Writing About Writing Is Like Kissing Your Beautiful Sister

Joshua Fields Millburn
Posted on February 10, 2013

Bluck! I’m not a fan of writing about writing, just as I’m not fond of blogs about blogging or books about books. That is, writing about writing seems vapid and circuitous to me, self-referential in a messy, sticky sort of way. But Colin and Ryan asked me to write some words for this blog, so I’ve posted roughly 20 essays here in the last month, which essays include my thoughts, opinions, and a few truisms I’ve learned along the way.

But then again I’m not writing these words for Colin or Ryan; I’m writing them for you. I value greatly the ability to contribute to other people, and thus I’m willing to make-out with my proverbial sister if it’ll add value to your life.

In fact, that’s what I do with my writing students: I show them my recipe and permit them to use whichever ingredients they’d like (N.B. I don’t usually make-out with them though). Then I present them with other ingredients from other writers, and eventually my students have enough to create their own unique, from-scratch recipes.

That’s what we’ll do here, as well. Going forward I’ll use this blog to discuss my writing process, to showcase my writing tools, to share my favorite tips and tricks and techniques, to highlight my preferred writing resources, to share publishing insights, and, most likely, to vent. Colin and Ryan will do the same. We’ll even have some famous (and some not-so-famous) guest authors share their best practices.

Thank you for being here. Together we’ll shape our individual recipes. I’m certain we’ll learn a lot as we prepare our dishes side-by-side.

If you’d like to go deeper, you can get involved in our ever-growing Asymmetrical Community, read the Asymmetrical Blog archive, or attend one of our Asymmetrical Events. Or if you’d prefer a more intimate approach (sans kissing), a few of you can take my writing class (limited seating), although please note that you don’t need me to help you write better; you must simply commit to your craft. If you want a little help, though, then I’m happy to give you that extra push.