Why are there 2 rules of writing? First of all, what are the two rules of writing? You must make mistakes. You must finish SOMETHING. Ok. So why are there only two? And why those two? It’s because those two rules are just enough to put the power in the hands of the writer. That’s…
Category: Writers on Writing
Banned Books Week 2022
It’s Banned Books Week again. I wish I could just tell a nice story about how valuable some books that might be controversial were to me when I was growing up. Or even a nice piece about how hard it can be to let go when you’re a parent, to trust your kids and give…
Reality Check: The Afterlives of Indie Musicians
Zane Stroud and I used to be bandmates; we left the band and started new lives, and Zane is now heading in my direction–to become an academic. Zane and his wife Bessie drove Zoe and me to Clearwater Bay to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. We took this double date quite seriously, because it was our first…
What Do you Know from Funny?
The world’s great philosophers don’t fully understand funny. I discovered this in my second year of grad school. I was taking a class on the Canterbury Tales. As the semester wore on, I was more and more fascinated by Chaucer’s humor. Stop and think for the moment. If you name the top ten most influential…
Going for a Walk (Caturday Questions)
Big Cat, Little Cat: Going for a Walk Anthropomorphic Characters I’m more of a dog-person than a cat-person. But the idea of being a dog-person or a cat-person involves projecting personalities onto animals that… probably wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny. We’ve all seen a cat going for a walk, or sitting on a cushion, or…
Writing about Writer’s Block
There are times when I don’t feel like writing a weekly column. This is one of those times. So let’s talk about that. I’ve had a bunch of writing students over the years, and I’ve found that teaching writing makes me a better writer. For one thing, when you’re helping people out of their writer’s…
Books that Matter (Caturday Questions)
Big Cat, Little Cat Reader Responses and Books that Matter What’s an example of a book that hollowed you out? You got to the good part and you just… couldn’t put it down, but you could barely bring yourself to keep reading. Maybe the emotions were too painful, too close to home. Do you seek…
Not Just a Phase?
I’ve written about the first time I kissed a girl. I’ve written about how much it would have meant to me to have queer role models. And I’ve written about why it was really important for me to have access to queer books as a teenager. I’ve never really talked about the “not just a…
Finish this Chapter (Caturday Questions)
Little Cat is reading his favorite book. He knows he said he’d go for a walk but he just wants to finish this chapter. And maybe the next one. Okay it’s not technically a book. It’s a catalogue from the local pet store. Little Cat thinks a “catalogue” is a book full of pictures of…
Thank you for your Support
Dear 2 Rules Readers, Friends, and Followers: As you know, we make a big deal about self-care here. It’s so important to our work as writers and teachers, but also to being ourselves, and being able to be the best versions of us that we can. And a number of weeks back, some things happened that…
Bach & Beethoven: Oops I Made Rock Music
I have this friend I really like messing with. He’s brilliant in his areas–math, economics, music, athletics, computer pro… He has a lot of areas. But I can still occasionally find ways to put one over on him. One of our overlapping interests is music, but he is much more into rock music than I…