'If life's a song, what are your lyrics?'

 

“Storytelling is ultimately a creative act of pattern recognition. Through characters, plot and setting, a writer creates places where previously invisible truths become visible. Or the storyteller posits a series of dots that the reader can connect.” – Douglas Coupland

Coupland, born on this date in 1960, is widely credited with creating the term "Generation X" after using the term in his international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.    He's the author of numerous novels, short story collections, non-fiction books, and dramatic works and screenplays for film and television.   Oh, and, in his “spare time” he is a columnist for Financial Times.

One of the great satirists of modern day consumerism,           

 Coupland advises, “Never loan a book to someone if you expect to get it back. Loaning books is the same as giving them away.”

As for sharing his thoughts with up and coming writers, he says simply to think about how you’re leading your life and what people will remember about you.  Put it into the context of a song.   

 

“Think that if your life had lyrics, would they be any good?”