Welcome to in true form.
I’ve always liked looking at visual artists’ sketchbooks as much as the final work. It’s no less interesting to me for being nascent and quickly made, and maybe more so—the alluring feeling that you’re getting a glimpse into something not meant for your eyes. I also envy the way artists’ sketches can be perceived, instantly and completely, as whole.
For writers, notes toward a piece of writing can be illegible as the whole they will eventually become, and they can take too much work on the part of the reader to fill in the blanks. They are a bit mangy, wearing their sweatpants in public.
With in true form I’m challenging myself to some middle-ground, a place where ideas can be sketched and whole in their way, while also being skeletal and informal. A gesture sketch if you will, that captures the energy of an idea, the way of seeing it. I want to write sketches to you about impatience and privacy, poetry and football, art and friendship.
I started in true form now because I want to make a place for direct conversations with other readers, artists, and thinkers that is unmediated by a magazine or a publisher’s lead time. Just an idea, me, and you—people interested in creativity, art, and books.
"What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course, art is about sharing,” said David Hockey. “You wouldn't be an artist unless you wanted to share an experience, a thought."
You’ll hear from me every few weeks, and I hope you will be surprised, intrigued, and willing to share your ideas and responses in turn, whether in the comments or by replying.
Talk soon,
Lia