What Lincoln Michel thinks about ideas vs execution

@lincoln-michel · 13 positions · On ppll ↗

Novelist and critic, author of The Body Scout and Metallic Realms; writes the newsletter Counter Craft on fiction craft and the publishing industry.

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2 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Lincoln Michel has said — not written or endorsed by them.

2 positions so far — this page is not yet offered to search engines.

1. 7 Sept 2026

   Our readingThe methods and techniques a writer uses to compose a work shape the finished work as much as a painter's or musician's technical choices shape theirs.

   Their wordsThe methods we choose to use to compose the work determine the final work as much as any decision by a painter or musician.

   ↗Sweat the Technique: On Writing Process and Possibilitiescountercraft.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece

3. 7 Sept 2026

   Our readingA loosely plotted, anarchic novel requires a correspondingly loose, unplanned writing process to produce it.

   Their wordsYou need a freewheeling process to create a freewheeling work.

   ↗Sweat the Technique: On Writing Process and Possibilitiescountercraft.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece