying to write?

Have to write?!?

Trying to write without getting into any of the infinite regresses, anxieties and dreads, and Sloughs Of Despond above?

There is hope.

1. Writing happens, in all manner of circumstances, in all sorts of ways. Writing-life goes on. This is good.
2. That includes Facebook and all sorts of other online idling. For those of us who do that already, it’s nice to see others do so too and to hear them talking about it. To anyone feeling insecure about their Facebookishness: may you grow in confidence and gain comfort from realising that you are neither alone nor being a bad academic, but a creative individual and part of a creative community.
3. Observe: OPEN ACCESS means that this book, in its electronic form, can be downloaded by anyone, anywhere, for free. That “freedom” is qualified in a manner that insists on its ethical and political significance. One may choose to donate some money to the publishers; but that is a matter for individual choice and discretion. You may choose to give more, charitably, caring for others, spreading the love (see for an extreme example of this the Neil Gaiman Humble Bundle). If you have lots of money, give more. If you don’t, don’t.

How did this fine thing about writing come to pass?

Well, like many good things, it’s down to an unpredictable conjunction of individual people talking to each other; graduate students; and mutual aid.

26 May 2015:

30 May 2015:

13 September 2015:

Impressive and exemplary New Bookishness.

There will probably be more Facebookish idling soon; next posts are in the collection and collation stages, though I have no idea if they will ever qualify as coherent compilation. In the meantime, I’ll share what has for a long time been a favourite in the ars otii:

Image at top: from Discarding Images