David Epstein: ‘Why creative people can’t stick to one thing’ (video)

This explains a lot!

If you tend to hop around from project to project, or take interest in a variety of topics, or generate a ton of disparate ideas, or write in different genres and voices and styles, and wonder if you’re an oddball, well…

OK, maybe you’re an oddball. But maybe you’re also a creative type who can’t stick to one thing.

That’s not a bad thing, as author David Epstein (whose book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World ought to be on every writer’s reading list) points out in this 20-minute video. In fact, he writes, “your scattered interests might be your biggest creative advantage.” Take, for example, two British musicians who came of age in the late 1960s: David Bowie and Peter Frampton. As Epstein explains in the video, Frampton found his lane quickly as a guitar prodigy while Bowie was all over the place. Both achieved success, but one’s path was narrower than the other’s.

Take the time to watch. You’ll be glad you did.

Top image: screenshot from the video.

Repost: a writer’s declaration of independence

I wrote this declaration and posted it on the Fourth of July. I thought it might be worth sharing again as we in the USA approach our country’s 250th anniversary.

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Crossing the AI Rubicon

What one top literary magazine’s award to a (likely) AI-generated story means for the literary world

In 49 BCE, following a seven-year campaign to expand the Roman Empire into Gaul (much of Western Europe), Junius Caesar, then a general of the Roman army, approached a river that signified an important boundary between Rome and the rest of the world. According to Roman law, if anyone crossed that river–the Rubicon–it would be considered an act of war.

As we know from history, Caesar crossed that line, uttering the words alea iacta est (“the die is cast”), a phrase that has come to mean, “no turning back.”

Earlier this week, a prestigious literary magazine, Granta, crossed a metaphorical Rubicon of its own when it published a prize-winning short story that, evidence strongly suggests, was written not by a human, but by artificial intelligence.

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Friday Five: recent craft-y reads

On submitting short stories, crafting great dialogue, persevering in the face of rejection, and more.

Happy May Day, everyone! And for all you writers in distress–perhaps you’re shouting Mayday! Mayday! into the void right now–I hope the following five essays and articles on the writing craft will help:

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Joining the 100-rejection club

Embracing an unusual badge of honor

While analyzing my submission and publication activity of this year, I discovered than I am now a member of the 100-rejection club. I’ve actually surpassed that milestone by receiving 101 rejections of my submitted writing in 2025.

Should I be despondent about this high number of rejections? Not at all. In a twisted, perverse sort of way (and aren’t most writers twisted and perverse?), I see it as a badge of honor.

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