The Writer’s Room

Research As You Go

Your number one nemesis in trying to write is, inevitably, the siren song of procrastination. There is no more effective way to remind yourself of all the errands or side projects that you really should be doing than by staring at a blank page. Computers have only amplified this threat…

The Spark File

Looking back at all the tools and techniques that I've developed over the years as a writer, it occurs to me that most of them are, in one way or another, grappling with two critical mental forces: the power (and weakness) of human memory, and the sometimes overwhelming drive to procrastinate.

The Shadow Plot

Why It’s Okay To Cheat On Your Projects

A few years ago I found myself at a party in conversation with a musician whose career had involved a series of experiments with different genres of sound. At some point in our exchange, I made a passing…

Your Outboard Memory

A few years ago, when e-books were finally starting to creep into the mainstream, I constantly found myself in conversations with friends about the viability of this new form of reading. They’d give me long arguments about the way e-books lacked the tactile charms and easy skimmability of…