I’m still here, just so y’know. What have I been working on?
Last month I launched The Bright Young, a brand spanking new journal about web culture. I believe in good writing, I believe in good design, and I believe in the web. The Bright Young is where I pull all those strings together. Articles will pop up sporadically, but the idea is to, over time, build up a small archive of eloquent prose from a bunch of intelligent and switched-on people.
In early June, I wrote a piece for the Emerging Writers’ Festival arguing for writers to experiment with digital self-publishing. It built on ‘Step one: Learn how to write. Step two … ?‘, a piece published over at the Kill Your Darlings blog, in which I argued that whether or not a writer will succeed depends as much on their artistic ability as on their ability to develop an audience. The comments left on that piece are fantastic, and I’d love to see more frank discussions about the writing industry taking place. I think it’s important for emerging writers to know what they’re getting into.
I’m also keeping track of great new bookish objects over at The Thousands. Last month, I reviewed A Graphic Cosmogony and Lucky Peach. You should probably buy both of them, because they’re pretty great.