Welcome to Obsessions 💌

A teacher recently shared the secret to great writing: “Write your obsessions.” Document the things that keep pulling you in, even if you don’t understand why. Keep a running list of themes, topics, and curiosities that draw your attention. You’ll begin to recognize the ideas that turn into the stories that you most want to write.

Annie Dillard put it best, as she often does: “There is something you find interesting, for a reason hard to explain. It is hard to explain because you have never read it on any page; there you begin. You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment.”

In this newsletter, I’ll be teasing apart the (often-inexplicable) topics that fascinate me most. I’ll share a monthly essay focused on the Big Obsession that I currently can’t stop thinking/writing/talking about, plus a bulleted list of Little Obsessions that may include linked articles, books recommendations, activities I’m enjoying, vintage suits I’ve recently purchased, current crushes and nemeses, highly personal Spotify playlists, etc.

About me

I’m Lane Scott Jones, a writer from North Carolina, currently based in Nashville (most of the time). 👋 I write personal essays and creative nonfiction. My writing has been published in Repeller, Good Grit Magazine, and elsewhere. I was selected as runner-up for the Norton Writer's Prize in nonfiction. I'm currently working on an essay collection.

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