🥳 #182 - So this is the new year?

And I have no resolutions.

Dec 29, 2023

Screen shot from Wreck-It Ralph with Ralph in the center of the frame, seated for a BAD-ANON meeting. Banner behind him says: Bad-Anon: One Game at a Time. Surrounded by other video game villains including a zombie, Bowser, Zangief, and Kano. — “I think it was Vectorman who said, ‘Wealth consists not in having great power ups, but in having few level objectives.’”

2024 is right around the corner, along with the siren’s song of Big Resolutions. A new calendar comes with a fresh chance to chuck all those things about yourself you’re tired of. Now begins the hard work of building your cocoon, pulping your previous, unsuitable form so you can emerge from the crucible as your true, ideal self.

Or we could just, you know, not?

Jocelyn K. Glei considers the intersection of capitalism, productivity culture, and the wellness industry in an episode of Hurry Slowly called “You are already that which you yearn for.” Patrick Rhone asks you to consider your current state as a software build, and that while you may change any part of you that you wish at any time, you are always the latest version of you.

Justin Khanna joins the Focused podcast to talk about how the best goals aren’t a binary succeed/fail, but should be chosen so that the pursuit of the goal will put you on a better path. This focus on action and not destination lines up with Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart:

There’s a famous dharma saying that goes: “If you want to see what has brought you to this point, look at your past thoughts and actions. If you want to see your future, look at your present thoughts and actions.”

Finding a new way to do something, or choosing a particular way to do it because it seems “that’s the way it worked for others” may not be your answer. Jack Cheng considers how different approaches to woodworking can lead to stifling perfectionism instead of completed projects. Loopy reminds us that tinkering, imagining, and finding new ways to do the thing is not doing the thing.

Modern influencers or productive people from the past might encourage you to change your sleep patterns, but maybe your own body knows how much rest it needs. Megan Garber reviews Marie Darrieussecq’s book on insomnia to see the way that sleep is a necessity and a privilege, but that rise and grind culture tries to make a virtue of avoiding it:

Everyone will have reason, at one point or another, to encourage sleep or fight it: The culture that gave rise to Starbucks is also the one that created Tylenol PM.

Whether you’re looking for a vibe shift, an incremental security update, or more of the same, all of us at Inneresting wish you a great start to your 2024!

👋 Are you new here?

Inneresting is a weekly newsletter about writing and things that are interesting to writers. Subscribe now to get more Inneresting things sent to your inbox.

⏱️ New year, new sprints

Each week we post a comment thread for writers to meet up, cheer each other on, and put some words on the page with a Write Sprint.

What’s a Write Sprint?
John wrote up an explanation, but here’s the short version: Set a timer for 60 minutes, close down all distractions, and do nothing but write until that timer goes off.

Sometimes that’s all it takes to get some momentum going with your writing: You set aside this time for writing and nothing else, so you’d better use it!

Shout out to Elyse Moretti Forbes and Aimee Link for sprinting with us last week!

Click here to join in!

Previously on Inneresting…

In case you missed it, in last issue’s most clicked link we find out how wealthy the McCallisters are in Home Alone.

What else is inneresting?

Susana Polo asks why The Muppet Christmas Carol isn’t the template for a strong Muppet revival.
Kurzgesagt wonders how long evidence of humanity will remain accessible on Earth (and how likely it is that any civilization came before us on this planet).
Spencer Wright contrasts the convoluted web of laws that govern automotive right-of-way with the simplicity of maritime right-of-way regulations.

And that’s what’s inneresting this week!

Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from readers like you and the entire Quote-Unquote team.

Are you enjoying this newsletter?

📧 Forward it to a friend and suggest they check it out.

🔗 Share a link to this post on social media.

🗣 Have ideas for future topics (or just want to say hello)? Reach out to Chris via email at inneresting@johnaugust.com, Mastodon @ccsont@mastodon.art, or Bluesky @ccsont.bsky.social

End Credits Scene

Thread from John Scalzi, which reads: Folks, a gentle reminder that when you jokingly (or otherwise) tell creators to stop doing whatever fun or silly thing they're doing, online or off, and "get back to work": 1. It's not as funny or supportive as you think, and is even less so the 1,000th time we've heard it; 2. Humans are not black boxes from which art extrudes; 3. If we don't have time and space to do the things we find fun and silly, you will end up getting less art out of us, not more. Just an FYI to consider, thanks. — (source)