Links for 2011-05-31

"1-Why do so many writers spend so much time writing about writing?

Because deep down, many of us are still in thrall to the delightfully archaic notion of "Write What You Know" - which, in some form or other has been zombified since the first writer picked up a travel guide and said, "Gee, I guess I don't have to go to Sasketchewan to write this thing after all[i]". And since we all write, we all theoretically know about writing - as opposed to, say, the history of the Adams-Onis treaty, string theory, or the mechanisms of ontogenic development in axolotls[ii], and thus we are qualified to inflict our particular thoughts on the subject on you, the innocent and helpless reading public.

The fact that deep down, many of us harbor the nagging suspicion that we're somehow doing it wrong and thus compulsively seek affirmation by dangling our techniques in front of the world in hopes of told we're getting it right, is pure scurrilous rumor."

"In general terms, I've come to the same conclusion about leadership that I've held for a while about the desire to change the world for the better. Any community or organization needs good leadership, just as they have a need for people who set out to improve the way things work, but setting out with the primary objective of being a leader or changing the world is a good way to accomplish the opposite of either of those goals. Effective leadership arises out of circumstance and experience, when it is needed. The people who start off with the driving desire to be leaders are the problem, not the solution. I don't want to tell any of my students that they're already leaders, or that they're being trained for it."