Want to turn on your creativity? Turn off the lights. A new study shows that dim lighting “elicits a feeling of freedom, self-determination, and reduced inhibition,” which sounds like a great cure for writer’s block if there ever was one.
Lights Out
The Family
Recommended Reading (National Prayer Breakfast edition): Jeff Sharlet’s terrifying, timely The Family.
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The Science of Poetry
Recommended Listening: David Naimon interviews Ursula K. Le Guin about her latest poetry collection, Late in the Day. Pair with Paul Morton’s Millions interview with the author.
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Hallberg an NBCC Balakian Finalist
Congratulations to our own Garth Risk Hallberg, who was a finalist for the Nona A. Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, awarded by the NBCC. Critic William Deresiewicz took home the prize. We wrote up the finalists in the fiction and non-fiction categories yesterday.
The Artist’s Guide to Parenting
“The physical purpose of reproduction is, obviously, the continuation and renewal of genetic continuity, human survival. Its psychological purpose seems to me to be a particularly poignant kind of mutual learning and, matters being equal, ineffable comfort.” What is the relationship between being an artist and being a parent? Maria Popova at Brain Pickings takes a look at sculptor Anne Truitt’s collected journals, Daybook, to try and suss out an answer.
The Hated Internet Time Suck
Echoing Kevin Hartnett’s new year’s resolution here at The Millions, Colson Whitehead tells writers to quit bitching about getting distracted by the internet.