Writing doesn't happen to you.
This is Start with this a podcast featuring Night Vale creators Joseph Fink and me, Jeffrey Cranor.
Each episode we discuss a topic and then give you two assignments.
Something to consume and something to create.
Start with this.
Agency.
Art is hard.
Starting is hard.
If you want to start somewhere, you can start with this.
You can start with this.
My favorite book growing up was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and through the Looking Glass.
The strange creatures and their whimsical behaviors frightened and intrigued me.
As a reader, I couldn't trust what would happen next.
Dream logic melts away as elderly shop owners turn into sheep and tears become oceans.
Madness reigns and Lewis Carroll's famous tale.
And it's super fun.
So fun and so famous that countless other works of fiction have been based on it.
From the pseudo faithful adaptations like Tim Burton's to LSD tinged meanderings like the Disney animated film, to quick allusions to tea parties and Jabberwocks throughout a lot of our novels and films and TV shows.
Again, it's a great story, super fun, and it influenced a bunch of artists.
But then there's something a little rotten in there.