There Is A Deep Sadness To American

I Am A Regular If Not Exactly Enthusiastic Patron Of My Local Bookshop. I Try To Buy At Least Some Books There Because I Cling To The Belief That It's Important To Maintain Those Businesses Which Put A Human Face On The Exchange Of Money For Goods And Services.

Not Only Is The Statistical Madness An Assault On Individuality, It's Also One On Temporality Too. Statistics - Even When Accurate - Are Only An Image Of The Past That Can Then Be Photoshopped Before Being Pasted On To The Future.

Here We Meet, On The Page, Naked And Unadorned: Shorn Of Class, Race, Gender, Sexual Identity, Age And Nationality.

Regard Yourself As A Small Corporation Of One. Take Yourself Off On Team-building Exercises (long Walks). Hold A Christmas Party Every Year At Which You Stand In The Corner Of Your Writing Room, Shouting Very Loudly To Yourself While Drinking A Bottle Of White Wine. Then Masturbate Under The Desk. The Following Day You Will Feel A Deep And Cohering Sense Of Embarrassment.

Don't Look Back Until You've Written An Entire Draft, Just Begin Each Day From The Last Sentence You Wrote The Preceeding Day. This Prevents Those Cringing Feelings, And Means That You Have A Substantial Body Of Work Before You Get Down To The Real Work Which Is All In . . . The Edit.