Brandon Taylor
American novelist and critic, author of Real Life, The Late Americans and Minor Black Figures; writes the newsletter sweater weather on literature and culture.
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What they believe
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A person can do something that frightens them without first overcoming their fear.
You don't have to overcome your fear in order to do things that are hard or which frighten you. You can do them scared.
blgtylr.substack.comSaid 17 Sept 2026This on korrents
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Narrativizing your life like a story with beats and arcs is dangerous.
I think it is dangerous to narrativize your life, going around acting like you're in a story with beats and arcs and trajectories.
blgtylr.substack.comSaid 28 Aug 2026This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Feed
As its own page →Hiding
11 October
17 September
From one piece labyrinthmaxxing and minotaur hours 4 beliefs · blgtylr.substack.com
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korrents.com
Tests of courage may really be tests of imagination: whether you can imagine a world beyond the one you are in.Their words
It is not really a test of courage, or if it is, maybe all tests of courage are really tests of imagination, a test that asks, Can you imagine a world beyond this?
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Their words
I would argue that what makes fiction feel like fiction is a certain degree of contrivance.
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korrents.com
The story we tell about a life is not the life itself; life exists only in the present moment.Their words
The story of a life is not the life itself. Life is in the moment.
+ 1 more
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Their words
You don't have to overcome your fear in order to do things that are hard or which frighten you. You can do them scared.
3 September
28 August
From one piece i quit reading and almost died 3 beliefs · blgtylr.substack.com
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Their words
But you know, sometimes, improvement is only legible when you stop looking for it.
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korrents.com
Hard work does not guarantee that it will pay off.Their words
I have accepted the reality that hard work does not mean that there will be a pay off for that hard work.
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Their words
I think it is dangerous to narrativize your life, going around acting like you're in a story with beats and arcs and trajectories.
23 March
14 January
From one piece american symbolism 3 beliefs · blgtylr.substack.com
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Their words
there are no cliches in actual human life. Cliché is an aspect of narrative, and life is not a narrative.
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korrents.com
A person's death, more than their life, is what turns them into a viral, revered symbol.Their words
Dying is the ultimate form of virality. The ultimate anointing in the religion of attention.
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Their words
this sort of thing is only possible if you view other people as abstractions more than people.
9 December 2025
From one piece writing with your eyeballs 3 beliefs · blgtylr.substack.com
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korrents.com
Literary criticism is itself a form of literature.Their words
I know that this is a contested idea, but my favorite books of the last five years have all been books of criticism, so...I mean, it's literature to me!
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korrents.com
Rachel Cusk's prose imitates the surface techniques of W.G. Sebald without adopting his underlying artistic aims.Their words
I believe that Cusk's own style apes the externalities of W.G. Sebald's style without carrying over his internals.
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Their words
But for me, style is always an external manifestation of a disposition toward life.
1 December 2025
From one piece get good 2 beliefs · blgtylr.substack.com
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korrents.com
Americans tend to be aggressive yet thin-skinned, sure of their own rightness while doubting everyone else.Their words
Americans are mean, but fragile. Bullies, but babies. They are right, always, but also skeptical of every one else.
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korrents.com
Coaches who depend on clients paying them repeatedly avoid the corrections that might drive those clients away.Their words
American tennis coaches do not want to get fired. They want you to continue to pay them.
17 November 2025
14 October 2025
13 October 2025
6 October 2025
6 September 2025
25 August 2025
21 August 2025
Nothing matches.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 18 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
A person can do something that frightens them without first overcoming their fear.
You don't have to overcome your fear in order to do things that are hard or which frighten you. You can do them scared.
labyrinthmaxxing and minotaur hours Said 17 Sept 2026
The story we tell about a life is not the life itself; life exists only in the present moment.
The story of a life is not the life itself. Life is in the moment.
labyrinthmaxxing and minotaur hours Said 17 Sept 2026
What makes fiction feel like fiction is a degree of contrivance and structure, not raw imitation of life's randomness.
I would argue that what makes fiction feel like fiction is a certain degree of contrivance.
labyrinthmaxxing and minotaur hours Said 17 Sept 2026
Show 15 more
Tests of courage may really be tests of imagination: whether you can imagine a world beyond the one you are in.
It is not really a test of courage, or if it is, maybe all tests of courage are really tests of imagination, a test that asks, Can you imagine a world beyond this?
labyrinthmaxxing and minotaur hours Said 17 Sept 2026
Narrativizing your life like a story with beats and arcs is dangerous.
I think it is dangerous to narrativize your life, going around acting like you're in a story with beats and arcs and trajectories.
i quit reading and almost died Said 28 Aug 2026
Hard work does not guarantee that it will pay off.
I have accepted the reality that hard work does not mean that there will be a pay off for that hard work.
i quit reading and almost died Said 28 Aug 2026
Improvement becomes visible only once you stop watching for signs of it.
But you know, sometimes, improvement is only legible when you stop looking for it.
i quit reading and almost died Said 28 Aug 2026
Justifying cruelty toward another person requires first reducing them to an abstraction rather than a full human being.
this sort of thing is only possible if you view other people as abstractions more than people.
american symbolism Said 14 Jan 2026
A person's death, more than their life, is what turns them into a viral, revered symbol.
Dying is the ultimate form of virality. The ultimate anointing in the religion of attention.
american symbolism Said 14 Jan 2026
Since life is not a narrative, nothing in real life can truly be a cliché.
there are no cliches in actual human life. Cliché is an aspect of narrative, and life is not a narrative.
american symbolism Said 14 Jan 2026
A writer's style is an external manifestation of their disposition toward life.
