As a kid, I thought tonic water was just a weird-tasting soda my grandparents liked to drink. I had no idea it was medicine. Originally, people drank tonic water to ward off malaria. The gin was optional—in theory. Tonic water contains quinine, a bitter extract of cinchona tree bark

Welcome new subscribers! I hope you like the Maven Game. There are many excellent options in the newsletter space today. I appreciate your giving this humble operation your attention. And now, on to the intellectual pyrotechnics someone told you to expect! But first, a bit of housekeeping for my existing

> George: You don’t think she’d “yada yada” sex… Elaine: I’ve yada yada’d sex. George: Really? Elaine: Yeah. I met this lawyer, we went out to dinner, I had the lobster bisque, we went back to my place, yada yada yada, I never heard from him

Turns out, what was formerly known as Moldawer’s Law [http://mavengame.com/2017/07/immolate-yourself-in-your-writing/]—”experts struggle the most in their own area of expertise”—is even older than I’d thought. Hundreds and hundreds of years older. From Ram Dass [https://beherenownetwork.com/ram-dass-ep-5-darshan/]: > I was only

In South Korea, people now pay to be locked up [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-prisonstay-idUSKCN1NS0JB]. The daily grind there is so stressful, prison has become a viable alternative: no deadlines, no performance evaluations, no commute. This could be the next big South Korean import since The Good Doctor… It’

As a child in London, George Benjamin exhibited extraordinary musical gifts. As Rebecca Mead writes in The New Yorker [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/17/how-the-composer-george-benjamin-finally-found-his-voice] : > Whereas other inventive children might ask to be allowed to make up a story before bedtime, [Benjamin] begged to be permitted

> The singular secret to finishing your book is putting your butt in a chair and writing…Nothing else matters. > —Mark Teppo, Finish Your Novel! I know that, Mark. Come on. I’m a professional. What fundamental fact of writing life could be more obvious? To have written, one

We’re off on vacation for a week, so just a brief insight for you this afternoon. Then you can go back to your high-end haircuts and green tea matcha lattes [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/nyregion/how-ronny-chieng-comedian-and-actor-spends-his-sundays.html] . (No week is complete without the New York Times

> “The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may

If you’re a regular Maven Game reader—have you received your official pin yet?—you’ll know that I don’t hold much truck with writing advice from other writers. (Why anyone would “hold truck” with anyone else is anyone’s guess—and I wouldn’t hold truck with