Hug Your Brain

I know this sounds odd, but hear me out.

(Image credit: Brainfacts.org)

This isn’t breaking news, but writing a novel is hard. Yet as I work on my fourth book, I give thanks every time it challenges me, and makes me sweat and swear.

Lately, Aye-Eye, Chaat-Gee-Pee-Tee and their ilk have encroached up on my daily life in ways that make me unable to even type out their actual names, that’s how little I want to acknowledge them. I get how they can make things easier for people, and I try not to be judgmental about it. But also, increasingly, I am totally judgmental about it.

Bestselling author Andrea Bartz¹ explains why authors take this so personally:

“What are our books, if not our innermost selves made manifest? We write to wrestle with the human condition, to explore universal themes and alchemize our humanity into words … The reason LLMs can ape empathy and human connection so well is because they were trained on our books—actual expressions of vulnerability and tender contemplation. We are the reason that chatbots wield so much power over their users.”

So much of the appeal of this tech is how it simplifies and removes friction from people’s lives, which I genuinely understand. But why I don’t relate is that as a writer, experiencing friction is a part of my process. Even when I find writing to be joyous and fun, there are no short cuts to getting it done.

Prior to Aye-Eye, whenever I felt stuck while writing or revising, my overriding feeling would be frustration and self-doubt (best translated as “ugh, whyyyy” and “I am the worstttt”). These days when I struggle, I also think about how blessed I am. Writing reminds me of the unequaled pleasures of relying on my own brain.

I’m not sure how often we think about our brains as valuable. We have outsourced so much of our memories, ideas and need for validation and pleasure to technology—not just Aye-Eye, of course, but social media and all the scrolling that accompanies it.²

During the times I usually seek distraction—on the subway or bus, while in line—instead I spend it lost in thought. Sometimes it’s creative problem solving related to my novel-in-progress, but just as often it’s about paying attention to the immediate world around me, and how it grounds me in a time, and a place, and in myself. In a world that feels increasingly enshittified and out of control, it gives me some solace.

So here is my PSA, no matter how you feel about Aye-Eye and the rest: hug your brain. Cherish it, appreciate it, and above all else, don’t underestimate it.

---

Reading recommendations

I recently gained some new subscribers (hello if you’re one of them!), so I thought now would be a good time to highlight my other Substack, Ministry of Pop Culture.

My friends and I created it to celebrate pop culture and the foundational role it often plays in our lives. I’m very proud of the work we do there, particularly how we champion books and our fellow authors. Some recent highlights:

*A summer songs playlist crowdsourced from some of our favorite Substack writers, with an accompanying Spotify playlist that includes Rihanna, ABBA, DMX, Olivia Rodrigo and more great picks.

This is one of my favorite features we’ve done this year. I loved the stories behind the song choices and can’t stop listening to the playlist.

A Songs of the Summer Playlist, As Chosen by Our Favorite Substackers

(Fun fact: This feature was inspired by a Free Happiness post of mine from two years ago.)

*A beach reads roundup, in which a trio of authors share the movies and TV shows that inspired their novels:

Pop Culture Beach Reads

*And an interview with Leah Rowan, the author of Marion, an inventive reimagining of Psycho and our latest book club pick (yes, we have a monthly book club!):

Reimagining 'Psycho' with a Feminist Bent

Since I just recommended my own Substack, here are others I enjoy too…

Fawnia Soo Hoo’s Whatever Nevermind: Gen X pop culture and fashion, including super insightful interviews with the costume designers for TV shows and movies

Erin Carlson ’s You’ve Got Mail: The expert on all things romantic comedy and the 21st-century Kathleen Kelly (also my screenwriting partner!)

Jolene Handy’s Time Travel Kitchen: Charming stories about food and recipes that often double as history lessons (I learn something new every time!)

Priyanka Mattoo’s How to Be Less Useful: Smart, big sisterly advice on a variety of topics, from parenting to relationships to travel

Kristin Posehn’s For the Real: Seriously gorgeous writing about art, artistry and life.

---

ONE LAST THING: If you enjoyed this story, please consider sharing it with someone you think will enjoy it too or liking the post by clicking the ❤️ below. Thanks so much for reading!

1. This is an excerpt from Andi’s speech upon winning the International Thriller Writers’ inaugural Trailblazer Award “to recognize Charles Graeber, Kirk Wallace Johnson and Bartz as lead plaintiffs on the landmark class-action lawsuit Bartz v. Anthropic—the first major win for creatives against an AI company as well as the largest copyright recovery in history.” Andi has a great Substack called Get it Write, and she writes fantastic thrillers that make for ideal summer reading, which you can check out here.

2. For the ten people (or less!) here who follow me on Instagram, this is partly one of the reasons why I haven’t been very active lately. I got out of the habit while focusing on writing, which in a way feels like another kind of brain hug.