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#thoughts
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Rounding Up Contributions To The Session #145 — Critique Not Criticism
A little later than planned (due to a malaise brought upon by a rather jovial stag weekend in Dublin celebrating the imminent nuptials of my pal Gareth) I’ve finally got around to collating entries to this month's session. Positing that there’s not enough proper critique in beer writing compared, say, to restaurant or wine writing, I asked writers to deliver a critique of their own, and received nine different responses. I also published my own critique, with interesting results, and I’ll share a bit more insight on that after the roundup. If you contributed to Session #145 and don’t see your post in this list please share the link with me and I’ll update this post accordingly. *** To start, over at A Good Beer Blog Alan McLeod —who has been liberally applying critique to beer writing for as long as I’ve been reading it— considers the act of critique within beer writing at large . He references the late Michael Jackson, who famously said if he didn’t like a beer he simply wouldn’t writ
by Matthew Curtis5 viewsthe-sessionthoughts - news
AI is a Crisis Point for Writers, Artists and Photographers
The original title for this post was “Your AI Can Art Looks Like Shit” and I will tell you, with absolute sincerity, that it really does. The same point was made by writers Jessica Boak and Ray Bailey in one of their recent newsletters , so it felt pertinent to give this topic a fresher angle. I’ll reiterate their point though: it really does look like shit. Your customers most probably think that too. What does it say about the beer you sell when you’ve demonstrated you’re willing to put next to zero effort into how it's presented? On reflection, I felt that it might be more productive to take a more pragmatic approach. Instead of wagging a finger, it’s better I offer an explanation, and potentially even a solution to the encroachment of generative AI (or to call it what it really is, scrapeware) within the creative sector. Put simply: it’s fucking us, hard. Every time you see a beer brand or hospitality business use a scrapeware generated image to advertise what they’re selling, that
by Matthew Curtis4 viewsthoughts - news
A Poem About Unsubscribing From Your Newsletter
I’m sorry to tell you I unsubscribed from your newsletter It’s not you It’s me My inbox overburdened More chaos than I can ever possibly embrace. I swear I once had more time With which to idle and read Threads of consciousness that need to be As that’s the point Isn’t it Writing out of necessity. So sad to hear You’re closing your newsletter down I was thinking about signing up again But I probably wouldn’t have I’ll just keep on doomscrolling Reading threads and threads that never needed to be.
by Matthew Curtis4 viewsthoughts - news
The Inherent Value in Self Publishing
I have been a writer for well over a decade now, and I’ve been paid to do it for most of that. For the past five and a bit years I’ve also been working as editor-in-chief for a magazine I established, raised investment for, and continue to run as managing director. Through this I work with several writers, many of whom have gone on to win awards for the work they’ve produced for us. A thrill, honestly. It’s ridiculous when you think about it. A magazine about pints and pubs and nice things I like, and people pay for it, so it keeps on going. Through Pellicle I have learned more about writing than I ever thought possible. It’s made me a better writer in the sense that I understand, intimately, what editors mean when they say they want clean copy. Having a good idea is one thing, making sense of it is another. I am a much better editor, too, than I was five years ago. I think (and hope) I’m a bit more compassionate in my methods. I have in my head a very clear vision of how I want
by Matthew Curtis4 viewsthoughts