Category Archives: WRITING

Two things learned this morning, by listening.  The dark garage morning reminding me of the sound of the wind.  The removal of the unaccustomed in memory to show up in a different space of time. Just a couple of months … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Wow, I’d forgotten how good Steinbeck really is; sixteen pages into the book, concise yet descriptive grounding through setting and character, and bada-boom, bada-bing–we’re into this story. No overwhelming of words, either in understanding or needless excess: Cannery Row in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, nothing is more telling to a writer than a lukewarm reception, or this: "Your story is very descriptive akin to the popular and enjoyable stories I read when I was younger. Very melancholy—keep on writing." And that’s from a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I killed him, so there’s some obligation I suppose, to eulogize him in his story.  To add closure, to present him in his best light to the best of my knowledge of him.  It is my particular tendency to stick … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I would say that I’m fairly competent on grammar and punctuation skill, but aside from the semicolon–a fairly simple set of rules to comprehend that I hope to master and have the fact proudly emblazoned on a rock above my … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So I make a statement about how I do drafts, then proceed to break my own rules.  But then, sometimes there’s a very good reason; like, what I’ve done so far on Draft #3 is definite improvement so it’s been … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Why write that short story, that novel, that poem?  There’s certainly no lack of supply to fill the demand.  How many millions of short stories are written?  How many billions of poems? What constitutes the demand?  Readers seeking entertainment, something … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just as Story is conceived and set down differently by each writer, Draft has a multitude of meanings as well.  The word "draft" brings to my mind the blowing of wind, changing levels and places and the rather rude but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve spoken before on the value of feedback, and in particular provided by those of a well-established writers group.  One of the statements made at our last night’s meeting bears pointing out. "I want to know why…" Now this comment … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Dumb title of a post, but that’s what I mean. For me, it begins with opening lines, needs a bit of editing, but basically the words come before the story.  I don’t think I’ve ever been able to start with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I should have known this, but was reminded of how to write story that extends beyond self.  In Big Tim Dawson, I have been asking the wrong question:  Why? This leads to a lot of needless backstory and rhetoric that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Again my thanks to Dan Green at The Reading Experience for calling this essay by William Gass called "The Sentence Seeks Its Form" (Bookforum, Dec/Jan) to our attention, and I am excerpting here from his own to focus on a … Continue reading → Continue reading →