On the approval economy: coincidentally, I just came across an item in the NYT -- a sort of capsule profile of an erstwhile food writer, current professor of philosophy, named C. Thi Nguyen. With apologies if this triggers a reflexive "Ack! NYT view of the world!" wince, here's a gift link:
...which comports with my own long-held, deep-seated sensibilities about writing fiction, which might be summarized as: "It Makes No Sense But Is Worth Doing Anyway."
The assumption of so many people -- lovely people, *thinking* people -- is that if you're writing fiction, you're probably driven by a hope to be the next [enter phenomenally successful author's name here]. But that's not really true of me, nor is it true of other novelists and short-story writers I know. Sure, "success" -- APPROVAL, in the form of likes, subscriptions, restacks, etc. -- it gives me a little dopamine jolt. But what's really behind the urge to put it out there is the fun of whipping it all into an "out there" form: I write in English, so the sentences need to follow the sort of flippy-floppy rules of that language, and I post on Substack, which has certain conventions (title your piece; include some kind of image; etc.) to help draw readers to the ideas and their expression. But the most important thing for me is that *I'M* drawn to those ideas and their expression...
Well, I'm blathering. Just wanted you to know that this post of yours genuinely reached me. (There y'go: a little dopamine shot headed your way!)
Fellow NYMag subscriber here! (Left the city in 2020.)
Omg ha! Maybe we need a recovery group.
That's a great image you chose to head this post.
On the approval economy: coincidentally, I just came across an item in the NYT -- a sort of capsule profile of an erstwhile food writer, current professor of philosophy, named C. Thi Nguyen. With apologies if this triggers a reflexive "Ack! NYT view of the world!" wince, here's a gift link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/books/review/why-keeping-score-isnt-fun-anymore.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FlA.BRQE.ehe4TrKkrj-x&smid=url-share
...which comports with my own long-held, deep-seated sensibilities about writing fiction, which might be summarized as: "It Makes No Sense But Is Worth Doing Anyway."
The assumption of so many people -- lovely people, *thinking* people -- is that if you're writing fiction, you're probably driven by a hope to be the next [enter phenomenally successful author's name here]. But that's not really true of me, nor is it true of other novelists and short-story writers I know. Sure, "success" -- APPROVAL, in the form of likes, subscriptions, restacks, etc. -- it gives me a little dopamine jolt. But what's really behind the urge to put it out there is the fun of whipping it all into an "out there" form: I write in English, so the sentences need to follow the sort of flippy-floppy rules of that language, and I post on Substack, which has certain conventions (title your piece; include some kind of image; etc.) to help draw readers to the ideas and their expression. But the most important thing for me is that *I'M* drawn to those ideas and their expression...
Well, I'm blathering. Just wanted you to know that this post of yours genuinely reached me. (There y'go: a little dopamine shot headed your way!)