Author Archives: Susan

REALITY?: Straightening Day

Posted on September 24, 2006 by Susan

Monthly ironing, easier to do it all at once all day than every little at a time.  ‘Sides, more laundry, ironing all the curtains for fall cleaning.  Windows, inside, outside, inside outside top and bottom, moving, reaching till all eight … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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WRITING: Till it Hurts

Posted on September 23, 2006 by Susan

When each sentence is scrutinized, paragraphs highlighted in yellow as if they weren’t awkward enough to stand out on their own, you know the rewrite’s going on. The one that started after the first few pages were done but the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Stories for Late at Night – Roald Dahl

Posted on September 22, 2006 by Susan

<em>The Sound Machine:</em> The premise is wonderful: a weird, geeky type building a machine to hear what’s beyond human range.  The structure is excellent, opening with the action of Klausner going out to his shed to work on it.  Moving … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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WRITING: Fumbling About

Posted on September 22, 2006 by Susan

I suppose that when you reach a point where you don’t know why something’s not working, or if you do but have no clue how to fix it, it’s time to go back to the basics.  Story arc:  the series … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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WRITING: Crap

Posted on September 21, 2006 by Susan

Well, a fourth reader didn’t get it, so it’s time to go back over the elements of story.  One can get lost in language and tone and lost sight of structure and plot. Questioning as well my tendencies lately to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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WRITING & REALITY?: Plot

Posted on September 21, 2006 by Susan

Easy to find plot in reality, harder in my stories I guess.  A friend just read my latest and found nice imagery, but little plot to carry the story.  Not easy to fix, based on the concept, unless I change … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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STORIES: What Did You Do in The War?

Posted on September 21, 2006 by Susan

Fleeting thought caught: If my service in the war comes up in conversation, and I am asked by someone whom I barely know, "How was it, really?" my answer is usually to the effect, "It was hot, it was buggy, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Stories for Late at Night – Concepts

Posted on September 21, 2006 by Susan

While I didn’t intend to post much here on this anthology, certain things rise up that provoke different trails of thought.  Obviously writing is relative in many ways to its era, i.e. Dorothy Parker’s ladies aren’t quite the same socialites … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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WRITING: Punctuation Style

Posted on September 21, 2006 by Susan

Hhmph.  Somewhere along the line I missed out on this–it appears that the period no longer requires two spaces after it.  In fact, most prefer a single space because of computer and printing technology.  It also saves space and time … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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REALITY?: Scary

Posted on September 21, 2006 by Susan

I realized before I married him that my husband’s memory could present problems, especially with my own scattered system (I can remember my phone number that we changed from when I was seven), and every now and then he reinforces … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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LITERATURE: Stories for Late at Night – Alfred Hitchcock (Presents)

Posted on September 20, 2006 by Susan

Couldn’t keep away from the pile, and picked this book out from my latest library sale acquisitions as sort of a break from the norm. I grew up on Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1962) and Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone (1959-1964) and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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WRITING: Rewriting Woes

Posted on September 20, 2006 by Susan

Just got a note from a fellow writer on some problems he’s having with changing angles, viewpoints, focus.  I try to help, but today’s not such a good day to be handing out suggestions; woke up knowing that a lot … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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WRITING: Crossing the Lines Instead…

Posted on September 19, 2006 by Susan

…of t’s and dotting i’s is the harder part of seeing fiction in reality.  How much of what we thought we saw is real? Solid cubes of rooms can spin and twirl with scotch, or jump and twitch with fever–I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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REALITY?: Un-changes

Posted on September 19, 2006 by Susan

The week is sort of turning bad here on me, but if anything is good about it, there’s one less thing to hope and wait and wonder about, and a new problem I created should be smoothed out tonight. And, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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REALITY?: Talking, Listening

Posted on September 19, 2006 by Susan

I recognize the gravelly voice of Nancy J., a customer of my frame shop.  She asks me if I’m open this afternoon; I tell her yes, and ask her how she’s been.  "Terrible," she says.  "We’ll come up and tell … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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