Want to read “the story of what it means to live in a cultural climate that stifles almost every creative impulse, and why it so often seems we should stop trying”? Me neither, especially since it’s just a compilation of tweets.
But looked at it another way—like, say, as an opportunity to poke fun at the “delusion, narcissism, procrastination, boredom, self-congratulation, confusion” that mark today’s aspiring novelists (and, let’s be honest, pretty much all writers ), well…Working on My Novel could be a lot of fun.
Here’s a taste: At 11:44 p.m. on September 23, 2012, Stephen Mangol tweeted, “I’m working on my novel again, and it feels good, you guys. I love my mind.” Almost, writes Dan Piepenbring over at the Paris Review‘s blog, “as if he’s just done fifty reps with it and is admiring it all engorged with blood.”