1. YOU STOP WRITING A NEWS piece when you run out of facts. But when do you stop writing fiction? When you run out of story, I suppose. 2. In news, the most important information goes up top. In fiction,…
Category: Writing
My own serious stuff; the craft itself; those who inspire me in it; the art of reading.
Allegiance Considered
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution Of the United States of America And to the ideal on which it stands: One nation of individuals Indivisibly intertwined With liberty, justice and peace for all.
Posts That Never Were
THE IMMEDIACY OF BLOGGING CREATES, for the blogger, a whole new way of looking at the world. It’s not much different from the world of any writer in terms of the compulsion to record, comment on and embroider every living…
5 thoughts: James Joyce
IN HONOR OF BLOOMSDAY 2010, five thoughts on the man who made it possible: 1. James Joyce is yet another proof that one man’s mind can be bigger than his skull. (If not, generational banks of Joyce scholars would have…
Jon Stewart Slams Glenn Beck Idol
THE DEMISE OF THE HEADLINE-WRITER’S art (according to a recent article fed through both Slashdot and The Daily Beast) dictates an appeal to search engine optimization (SEO) instead of readers — something that snags on Google instead of anticipatory imagination.…
Under Oasine: Chapter Two Synopsis
NO ONE WAS MORE SURPRISED than I to have finished the second chapter of my novel[1], nor when the characters hijacked the plot (at about the 0.23 mark. Stephen King said that was going to happen eventually). Thus, in all…
Pithyism #5
ART: MANIFESTED HUMAN INTENTION. (Sparked by one of those endless arguments over the meaning of “art,” this definition should cover everything from Andy Goldsworthy and the Long Now people to the cup of coffee you made this morning — and…
Under Oasine: First Chapter Synopsis
AS NOTED EARLIER, THIS BLOG will feature periodic updates on my new Work In Progress, Under Oasine: the adventures of Twiz, Ij, Hapler, and the author as they pursue a desperate quest to save their world. (I want to bang…
Thousand-Word Taskmaster
“FROM SPACE, OASINE WAS AN otherwise tan ball flecked and dotted with green – but none of its inhabitants had ever seen it. “Few of them, in fact, had been outside their own birthplaces. These were oases of various shapes…
Fanboy Fun Illustrated
OLD USENET HANDS WILL HAVE an easier time than others with this one, but: 1. Go to alt.fan.starwars. 2. Select the thread “A New Hope.” 3. Enjoy. Yes, it’s “just” two guys typing the first Star Wars movie at each…
Stone Groove Friday
AFTER MUCH CONSIDERATION, I HAVE come to the conclusion that of all God‘s creations or man’s adjustments thereof I should most like to be a rock; not so small as to be skipped by errant boys nor so large as…
Wit Dealers
TERSE WORDSMITHS, ATTEND: WEIRD TALES, that neo-venerable publication whose pages were graced by the first fruits of H.P. Lovecraft and Tennessee Williams, is currently accepting submissions for One Minute Weird Tales, which they describe as “sharp little micro-stories of 20…