Why the title? According to Mark Forsyth in The Elements of Eloquence, “adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order.” So, for example, a “lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife” is OK, but move one word out of place and watch out: a bevy of

In At Home, Bill Bryson examines many aspects of domestic life we usually take for granted: > [P]laying idly with the salt and pepper shakers, it occurred to me that I had absolutely no idea why, out of all the spices in the world, we have such an abiding

> Repetition is the only form of permanence that Nature can achieve.George Santayana It’s two in the afternoon on a Thursday as I sit down to write this thing. (Fancying myself a bit of a Montaigne, I call these “essays” but I accept that anything longer than a

The other day, I mentioned a problem to an acquaintance. For the purposes of this story, let’s call my acquaintance Sesquipedalian, “characterized by long words; long-winded.” Pleasingly euphonic, incontrovertibly gender-fluid, and entirely appropriate for the Maven Game. “I can relate,” said Sesquipedalian. “Have you heard of the such-and-such technique?

We get so attached to the work: the big idea, the outline, the draft. As long as it’s flowing, we are terrific, brilliant, inspired. Everything’s coming up Milhouse [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M67E9mpwBpM]. Then, things take a turn. As the easy and effortless surge of inspiration

What’s the difference between a polymath and a dilettante: Credentials? Concrete achievements? The opinion of the specialists, or of society as a whole? It’s only with hindsight and context that we can separate the dabblers from the doers. Circa 1502, Da Vinci must have been one frustrating employee:

Last week, I wrote [https://mavengame.com/2019/03/maybe-youre-winning-after-all/]: > A depressing percentage of students at every top school are there because somebody told them how to ace the test, someone handed them the impressive internships and travel experiences that padded their application, someone even wrote their essay. Yes,

The Italian cyclist Daniele Nardello won the Tour de France twice. Ever heard of him? I hadn’t. I’ve never seen anyone wearing his fluorescent charity-branded rubber wristband. I’ve never heard about him dating Ashley Olsen when she was half his age, either. In fact, despite twice dominating

Diamonds are precious because we think they’re scarce. They’re not [http://diamondssuck.com]. We get precious about our work because we think creative opportunity is scarce. It isn’t. Want to cure writer’s block? Adopt an abundance mindset: * There are more than enough readers for the work

Whatever you’re working on, whatever you’re grappling with: relax, relax, relax some more. Breathe. Make it a deep one. Drop your shoulders. There you go. Now your jaw—open your  mouth wide and then let all the tension go. That’s right. You’re doing it. At a