There are the usual suspects: just, very, so, well, really, like, that, then. And the reflectives: felt, saw, heard, etc. that insert space between the reader and character. Also and of course (thank you, Mr. King) adverbs- any and all. Especially after dialogue tags like said (which should also be used sparingly). She said sorrowfully. …
Category: fiction
The fears we don’t face become our limits.
I doubt Robin Sharma was talking about research when she penned that. Researching books. Anne Lamott's advice is to actually speak with other human beings. She used the word "phone," at which point I began to skim, to mentally prepare my grocery list. I wasn't taking her advice, not at all. Like most writers, I …
I Have a Creepy Story for You.
Okay, 26 stories. But anthologies, you've got to love them. Where else do you get a perfect marriage of theme and diversity? Unique voices held together by a common what-if? The editors of Chicken Soup for the Soul understood the power of the anthology. One of my fellow Reds* has a story in this one. …
Unapologetically Tiger
Improvement is a battle that must be fought anew each day. Your next workout doesn't care how strong your last one was. Your next essay doesn't care how popular your last one was. Your next investment doesn't care how smart your last one was. Your best effort, again. - James Clear Today may not care …
Write to help yourself make sense of things.
My therapist says feelings aren't wrong. Actions can be, but not feelings. My therapist allows me to email her. Yes, I'm very lucky to have her, and no. You can't have her name. I'm a little possessive of her time. Writing my thoughts is good for me, she says. I agree. And it's not just …
Continue reading Write to help yourself make sense of things.
Spontaneous 11: All I Want For Christmas is 2021
Maybe. I mean, it could be worse, couldn't it? God, I hope not. But we humans are always looking over the fence toward some better grass. My son illustrates this principle well in this little gem from '17. Gabe didn't want to get off the couch, walk across the living room, and get something. He …
Continue reading Spontaneous 11: All I Want For Christmas is 2021
Christmas. Finished.
On linen and straw
lay a birth and a death.
God hedged by flesh
shepherds, magi.
∞
It pleases us to imagine
God just born, vulnerable
delivery’s slick dross clings
the ache of mortality.
∞
It’s comfortable: God
on bovine-scented straw
held in woman’s arms
and a lowly one at that.
∞
It’s Christmas: a keening deity
swaddled. Bound
by a choice to come
die. One day. A black Friday.
∞
Not Black Friday savings
markdowns, slashed prices.
But marked, slashed, battered
He saved us.
∞
It’s God:
carrying His death and ours
to a far-off hill, an infinite burden.
A mustard seed must die
For a tree to thrive.
Centuries’ old tradition
…finished.
∞
In linen and blood
hangs a birth and a death
God hedged by flesh
Crucified.
When DID You Stop Beating Your Story?
All writers beat their stories. Don't give me that look; they do. Any writer who wants to be read, who doesn't keep the stories to himself and tries (oh how hard he tries) to find an audience, that writer will beat and be beaten by his stories, often simultaneously. Whether or not he rises again …
Writing Advice from Lizards
Run fast, stand still. In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping. - Ray Bradbury Learning from iguanas. Close enough.
We Want YOU…
...to vote for your favorite flash fiction. I teach writing to homeschooled students. Readers, would you be willing to help out? All you need to do is click the thumbs-up to cast your vote for a flash, and if you can't choose just one, feel free to choose more. And if you REALLY feel moved …
