Writing And Lean

How To Write By Hand

Neal Stephenson | Graphomane | 21st July 2026

For 25 years, Stephenson has written his novels on paper with a fountain pen. The stacked manuscript of his 1,000-page Baroque Cycle trilogy stood 42 inches high. The benefits are huge, he argues, as the brain navigates the physical act of writing alongside the more intangible work of creation. A good fountain pen will outlive you. Your hands will get inky. Don't be prissy about it; it washes off (2,500 words)

Puzzle: Play Nomido, the Browser’s daily word game.

The Greatness Of David Lean

Alexander Larman | Contra Mundum | 23rd July 2026

Despite his gift for epic filmmaking, David Lean never had the cult-like reputation of Hitchcock or Kubrick. Why not? "His films are relatively straightforward narratively and cinematically... In this they reflected their director’s personality, of a hard-working professional who was often exasperated by the apparent inability of actors or crew to do their job as well and conscientiously as he was doing his" (2,100 words)