So Apple unveiled a fancy-pants new computer today. As much as I would totally dig finishing my novel on a MacBook Air, it really won't do anything except make your lap lighter. I can't say it better than Gawker.
Still, if you've got a MacBook Air, you might as well use it like Jeff VanderMeer and pay off the credit card bill: Write Your Novel in Two Months:
"In my twenties, I was known to spend six months on a single short story or novella. Factored into this time span, however, were all of the editing, publishing, nonfiction, and hours spent at a full-time job. I think you’d also have to factor in that as a writer in your twenties and, to some extent your thirties, you are still getting comfortable with your writing."
What happens when a bit of literary detective work doesn't pay off? Sarah Weinman is on the case, and she'll get 'em next time.
Finally, New Orleans journalist John McQuaid has a critical column about The Wire's newsroom setting. Yesterday I told you what the show can teach writers. McQuaid thinks it can't teach you everything. Check it out:
"David Simon seems to have taken a bunch of industry trends and put them in a blender with an admixture of his own resentment and nostalgia. And what came out, in contrast to the show's amazingly cool, disciplined eye for every other aspect of urban society, has so far been the worst possible thing for a drama, both preachy and sentimental."