The problem with much criticism: it proceeds from the flawed premise that art is hierarchical.
Why SF&F have something to teach us even when it isn't "real".
If people critique your themes or intentions, that's a sign you've leveled up.
More on how most writers are not good givers of writerly feedback. Few people are.
On how my friend and fellow writer Matt is against the idea of the "hook" as a narrative mechanism.
Why I no longer write reviews of stuff for my own site.
What's the difference between an appreciation of something and making excuses for it?
A good critic of other work makes me look at my own and feel like I've missed even the standards I wanted to set for myself.
You miss out on less than you think.
Very few people are qualified to give useful story advice because they think the main function of a story is to entertain them.
On gauging artistic quality by way of popularity, always a bad move.
"Workshop" is the wrong word for the place where we come to mutually improve our writing.
When you look at something, you have to be willing to not pretend that it needs to be great in order to justify anything.
No critic can ever "ruin" a work you like, unless you don't know what their job really is.
If written fiction's becoming nothing but a prelude to adaptation, what's that mean for written fiction itself?
On schlock being useful without the love of it becoming its own snobbism.
Or, how to keep pedantic jackasses from getting the better of you.
On the use of "crazy" as an intensifier.
I like to write about other peoples' work, but I write my own work first.
I went looking for books in my personal library that are about the craft of writing. I could barely find any.
Can in time a comic book stand in the same realm as anything Henry James produced? I'm sure it's possible; I'd argue it's already happened.
Why everything that's truly creative is what we're trained to ignore.
I think, therefore I differ.
If I'm in the habit of listening outside my well-worn grooves, nothing is disappointing or distasteful.
How to hear them out when they say you're wrong.