Neal Stephenson: Why I am a Bad Correspondent: "...for me it comes down to the following choice: I can distribute material of bad-to-mediocre quality to a small number of people, or I can distribute material of higher quality to more people. But I can't do both; the first one obliterates the second." I'm also a bad correspondent, but without Neal's discipline (popularity, skill, or concentration-demanding profession). I often feel the same way, though.



On second thought, that's sort of a silly way to put it (for me—perhaps not for Neal), because one is about creative output and the other is about relating and connecting with a person. And, theoretically, one fuels the other. Balance. Once again, it's about balance.