In this second part of my conversation with Lucas Mann, author of Attachments, Essays on Fatherhood and Other Performances and co-owner (with his wife, Ottavia) of the fabulous Riff Raff Bookstore and Bar in Providence, Rhode Island, we really got into the evolution of his thinking about what it means–and what it takes–to be a ‘successful’ writer, and what the even means.

Specifically, we talked about:

The hardest part of writing for Lucas–namely, discipline–and why writing an article feels so much harder than writing a book

How his inner critic is obsessed with making sure he sounds smart, and not like he’s just writing about feelings–and how it’s always wrong

How getting older has helped him be less precious about his writing

How being a competitive, jock-y kid fed into his writing path

How teaching creative writing (which he does at U. Mass Dartmouth) has changed since he was an MFA student at the University of Iowa

Releasing the idea that the only way to be good at something is to be maniacally devoted to it

Why he loves the Enneagram

Visit Lucas at www.lucasmann.com.

For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.

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