Where do you buy books?

Death to Amazon! Down with the chains! Support local bookstores! Indigo has a banger sale on right n- wait what?

Buying books is both simpler and more complicated than ever before. Everything can be found online, and in multiple formats. You can read, scroll through, or listen to most any book out there. Despite all this convenience, though, there is a flip side. In an age of hypercapitalism, we want to support our small community businesses… But in the middle of a pandemic, it’s hard to say no to those sweet, sweet deals online.

So where, then, does one buy their books? Indie bookstores offer unique experiences, while online bookstores often have better prices. Which outranks the other, and which should be on top?

In this episode, Rachel and Sarim attempt to talk shop.

What is writing in music like?

We rave to the genre-bending stylings of Rina Sawayama. Meditate to the guttural lulls of Mongolian throat singing. We fall asleep to the crashing of waves from Rachel’s sweaty palms. There are a great many types of music to listen to, now more than ever. With such variety, it begs the question: where does one find the words?

That is, what makes for good writing in music? While not all songs have lyrics, all lyrics are integral parts of their songs. A catchy beat can be immortalised as the rhythm of a generation with the right words set to it (see: Cruel Angel’s Thesis). Even language barriers falter in the face of the sound of music.

...mostly. I’m mumbling through most of my anime playlist, but damn if I’m not having a good time.

In this episode, Rachel and Sarim attempt to strike a chord.

Does the medium you use affect the way you write?

Between our Notes apps, notebooks with “All Who Wander Are Not Lost” tackily emblazoned on them, and the voodoo dolls of our enemies, there are a lot of places to write nowadays. With so many options, one wonders: does the medium matter?

In other words, does where you write affect what you write? Our note apps are quick and easy to access. Perhaps they lend themselves to shorter writing, like poetry or skits. Journals involve physical writing, the act of which feels more intentional than ever in a digital age. Does this sense of purpose lead to writing of greater scope or introspection?

...or maybe people are out here writing entire Odysseys in Evernote. Who knows.

In this episode, Rachel and Sarim attempt to find a happy medium.

Should you numerically rate books?

No.

Okay wait, there’s an actual description.

Rating things out of some arbitrary number or other has long been the critic’s pastime. In a society with an ever decreasing attention span (you’re not even reading this far are you, ye jammy sod), numbers do what words rebuke: they rate in simple terms.

They quantify where we once spoke of quality. They convince you of an opinion with nary a word. They give value... without all the hassle of actually explaining where it lay.

Is this convenience truly all positive, though? Does the number help, or hinder? Hell, is it even that simple, when a 5 technically means average, but we turn up our noses at anything below a 7? Forget a name, what’s in a number?

In this episode, Rachel attempts to add a few points to Sarim’s infinitesimally low rating of ratings.

Can translations live up to their original language source material?

Naguib Mahfouz. Saadat Hasan Manto. Gabriel García Márquez.

Literature knows a great many names who transcend one of humanity’s oldest barriers: language. The act of translation is not to be taken lightly. It is one of the most powerful bridges between East and West. It has brought - and sent - literature, music, and so much else across the globe.

Every act has its consequences, however. In translating a novel or other work, one takes the nuances and quirks of one language away, and replaces them with those of another. In giving a book new life, one alters its very identity.

Or do they? In this episode, Sarim & Rachel attempt to find a meaning of their own.

How do you get over Writer’s Block?

A sudden stop to the writing flow is an issue so common, you’d think there’d be a thousand different remedies to it by now. There are the classics, of course. Read something else; just freewrite; take a break and come back to it “with fresh eyes.”

Yet, writer’s block remains one of the literary world’s most daunting and enigmatic problems. How do you beat it? Can it be avoided at all? What even is it?

In the inaugural episode of Rough Draft, Rachel & Sarim attempt to break the block.