In the first essay from Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury says, “What are the best things and the worst things in your life and when are you going to get around to whispering or shouting about them?”
He writes, “The first thing a writer should be is—excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms.”
So here is a barfed-out list of fevers and enthusiasms. Let me whisper and shout them.
Fevers
- Fascists
- Oil companies
- Health care
- The American status-quo
- The cult of masculinity
- Guns
- Anti-vaxxers
- MAGA
- MAHA
- When people say, “I love that.”
- When people say, “infer” when they meant, “imply.”
- Doubters of the Oxford comma
- Cars
- Prisons
Enthusiasms
- Cursing
- Being kind to animals
- Dogs
- Native plants
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Dragons
- Space
- Lord of the Rings
- When an immortal character regrets their decision
- Women being rad
- My wife
- The woods
- Birds
- Beavers
- Meeples & cards
He also says, “Find a character, like yourself, who will want something or not want something, with all (their) heart. Give (them) running orders. Shoot (them) off. Then follow as fast as you can go.”
So, here I go.
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