David Lynch came to a creative crossroads during the five-year production of his first film, Eraserhead. The project was coming together scene by scene, but the underlying meaning remained elusive to its maker. What, exactly, was he trying to say with this odd character and the oblique but compelling sequence

There’s a small photo studio in town, right off the main drag. This morning, I noticed that they’ve lined their front window with examples of the work they’ve done for other inhabitants of this fine little burg. Among these sample images were photos of a local teen

Something extraordinary takes place in an episode of Hoarders, the long-running reality series about people with hoarding disorder. After getting the preliminaries out of the way, the therapist calls the hoarder’s attention to the gorilla in the room. Except, in this case, the gorilla is a pumpkin. “What pumpkin?

Writing in England in the first half of the 19th century, Thomas Babington Macaulay was a glass-half-full kind of guy. In his History, he wrote: > The history of our country during the last hundred and sixty years is eminently the history of physical, of moral, and of intellectual improvement.

Before you begin work on your next major creative project, let it simmer. Days, weeks, months. Wait until the urge to begin becomes an obsession. Then, go to sleep. So argues surrealist painter Salvador Dalí in his very strange book, 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship [https://bookshop.org/books/50-secrets-of-magic-craftsmanship/

In reference to last week’s essay [https://mavengame.com/2021/07/second-chapter-syndrome/], Maven Game reader and knitting enthusiast Zahava Shapiro [https://quotationmarkers.blogspot.com/] wrote to say that she’s experienced second-sock syndrome herself. According to Zahava, most sock patterns put the hard part—heel and toe—last. “This

> I can eat fifty eggs. —Cool Hand Luke Knitters dread “second sock syndrome” [https://sheepamongwolves.net/2018/09/second-sock-syndrome-what-it-is-and-how-to-fight-it/] : > Knitting the first sock usually goes quickly. But the second one seems to drag on, never gets completed or even cast on in the first place. Why does SSS

I’m enjoying Lawrence Block’s memoir, A Writer Prepares, [https://smile.amazon.com/Writer-Prepares-Lawrence-Block/dp/195193993X/] which came highly recommended by author and editor Ed Park [http://www.ed-park.com/about_ed_park.html]. (If Ed says read the book, I read the book.) Block is an enormously prolific

If starting work is hard, why not start less? That’s the advice Nasir Kharma, a grad student in London, offers: He studies in four-hour blocks without a break [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NSkk31vFbU]. I’m not sure what to think. Don’t we need frequent breaks to

This newsletter serves as a weekly reminder of just how much I hate sitting down to write. It’s a useful exercise in personal development. Think G. Gordon Liddy holding his hand over a candle [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1980/05/18/gordon-liddy-spills-his-guts/aeb77942-67e2-4c39-b249-c5628100ac1a/] : “Suffering. That was