John Poplett

Category: Writing

  • Oversharer’s Delight: A “Brave and Beautiful Story”

    Got a call from Maureen Muldoon one day in January. I pitched her a story for the Voice Box storytelling series she runs with Cathy Richardson. There came a pause in the conversation. I had mentioned something about a recent, embarrassing little dust-up, why I don’t know. Naturally, that’s when Maureen asked me to backup […]

  • On Revision and Jack Kerouac

    On George Saunders’s Story Club, a fellow clubber remarked on “the illusion of natural genius”. It reminded me, by way of contrast, of Edison’s “1% inspiration, 99% perspiration” axiom. Some authors may be good at their craft but they’re also often good or even better at creating the “illusion”. Jack Kerouac comes to mind. It’s […]

  • An Oversharer’s Cautionary Tale

    In 2019 I decided I was ready to pitch my first novel, Schopenhauer in Love, to literary agents for the first time. I taught myself how to write a query letter, researched agents for those most likely to have an interest in a work of historical fiction about a 19th century German philosopher[1], read the […]

  • Metaphor and the Quality of Experience

    The greatest thing by far is to have a command of metaphor. This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblances. Aristotle from the Poetics Abstract During a rare reunion, an old girlfriend tells me I have chronic foot pain because […]

  • Would you please please please please please please please stop worshipping this jackass?

    Notes on the Ken Burns / Lynn Novick 6-hour documentary on Hemingway The documentary aired over three days from April 6 – April 8, 2021 on PBS. Moral of the story: don’t drink alcohol (straight or in any of its diluted forms), a tendency for ideation and alcohol don’t mix. It is—at the very least—a […]

  • A Case for Authenticity in the Fake News Pandemic

    Authenticity is the absence of any difference between persona, the way we project ourselves, and our internal state of mind. It has to do with not just how we project ourselves but in how much our projections are reflected back to us from others. When that is achieved, you have a perfect example of success. […]