Austin Kleon – Page 527

CHABON ON WORLDBUILDING

Friday, July 6, 2007

“When I first decided I wanted to be a writer, when I was 10, 11 years old, the books that I loved…came with maps and glossaries and timelines—books like Lord Of The Rings, Dune, The Chronicles Of Narnia. I imagined that’s what being a writer was: You invented a world, and you did it in a very detailed way, and you told stories that were set in that world.”

– Michael Chabon, Interview with the AV Club

Believe it or not, I’ve never read anything by Michael Chabon, save for his great introduction to the McSweeney’s Thrilling Tales collection. (This seems particularly pathetic because Wonder Boys happens to be one of my favorite movies.) But, at the beach this year I’m gonna to read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and Meg’s gonna read The Yiddish Policemen’s Union.

THE BIRDS WOKE ME WITH SINGING

Friday, July 6, 2007

At my in-laws’ place, the birds start singing about 15 minutes before the sun comes up. I drew this sketch without any light, and when I went downstairs for breakfast, was startled to realize it was in red ink.

I spent the rest of the morning listening to Panda Bear’s Person Pitch. I found the last Animal Collective album pretty much unlistenable (my favorite is Sung Tongs), but Person Pitch is great. Like a DJ singing Beach Boys over weird dub music. Here is the first song, “Comfy In Nautica.”

WHICH ONE DO WE LIKE?

Thursday, July 5, 2007

I’ve often found that the more you take away, the better your writing gets.

Let’s put it to the test: vote for your favorite in the comments.

MIRROR, MIRROR

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Here’s something that will cost you 50 cents and might save you that $1,000,000 idea: keep a dry-erase marker in your bathroom so you can make notes on your bathroom mirror. That way, the next time the muse visits in the shower or on the commode, you won’t lose her!

(The above is by no means a $1,000,000 idea. Merely a doodle, which can be just as nice.)

Also, if you are an artiste like Miranda July, people will call you a genius for doing stuff like this.