Reading Beautiful Prose for Writing Inspiration

Reading beautifully written prose before a writing session can serve as a tuning fork for one's own writing, helping to establish a rhythm and tone. The flow of good translation or prose, including iambic pentameter and run-on sentences, can inspire the tonal quality of good writing and influence one's own work. The mention of the book 'This Is How You Lose the Time War' as an example of inspiring writing, and the unique structure of the book 'Circe' written by two authors alternating chapters, highlights the impact of well-crafted prose on shaping one's writing style.

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Hugh Howey is the New York Times bestselling author of Wool, Beacon 23, Sand, Machine Learning, Half Way Home, and more than a dozen other novels. His Silo trilogy was recently adapted by Apple TV, becoming their #1 drama of all time. Please enjoy!

Timestamps for this episode are available below. Resources from this episode: https://tim.blog/2024/03/13/hugh-howey/

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Timestamps:

[00:00] Start

[06:48] Breaking the formula with a literary sleight of hand.

[11:00] A commitment to 10 years of obscurity.

[15:02] Buying back rights and self-publishing.

[22:04] Why authors should strive for a reader-first vs. publisher-first mindset.

[24:22] Hitting the NYT Best Sellers List with a self-pub book.

[27:44] Pricing logic.

[31:00] The undersold value of worldwide rights.

[33:57] How authors can find deal leverage early on.

[37:07] Establishing a daily writing habit.

[41:34] Fiction that inspires better writing.