But for me, style is always an external manifestation of a disposition toward life.
writing with your eyeballs Said 9 Dec 2025
Rachel Cusk's prose imitates the surface techniques of W.G. Sebald without adopting his underlying artistic aims.
I believe that Cusk's own style apes the externalities of W.G. Sebald's style without carrying over his internals.
writing with your eyeballs Said 9 Dec 2025
Literary criticism is itself a form of literature.
I know that this is a contested idea, but my favorite books of the last five years have all been books of criticism, so...I mean, it's literature to me!
writing with your eyeballs Said 9 Dec 2025
Coaches who depend on clients paying them repeatedly avoid the corrections that might drive those clients away.
American tennis coaches do not want to get fired. They want you to continue to pay them.
get good Said 1 Dec 2025
Americans tend to be aggressive yet thin-skinned, sure of their own rightness while doubting everyone else.
Americans are mean, but fragile. Bullies, but babies. They are right, always, but also skeptical of every one else.
get good Said 1 Dec 2025
Relying more and more on one's existing strengths eventually stops being a winning strategy.
There comes a time when you have to realize that more of the same aspect of yourself isn't always a winning strategy.
get good Said 1 Dec 2025
Men's tennis shots tend to carry more spin and arc than women's, who tend to hit flatter.
Women hit flatter balls. Men on average tend to hit with more shape, more arc, more spin.
why i played tennis on book tour Said 17 Nov 2025
Having an external accountability partner makes people follow through on writing they would otherwise skip.
Accountability threads work! It brings me no pleasure to say this.
why i played tennis on book tour Said 17 Nov 2025
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 10 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Recommends Pentel Energel LRN5
The Pentel Energel LRN5 or LR7. You can also use the refills from Papermate Ink Joy and the Tül refills.
blgtylr.substack.com 4 Apr 2024
Loved Tül pens
My favorite pens at the time were the Papermate InkJoy and the Tül pens I had stolen from lab before departing for my MFA in Iowa City.
blgtylr.substack.com 4 Apr 2024
Loved Papermate InkJoy
My favorite pens at the time were the Papermate InkJoy and the Tül pens I had stolen from lab before departing for my MFA in Iowa City.
blgtylr.substack.com 4 Apr 2024
Show 7 more
Loved Muji pens
It was around this time, in the summer of 2021, that I discovered the Muji pens. I discovered them as every minimalism fetishist discovers them perhaps.
blgtylr.substack.com 4 Apr 2024
Recommends The Late Americans
Also, please preorder The Late Americans so I can write more homosexual novels—it comes out next year!
blgtylr.substack.com 8 Dec 2022
their own
Recommends the Strand
For used books, the Strand is pretty amazing. If you want an interesting, vibey new book, you don't go to the Strand, you go to McNally Jackson.
blgtylr.substack.com 8 Dec 2022
Loved The Drama Bookshop
Recently though, I went to The Drama Bookshop, which was a delightful surprise. It is the closest I have come to the experience of a Manhattan bookshop as a third place in the kind of Prairie Lights mode.
blgtylr.substack.com 8 Dec 2022
Loved eBay
I wanted the the superior UK edition of two Kawabata books, so I ordered them from eBay. They arrived in like five days. It was amazing.
blgtylr.substack.com 8 Dec 2022
Loved Fellowship Point
There have been many novels written in historical modes this year, and I've hated all of them except Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark precisely because that novel feels vibrant and lively and full of characters and it reminds me of early 20th century literature.
blgtylr.substack.com 8 Dec 2022
Loved The Court and the Castle
It was in such a place that I found the book The Court and the Castle by Rebecca West. It's a strange little book but a brilliant one, provocative and cunning.
blgtylr.substack.com 8 Dec 2022
Where they publish
Newsletter sweater weather His newsletter of essays about literature, culture and writing.
Recent
- What was Apologetic Realism? 11 Oct 2026 Cuskian Realism and the Streaming era
- labyrinthmaxxing and minotaur hours 17 Sept 2026 i’m afraid of writing, what i’m doing about it
- they were in the walls 3 Sept 2026 i am become death
Show 17 more
- i quit reading and almost died 28 Aug 2026 but tennis and reddit saved me
- updates (plus a story) 23 Mar 2026 new story and UK publication of minor black figures
- american symbolism 14 Jan 2026 an insane year (already)
- writing with your eyeballs 9 Dec 2025
- get good 1 Dec 2025 my training arc at the tennis camp
- why i played tennis on book tour 17 Nov 2025 book tour tennis journal + writing hack
- LAX > SFO 14 Oct 2025 tour diary 2
- are you excited 13 Oct 2025 plus: ideology in fiction, o'connor vs flaubert
- tour updates! 6 Oct 2025 going on tour, where's my bag
- how i be revising 6 Sept 2025 plus muscle man!
- unfortunately novak djokovic fixed my serve 25 Aug 2025 i went to the us open and it made me better at tennis, booo
- two requests 21 Aug 2025 they are for good things
- i make my students spoil their novels 22 Jul 2025 feedback strategies, or how i run my workshops
- summer writing 18 Jul 2025 missives from the youngly middle-aged
- amateur hour 3 Jul 2025 research for amateurs
- savonarola was right about florence 25 Jun 2025 what i've been up to lately
- On Glass Century 18 Jun 2025 The Contemporary Historical Novel
Link verified 5 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
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