I used to resist the first-person voice in my stories at all costs, but no longer: I’ve come to accept that everything I write is at least partly about the personal doubts and fixations that keep me up at night, and there’s really no shame in being frank about that aspect of my work. And so when I was poking around for a way to start my latest Wired feature, about an ex-metalhead from Mexico City who’s become a successful talent manager, I thought to myself: What was the subconscious reason I was attracted to this story in the first place? My ultimate answer was that I’m increasingly uncertain about how to sustain the whole writing gig, and so I want to develop a better understanding of how technology is mutating the business of creation. I chose to make that anxiety explicit in the story’s lead scene, the beginning of which is excerpted above.
But fear not, only a fraction of the story is focused on its teller. There are also less navel-gazey strands about the immigrant experience, the algorithms reshaping our culture, and the work ethic required to achieve even minor fame. I hope you’ll check it out.
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