Two Things All Writers Need To Be

Key Takeaways

We need to be good readers, and we need to be good listeners. Um re- When I say good readers, I believe our reading lists should be eclectic. Let's read anything and everything that speaks to us. If there's a particular book that speaks to us in that moment in time, let us not say, "Oh, is this highbrow literature? Is it lowbrow literature?" Who makes those distinctions, you know? Where do those dualities come from? Let's read political philosophy. Let's read, you know, neuroscience, water science. Let's have interdisciplinary conversations. Let's keep the curiosity of the mind alive. I've always believed in being intellectual nomads. We shouldn't have comfort zones. I think the mind is always more nourished when we dare to leave our comfort zones. And by listening, what I mean is not everything is found in written culture, and there's so much knowledge in this world that is transferred through oral storytelling, ballads, folk tales, myths, legends, riddles. We should not belittle that world. And I listen to people. I try to listen to two things. What they're telling me, of course, but how they're saying what they're saying. You know, the the the choice of words, the pauses, the silences. And I think those are just as important. I've always believed that. You can't only be interested in stories as a writer. You also You also need to start paying attention to silences. You have to dig deep through layers of memory and amnesia. You know, stories and silences.