For latchkey kids everywhere
One strategy during revision is to write the scenes that take place outside of the narrator’s experience. What happened before he entered the room? Those scenes can help me imagine everything from the posture to the motivation of the various characters when our narrator does arrive. So here’s a scene that drives action in the... Continue Reading →
In my Very Important Literature courses, the ones where we only read the most distinguished work by the most influential writers, we established some rules for fiction. Rules are important because they help you figure out if what you’re reading is worthy of distinction or if it is destined for the discount rack. One of... Continue Reading →
So I finished the novel I started in 1989 and submitted it to the SC Arts Commission’s First Novel Competition. Related posts forthcoming, this experience has been awesome. But here's the first post-submission reflection. Let me explain what happens when you re-join a world you created. First, you remember the times and reasons you created... Continue Reading →
With the 2013 Short Story Challenge, I had two goals: Write enough stories to participate in Khara House’s Submit-O-Rama in October Learn to write really good short stories As the count sits now, the first objective was met but the second is doubtful. Here’s the box score: Finished – 16 Accepted – 2 (one to... Continue Reading →
So I’ve done it!Thanks to Khara House for the kick-in-the-pants. I’ve now sent 13 stories out into the literary universe. One has already been accepted, thanks Spry! For taking “Two Trunks.” One has already been rejected, thanks, Lascaux, for giving “Have You Seen” a look. We’ll try to find a home for it elsewhere.So here’s... Continue Reading →
Telling this story was a response to Maroon 5's song Daylight. I've changed *most* of the names. But like Anne Lamott says, "Tell your stories. If people wanted you to say nice things about them they should have behaved better." __________________________________________________ I could barely breathe when Tuesday ended. The house had been full of people.... Continue Reading →
I’m not sure why I remember her that way, dressed in red, but I do. She’s wearing a big dress, the fancy folds of material cascading around her, held aloft by some cage of hoops and petticoats. She looks like something out of a film, her hair swept away from her face, her neck bare... Continue Reading →
